[00:00:08] Introduction
Zak:
Welcome to the D2C Revenue Rocket Podcast. Today we've got an exciting episode. We have Sam Moorhead from Klaviyo. Sam is the Director of Customer Growth at Klaviyo, and he brings an incredible perspective because he gets to see inside a huge number of ecommerce accounts.
He sees what brands are doing really well, what's working, and where brands are leaving opportunities on the table. Sam, welcome to the podcast.

Sam:
Thanks, Zach. Great to be here. Looks like you already got your workout in this morning.

[00:01:10] Sam's Background & Career Journey
Zak:
Before we jump into ecommerce and retention strategy, give everyone a little background on yourself.

Sam:
Absolutely. I've been in SaaS for about 17 years. I originally thought I'd go into finance, but after the 2009 financial crisis, that path changed. I ended up at a small startup that bought HubSpot, saw how powerful it was, and eventually joined HubSpot myself.
I stayed there for 10 years during an incredible growth phase. After that, I held leadership roles at companies like Vendor and Copper before joining Klaviyo about two years ago.
At Klaviyo, I lead Customer Growth, which is focused less on traditional sales and more on helping existing customers scale through strategy, relationships, and outcomes.

[00:03:20] The Future of Sales & AI
Sam:
I think the future of sales is becoming far more consultative. AI and PLG (product-led growth) are changing everything.
Customers are going to figure out products through tools like Claude and ChatGPT. The value will come from helping brands implement the right solutions, solve problems, and drive measurable outcomes.

[00:05:30] What Sam Looks For in a Klaviyo Account Audit
Zak:
When you audit a Klaviyo account, what are the first things you look at?

Sam:
Honestly, it's usually the basics:
Welcome flows
Post-purchase flows
Cart abandonment
Viewed product flows
Are brands optimizing them consistently? Are they using predictive analytics? Are they leveraging AI features like Next Best Product and personalized recommendations?
Those core flows are still some of the highest ROI opportunities available.

[00:07:25] AI + Klaviyo MCP Server
Zak:
The AI capabilities inside Klaviyo have exploded recently. What are brands doing with Claude and ChatGPT connected to Klaviyo's MCP server?

Sam:
The top brands are using AI to completely transform optimization workflows.
One CEO I spoke with spent a weekend inside Claude rewriting every flow in their account and adding 17 new automations. Every single day afterward, those flows generated incremental revenue improvements.
That's the power of connecting AI directly to customer data.

[00:10:00] Agencies, Execution & Strategy
Zak:
One thing I'm seeing is brands increasingly handling execution internally using AI. Agencies won't be paid for execution forever—they'll be paid for strategy and orchestration.

Sam:
Exactly. AI is making execution dramatically easier.
The real value becomes:
Strategy
Prompt engineering
Cross-channel orchestration
Knowing what questions to ask
The competitive advantage now is speed and adaptability.

[00:14:15] Prompt Libraries & Internal AI Systems
Zak:
Internally at ECD, we've built prompt libraries for different marketing functions and workflows.

Sam:
That's where the industry is heading. Companies need systems that help marketers actually use AI effectively instead of just hearing leadership talk about it.
There's currently a huge gap between what executives are experimenting with and what frontline marketers are actually executing on.

[00:18:30] Why Brands Should Be Leaning Into AI
Zak:
At a recent conference, someone said the only thing to truly fear with AI is doing nothing.

Sam:
That's exactly right.
The brands leaning into AI today are creating massive advantages. The ones ignoring it are going to struggle over the next couple of years.

[00:21:15] Customer Agent & AI-Powered Customer Experience
Zak:
We've been building a lot with Klaviyo's Customer Agent beta.

Sam:
Customer Agent is one of the most exciting things happening right now.
Brands can:
Train the AI in their brand voice
Cross-sell products directly in chat
Build custom workflows
Improve customer service and retention simultaneously
This isn't the old chatbot experience from five years ago.

[00:25:00] Omnichannel Memory & Customer Experience
Sam:
One of the biggest problems with traditional support systems is "channel-bound memory."
Customers hate repeating themselves across channels.
The future is unified customer memory across:
Website chat
SMS
Email
Support tickets
That's how you create exceptional customer experiences.

[00:28:50] AI Features Brands Aren't Using Enough
Zak:
What are brands underutilizing right now inside Klaviyo?

Sam:
A few major ones:
Personalized Send Time
Next Best Product
Next Best Cross-Sell Date
Customer Agent
Most brands still aren't taking advantage of these deeply integrated AI tools.

[00:32:00] Why Trigger-Based Flows Matter More Than Campaigns
Sam:
Too many brands rely heavily on campaigns instead of automation.
The more customer data you connect into Klaviyo, the more personalized flows you can build—and personalized trigger-based flows consistently outperform broad campaigns.

[00:36:45] Subscription Retention Strategies
Zak:
One thing we've been doing is identifying when subscription customers typically churn and proactively messaging them beforehand.

Sam:
That works extremely well.
Another tactic is leveraging loss aversion:
Let subscribers know pricing is increasing
Grandfather them into existing pricing
Encourage retention by protecting their current rate
Small retention improvements compound dramatically over time.

[00:41:00] AI & Team Structure
Zak:
What should brands be looking for when hiring lifecycle marketers today?

Sam:
You need people who:
Think strategically
Execute quickly
Are intellectually curious
Actively experiment with AI
The marketers who embrace AI are going to level up rapidly.

[00:46:00] Customer Service Is Marketing
Sam:
Customer experience and marketing are no longer separate.
Better support directly improves retention, referrals, and long-term revenue.
If your support systems don't share memory and context across channels, you're hurting customer relationships.

[00:48:45] Micro Influencers vs Traditional Influencers
Sam:
One of the biggest shifts I'm seeing is the move away from massive influencers toward micro influencers.
Brands are getting much stronger ROI from:
Authentic creators
Smaller audiences
Real customer relationships
User-generated content
Consumers are craving authenticity.

[00:51:10] Klaviyo's K-Social & UGC Strategy
Zak:
We've been seeing strong results with K-Social campaigns tied directly into Klaviyo.

Sam:
Exactly. Brands can:
Capture social engagement
Convert followers into email/SMS subscribers
Identify loyal customers with engaged audiences
Generate authentic UGC at scale
That's becoming far more effective than traditional paid influencer campaigns.

[00:55:00] Alignment Across Teams
Sam:
Alignment is everything.
Marketing, partnerships, customer success, support, and product teams all need to operate together. The best brands are tightly aligned around customer outcomes.

[00:58:45] Rapid Fire Questions
Zak:
Biggest mistake brands are making right now?

Sam:
Overspending in channels that no longer produce the same ROI.

[00:59:20] Biggest Lesson Learned Recently
Sam:
The gap between leadership teams and frontline marketers around AI adoption is enormous.
The brands that close that gap fastest are going to win.

[01:01:20] Closing Thoughts
Zak:
Sam, this was awesome. Thanks for coming on.

Sam:
Thanks for having me. Great conversation.

[01:01:40] Outro
Zak:
If you're serious about growing your ecommerce brand, book a free revenue audit with ECD Digital Strategy. We'll identify the revenue opportunities you're missing and give you a clear plan for growth.
Go to: Klaviyo x ECD Revenue Audit