Klaviyo Expands Custom Objects Access for Marketing Automation

What Are Klaviyo Custom Objects?

Klaviyo has expanded access to Custom Objects, a feature for storing structured customer-related data and using it in marketing communications. It helps businesses manage information that does not fit naturally into standard profile properties or events.

A single customer might have multiple subscriptions, reservations, pets, or wishlist items. Each one has its own attributes and can change independently. Custom Objects connect multiple such records to the same customer profile and make them available for segmentation, message personalization, and marketing automation.

Expanded access does not mean the feature is free for every account. According to Klaviyo documentation, using Custom Objects requires at least a paid Email Plan or qualifying trial access to Advanced KDP.

How Klaviyo Personalization Worked Before

Klaviyo traditionally relies on two primary categories of customer data.

Profile properties hold customer attributes, such as name, city, favorite product category, or loyalty status.

Events record customer actions, such as viewing a product, adding an item to a cart, placing an order, or opening an email.

These structures are less suitable for storing multiple independent records belonging to one customer. Consider a shopper with three subscriptions, each with a different renewal date. Representing every subscription as separate profile properties is cumbersome, while historical events may not reflect the current status of each subscription.

Custom Objects address this gap by storing structured records and connecting them to customer profiles.

What Changed With Expanded Access?

Custom Objects are no longer limited to advanced customer data platform scenarios. The feature is also available to qualifying customers on paid Email Plans.

Multiple related records. Store several objects for a single customer, including separate subscriptions, bookings, or warranties.

Personalized emails. Insert supported object properties into marketing messages.

Object-based segments. Identify customers using attributes of records linked to their profiles.

Automated flows. Build supported workflows and date-triggered communications based on object data.

External data integrations. Sync structured data from other systems using the Custom Objects API.

For example, an online retailer could maintain warranty expiration dates for individual products and send reminders before coverage ends. A travel company could store individual reservations, including dates, destinations, and booking details, and personalize messages for each trip.

How to Set Up Custom Objects in Klaviyo

To create an object, go to Content → Objects → Create object in Klaviyo.

Choose the type of object, identify the source data, define a unique identifier for each record, and map fields and relationships to the relevant customer profile.

Source records are ingested through the Custom Objects API. A standard CSV import or Klaviyo form does not directly create Custom Object records.

Once an object is configured and activated, its records can be used in supported templates, segments, and automation flows.

One important technical limitation concerns updates: an API update replaces the existing object record. Sending only a subset of properties can set omitted fields to null, including fields needed to link the record to a profile. Integrations should therefore send complete records and use stable unique identifiers.

Why Custom Objects Matter for Marketing

The main benefit is a shift from customer-level personalization alone to personalization based on the individual objects associated with each customer.

For e-commerce, this can enable more advanced customer lifecycle marketing. Instead of sending a generic re-engagement email, a store might communicate about a specific subscription, purchased device, warranty, or service date.

Travel, subscription commerce, and service businesses can account for several concurrent bookings, contracts, or subscriptions belonging to one customer.

Custom Objects also reduce the need to create large numbers of custom profile properties and make some automation scenarios easier to maintain.

However, the feature does not automatically increase conversions or revenue. Results depend on integration quality, data freshness, segmentation logic, and the relevance of the messages customers receive.

What This Means for Customer Lifecycle Marketing

Expanded Custom Objects access gives more Klaviyo customers the ability to work with structured, relationship-based customer data.

For marketers, the key opportunity is more precise segmentation and personalized communication based not only on what customers have done, but also on the current state of their bookings, subscriptions, products, or other associated records.

For companies with complex customer relationships, Custom Objects can become a valuable part of a more sophisticated customer lifecycle marketing strategy.