Klaviyo SMS Pause: Let Customers Pause BFCM Texts

Klaviyo suggests letting customers pause text campaigns without unsubscribing completely from SMS, which keeps a subscriber who might otherwise have opted out. This article goes through the documentation's method step by step, including what changes depending on whether the account can receive replies. It complements our Klaviyo BFCM guide.

TL;DR. Klaviyo's page recommends offering the pause before the biggest sending moments, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The principle: a profile property that marks the pause, collected by a keyword sent by text or by a form button, then a segment of paused profiles to exclude from the period's campaigns. A branded sender ID cannot receive replies, so only the form route works there. The property does not unsubscribe anyone: exclusions need checking before each send.

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Why offer a pause

Klaviyo's page gives three benefits: keeping a subscriber who might otherwise have opted out, giving customers a more positive experience by letting them choose which messages they get, and engaging a smaller, more interested audience, which saves SMS credits and may also improve click and conversion rates on follow-up messages (Klaviyo, how to allow customers to pause SMS messages during holidays).

The page lists when to offer the pause: before the biggest sending times of the year and sensitive holidays, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Mother's and Father's Day, Valentine's Day and White Day, Christmas, back to school, Easter, Australia Day. In our view, BFCM is one of the moments where the pause is most justified, because it concentrates closely spaced sends.

Step 1: choose the pause property

The property is used in the flow, the form and the segment. The page compares two choices:

The page gives Paused? as an example for a generic property and Paused-BFCM2024 for a property specific to one promotion. In our view, Paused-BFCM2026 follows the same logic for this year. Once the property is chosen, the page asks you to add it to at least one test profile in the account with a value of true, which makes it available when you build the segment.

Step 2, route A: a keyword sent by text

This route assumes a number that can receive text messages. The page specifies that it does not work with branded sender IDs. Our article on Klaviyo SMS in France covers the sender type available for that market.

The chosen word should be unique enough not to be texted by accident (the page advises against "heart" for Valentine's Day), not be part of a common word (it advises against "no", found in "not" or "afternoon"), and be easy to spell. In our view, a word without accents avoids adding a case to handle in the filters, and a short word like "PAUSE" stays readable on a lock screen.

Setup takes three stages:

1. Prepare the SMS campaign that asks subscribers whether they want a pause, without sending it before the flow is ready. In the Campaigns tab, expand the campaign to show its message, open the message's actions menu and click Copy ID. The page specifies using the message's ID, not the campaign's.
2. Create the flow triggered by the reply: Flows > Create flow > Build your own, then All triggers > Metric with the action Sent Text Message, which records texts sent by customers to your number. Trigger filters: Message equals [copied ID] AND Message Body contains Pause OR contains pause. The page advises adding spelling, typo and capitalization variants with OR inside the Message Body group, keeping the Message condition joined with AND. Add a reply SMS, then a Profile property update action: Create new property, chosen name, type Boolean, value True.
3. Set the flow to Live, then send the campaign.

Watch the reply window. The page says the Message filter matches replies to the most recent text delivered within the last 24 hours: a reply after that window, or after another text is delivered, may not match this campaign. If customers need more time to pause, the page points to the form route.

Step 2, route B: a form button

For a branded sender ID, the page suggests going through a form rather than a reply, because you need a method that does not rely on people texting back. The form is a full-page form with at least one button. Under Button click action: action Submit form, then After Submit set to Show next step, and under Submit hidden fields the pause property with the value true. A Success page confirms the customer will no longer receive texts for that holiday.

Settings given by the page:

• display Immediately, frequency 0 days, on desktop and mobile;
• targeting: Show to any existing profile, and Only show on certain URLs > Containing > #pause (the hash is required, but "pause" can be replaced with another word);
• to reuse the form later, uncheck Don't show again if form was submitted or if go to URL button was clicked.

Klaviyo's onsite tracking must be installed on the page the link points to. The SMS campaign contains the site link followed by the anchor, for example www.mywebsite.com#pause as in the page. The page asks you to keep automatic link shortening turned on so the link can identify the recipient, and to test the link in a delivered text before sending, checking that clicking the form's button adds the pause property to your profile.

Step 3: the segment of pauses, then the exclusion

The segment is created in Audience > Lists & segments with the condition Properties about someone > [property] is true, with the type set to Boolean. It gathers every profile whose property is true, whether they replied to the text or clicked the button. The page then asks you to exclude it from each campaign related to the holiday, in Don't send to, and to apply exclusions separately to any holiday flows or forms you also want to stop showing these customers.

The page warns that the pause property does not unsubscribe customers from SMS or stop other messages automatically. In our view, the property therefore only covers what you exclude: a flow or campaign left off the list keeps sending to a paused person. The list of BFCM campaigns to exclude should be drawn up before the form goes live. Our article on SMS quiet hours and compliance covers the timing rules, which remain applicable separately.

After the period

The page also describes what comes next. For campaigns after the holiday, stop excluding the pause segment, and remove any temporary exclusions from flows or forms when you are ready to resume them. If you reuse the same property, reset it to false for the profiles that paused before collecting requests for the next holiday; the page says you can do this in bulk with a CSV import, leaving existing consent unchanged. Before the next holiday, update the invitation and confirmation messages, the campaign message ID in the trigger filter, and the form text. With a new property for each holiday, update the flow, form and segment to use that property.

What the SMS segments page says

Klaviyo's SMS segmentation documentation confirms a limit: a segment based on words received (Sent Text Message with a Message Body filter) is not available with branded sender IDs, since these numbers cannot receive text messages (Klaviyo, recommended SMS segments reference).

Checklist before BFCM

These points are Deliver's advice.

1. The sender type is known: keyword reply possible, or form required.
2. The property carries the year and exists on at least one test profile, with the value true.
3. The invitation message is prepared, not sent, and its message ID is copied.
4. The flow is Live before the invitation goes out.
5. The segment of pauses is excluded from every relevant BFCM campaign, flow and form.
6. The invitation goes out before the first promotional sends.

FAQ

Does the pause remove SMS consent?

No. The page presents the pause as a way to stop receiving text campaigns without unsubscribing completely, and specifies that the pause property does not unsubscribe customers or stop other messages automatically.

Can you use a keyword with a branded sender ID?

No. The page says this route does not work with branded sender IDs. You need to use a form button.

Which ID should you copy to filter the flow?

The message ID, not the campaign ID, according to the page.

Do you need a new property for each period?

Both options exist. Reusing a property simplifies setup, but does not tell you who paused for which event.

Want an outside view on your BFCM texts? We run Q4 readiness audits, or you can talk directly with the Deliver team.