Meta ads and email marketing are typically treated as separate things. You hire someone (or figure out yourself) how to run ads. Separately, you set up Klaviyo and send newsletters. The two systems run in parallel, occasionally pointing at the same promotions, but not really connected.
This is a missed opportunity. When ads and email are properly integrated, each makes the other more effective. The audience you build through ads feeds into your email strategy. Your email list improves your Meta targeting. The combination means you're reaching the same person through multiple channels at once - which is exactly how purchases get made.
Here's how the integration works.
Why Each Channel Is Incomplete Without the Other
Ads without email means you're spending money to bring people to your store, some buy, and everyone who doesn't buy is gone. You have no way to follow up. Every visitor who doesn't purchase is lost budget. You're dependent on the next ad impression to bring them back, which costs money every single time.
Email without ads means you're building slowly. Your list grows from organic traffic, social posts, and word of mouth. It works, but it's gradual. If you want to grow faster - hit a new audience, promote a collection launch, reach people who don't follow you yet - you don't have a lever to pull.
Together: ads build the email list faster than organic alone. Email converts the audience ads bring in. Each amplifies the other.
The Three Connection Points
1. Ads Driving Email Subscribers
The most direct connection: you run Meta ads specifically to grow your email list.
Two approaches:
Lead generation campaigns. Meta has a native Lead Gen ad format that shows a form directly in the ad - the user submits their email without leaving Instagram or Facebook. These typically have lower cost-per-subscriber than driving traffic to a landing page, because there's less friction.
Traffic campaigns to an opt-in landing page. Drive paid traffic to a dedicated page on your site where the primary action is subscribing. A strong offer here matters: "Get first access to new collections," a free process video, or a small first-order discount. Conversion rates on a good landing page with a compelling offer run 15-30% of visitors.
For most artist stores, Artvertise recommends traffic campaigns to a landing page over native Lead Gen ads. The reason: people who navigate to your actual website are higher intent, and you have more control over the experience and the offer.
2. Your Email List as Meta Targeting
Once you have an email list of any meaningful size (500+ is a reasonable threshold, though you can start sooner), upload it to Meta as a Custom Audience.
This does two things:
Target your subscribers with ads. Someone subscribed but hasn't bought yet? Show them your best-performing product creative. Someone bought once? Show them new work. Your email subscribers are a warm audience - they've opted in to hear from you. They'll respond better to ads than a cold stranger.
Build a Lookalike Audience from your subscribers. Meta can find people who resemble your email subscribers - not just your buyers, but your interested audience. This is a useful Lookalike seed, especially if your subscriber list is larger than your customer list.
Refresh this upload monthly. New subscribers get added to the Custom Audience; unsubscribes can be manually removed to keep it clean.
3. Email and Retargeting Working the Same Person Simultaneously
This is where the integration gets genuinely powerful.
Someone visits your store from a Meta ad. They don't buy. They leave. Now two things happen:
- Your Meta pixel fires. They enter your retargeting audience. Your retargeting campaign will show them ads over the next 7-30 days.
- If they subscribed (or already were a subscriber), they enter your email automation. They might receive a browse abandonment email, or just your regular newsletter.
Both channels are now reaching the same person. They might see your retargeting ad on Wednesday morning, get your email on Thursday afternoon, and buy on Thursday evening.
Meta will attribute that to the retargeting ad. Klaviyo will attribute it to the email. Both will claim credit. That's a measurement problem (more on that below), but it's also a demonstration of why multi-channel works - the combination closed a sale that neither channel might have closed alone.
Setting Up Lead Gen Ads on Meta
If you're going to run campaigns specifically to capture emails, here's the faster setup path:
Lead Form ads (native): In Meta Ads Manager, create a campaign with the "Leads" objective. In your ad set, choose "Instant Forms" as the lead method. Design a form with as few fields as possible - name and email is enough. Connect your form to a Klaviyo integration (Meta has a native Klaviyo integration) so subscribers are added automatically.
Traffic to landing page: Create a campaign with "Traffic" or "Conversions" objective. Drive to a dedicated landing page with a clear email capture. Install a Klaviyo popup that fires when traffic arrives from Meta. This requires more setup but gives you control over the landing page experience.
The Welcome Sequence for Ad-Acquired Subscribers
Subscribers who came through a paid ad signed up for a specific reason - they responded to an offer or a piece of content you promoted. Their welcome email sequence should acknowledge that.
Don't send the same welcome sequence to every subscriber. Someone who subscribed because you offered them 10% off should receive that discount prominently in email 1. Someone who subscribed to get early access to new work should be told when that access happens.
The first email in the sequence should arrive within minutes of subscribing. It should:
- Deliver the thing they signed up for (the discount, the video, the early access)
- Introduce you briefly (who you are, what you make, why you make it)
- Show your best work with links to the store
Subsequent emails in the sequence (over the following 7-14 days) can share your process, feature popular pieces, and include customer photos showing prints in real homes.
Using Email Purchase Data to Improve Meta Targeting
Klaviyo lets you segment your list by purchase behavior. Your top-spending customers, your repeat buyers, people who've bought in the last 90 days - all can be exported as email segments.
Upload these segments to Meta as Customer List audiences. Build Lookalike Audiences from each segment. Your "top 20% spenders" Lookalike will likely find different people than your "repeat buyers" Lookalike - and both will find different people than a Lookalike built from your full list.
This is one of the more underused tactics Artvertise implements for clients who have meaningful email lists and good purchase history in Klaviyo.
Measuring Attribution Across Channels
When both channels are running, attribution gets messy. Meta claims conversion credit. Klaviyo claims conversion credit. They're often counting the same order.
The most practical approach:
- Look at total revenue as your north star, not per-channel attribution
- Use UTM parameters on all email links and all ad links so Google Analytics can show which sessions actually converted
- Accept that some revenue will always be multi-touch and both channels deserve partial credit
Don't shut off email because "Meta already converted that customer." Don't cut ad spend because "Klaviyo is doing the work." Both contributed. The right question is: is total revenue and ROAS improving as both channels mature? If yes, keep both running.
If you want help connecting your ad and email strategies into a single system, Artvertise's free audit reviews your current setup across both channels and shows you where the biggest gaps are. Book your free audit here.
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