How Simplified Returned to Attentive and Rebuilt SMS Into a Strategic Performance Channel

A “very expensive lesson learned”

The brand had worked with Attentive for several years, and the experience was strong: revenue was healthy, the support team was collaborative, and there weren’t major issues pushing the team to make a change.

The decision came during a broader website and tech stack audit led by a third-party web development agency. Because Simplified already managed email in Klaviyo, the agency recommended moving SMS there too. The promise was appealing: cleaner attribution, more unified segmentation, and one platform for both channels.

For a lean team, that sounded like a simpler way to manage the customer journey. But over time, Simplified found that consolidation didn’t replace the SMS expertise, proactive guidance, and day-to-day partnership that had helped the channel perform.

As Brittany Werth, Chief Operating Officer at Simplified by Emily Ley, put it, the move became “a very expensive lesson learned in consolidation.”

Some of the agency’s broader tech stack recommendations proved useful. But SMS was different. What looked simple in theory didn’t translate into the performance, support, or visibility the team needed to keep improving.

Liz Holtzman, Marketing Director at Simplified by Emily Ley, felt that tension even before the move.

“As my team knows, I left Attentive dragging my feet, and I was so excited to return.”
— Liz Holtzman, Marketing Director, Simplified by Emily Ley

The difference between the two experiences was clear.

“I’ve said it countless times, but Attentive has truly been my favorite partner I’ve worked with in my nearly 10 years in ecommerce. Whenever I talk with industry peers who are weighing Attentive versus Klaviyo, I always describe the difference this way: Attentive is proactive, Klaviyo is reactive.”
— Liz Holtzman, Marketing Director, Simplified by Emily Ley

After onboarding Klaviyo, the support gap became clear

The Klaviyo transition started with the kind of support most brands expect during onboarding. But once onboarding ended, Simplified felt the difference quickly.

The team had a dedicated SMS customer success manager for a period of time, then experienced multiple handoffs. Eventually, they felt routed into a more generic support experience.

That created a gap for a brand that knew how to execute SMS, but still wanted a partner watching the program, identifying opportunities, and helping the team make the most of the channel.

“At Klaviyo, there was just no one person keeping an eye on our account and really understanding what our business is and how we drive revenue with SMS.”
— Brittany Werth, Chief Operating Officer, Simplified by Emily Ley

Simplified could build campaigns. They could create flows. They understood their customer. What they lost was the proactive guidance that had helped make SMS successful in the first place.

“Without having that really proactive partner looking out for your account and saying, ‘I identified these opportunities,’ we really saw a huge dip in performance with Klaviyo.”
— Brittany Werth, Chief Operating Officer, Simplified by Emily Ley

Liz described the same gap through the lens of day-to-day ownership. On Klaviyo, the Simplified team often felt like they were the ones solely driving SMS strategy. With Attentive, the relationship felt different because the CSM team was consistently one step ahead.

“Our experience with Klaviyo often felt like our team was solely driving the strategy, whereas our CSMs at Attentive are consistently one step ahead. They don’t just support our program, they help drive it.”
— Liz Holtzman, Marketing Director, Simplified by Emily Ley

For a small team, that difference matters. Simplified doesn’t have the capacity to constantly manage a vendor, uncover every missed opportunity manually, or troubleshoot performance without support. The team needed a partner that could help them see around corners.

Returning to Attentive brought SMS performance back into focus

When Simplified returned to Attentive, the difference showed up quickly.

The team compared SMS performance from the same April–May window year over year: the prior year on Klaviyo SMS and the current year after returning to Attentive. The welcome journey stood out immediately, driving 2x the revenue of its Klaviyo SMS welcome journey during the same comparison period.

The broader automated program reinforced the same story. Across automated journeys, Simplified’s program delivered 224x ROI, a 10% click-through rate, and a 73% conversion rate.

The welcome journey was especially strong, delivering 398x ROI and a 93% conversion rate. That performance shows how valuable the first touchpoint can be when a high-intent subscriber enters a thoughtful, well-supported journey.

Overall journey performance data in Attentive reinforced the value of those always-on touchpoints. Cart abandonment delivered 221x ROI, while browse abandonment delivered 45x ROI. Session abandonment, back-in-stock, low inventory, and price drop journeys also gave the team more ways to respond to customer intent without relying only on one-time campaigns.

That gives Simplified room to focus on launches, promotions, and seasonal moments while automated journeys keep responding to customer behavior in the background.

In the same April–May comparison period, Simplified also drove nearly +$70,000 more SMS revenue after returning to Attentive than it did during the same period on Klaviyo SMS the year before.
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Attentive became an extension of the Simplified team

For Simplified, the biggest difference wasn’t limited to platform functionality. It was the relationship.

With Attentive, the team felt supported by people who understood the brand, the customer, the goals, and the tone of the business. Across multiple CSM relationships over several years, Simplified consistently felt guided and supported, from high-level strategy to specific recommendations around journeys, exclusions, segmentation, and AI.

“We don’t need another vendor to manage. We need a partner that brings ideas, identifies opportunities, and helps the team execute in a way that feels true to the brand. That’s what Attentive is to Simplified.”
— Brittany Werth, Chief Operating Officer, Simplified by Emily Ley

That distinction matters because Simplified’s SMS program isn’t generic. The brand has a specific tone, a highly engaged community, and customers who respond to warmth, usefulness, and trust. 

“The Attentive team is very clued in to who we are, what we’re about, and what our goals are.”
— Brittany Werth, Chief Operating Officer, Simplified by Emily Ley

For a team of eight full-time women, with only two teammates in SMS day to day, that extension-of-team dynamic is essential.

Liz described the monthly sync process as one of the most valuable parts of the partnership. Each meeting brings thoughtful recommendations, new ideas, opportunities for growth, and a clear action plan. Often, the work is already close to ready by the time it reaches her.

“More often than not, our CSM has already built a new journey, created a new segment, or prepared a test for us. All that’s left for me to do is review and approve. As a director overseeing every aspect of our marketing efforts, that level of proactivity is invaluable.”
— Liz Holtzman, Marketing Director, Simplified by Emily Ley

SMS works because Simplified treats it like a trusted touchpoint

Simplified’s SMS strategy is built around loyalty.

The brand has a direct line to some of its most engaged customers, and the team is careful about how it uses that access. Rather than treating SMS as a place to send constant promotions, Simplified uses the channel as a warm, useful touchpoint throughout the year.

“We have a very direct line to our most loyal customers through SMS, and we like to treat it more as a warm, friendly touchpoint than sending sales and promos all the time.”
— Lindsey Pyatt, Director of Content Marketing, Simplified by Emily Ley

That means customers hear from Simplified outside of major sales moments. The team uses SMS for encouragement, helpful tips, product education, seasonal reminders, gifting prompts, and suggestive selling that feels aligned with the brand.

As summer approaches, that might mean highlighting travel bags. Around Mother’s Day, it might mean helping shoppers think through thoughtful gifts. Around birthdays or holidays, it might mean reminding customers of useful products they may not have considered.

That approach gives Simplified more credibility when the brand does need to promote a major moment. During planner launches, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and key sales, SMS becomes a high-impact conversion channel. But because the team has spent the rest of the year building trust, those sends feel like a continuation of the customer relationship instead of a sudden sales push.

Better segmentation and reporting helped the team move faster

Simplified is intentional about who receives each message.

The team describes its SMS strategy as segmentation heavy, using opt-ins, VIP groups, and engagement-based audience structures to decide how customers should be messaged. Internally, the team uses VIP segments, including “Espresso Shot” groups from most engaged to least engaged. These segments help Simplified tailor sends based on how likely customers are to engage, rather than treating the entire list the same way.

That foundation became even stronger with Audiences AI, part of Attentive AI™.

For Simplified, the value is practical. Audiences AI helps the team understand who is likely to engage and who may weaken segment health if included in a send.

“It’ll tell us, ‘A thousand of these people are just not likely to engage at all,’ so we won’t send it to them. We couldn’t do that based on human logic alone.”
— Lindsey Pyatt, Director of Content Marketing, Simplified by Emily Ley

The same need for clarity showed up in reporting.

When Brittany tried to pull comparable Klaviyo SMS performance data ahead of the case study conversation, the process was difficult. She had to search through the platform, use outside tools, and still couldn’t find everything she needed.

“The amount of work I had to do in the Klaviyo platform to find the data that I needed, and I still didn’t find it all, was very telling.”
— Brittany Werth, Chief Operating Officer, Simplified by Emily Ley

The contrast with Attentive was immediate. In Attentive, Brittany didn’t need to export data or hunt through the platform to understand what was happening.

“The Attentive dashboard makes it easy to find what we need. The key metrics are right there, and if we need more detail, the suggested tabs point us in the right direction. Very intuitive.”
— Brittany Werth, Chief Operating Officer, Simplified by Emily Ley

For a team managing SMS with limited bandwidth, easy reporting makes strategy more actionable. It helps the team see what’s working, validate performance, and understand where to focus next.

For Simplified, the biggest lesson was that consolidation alone wasn’t enough

The original reason for moving SMS to Klaviyo was to bring attribution and segmentation into one platform. But after experiencing the tradeoff, Simplified became clear on what mattered more: strategic support, proactive recommendations, and a partner who could help SMS perform.

Today, the team is comfortable with email and SMS living in separate platforms because the Attentive experience delivers more value where SMS is concerned.

When asked what advice she’d give another ecommerce brand considering a move away from Attentive, Brittany’s answer was direct—and a little funny.

“In all capital letters, DON’T LEAVE ATTENTIVE!”
— Brittany Werth, Chief Operating Officer, Simplified by Emily Ley

The advice was lighthearted, but the underlying message was serious. SMS can be a powerful performance channel, but it’s easy to underuse if the tools, measurement, and support model aren’t right.

Her recommendation to other brands is to work with their CSM before making a major platform change. Rather than jumping to another platform for the promise of consolidation, brands should first look at what can be improved within Attentive: journeys, segmentation, strategy, exclusions, audience quality, campaign planning, and Attentive AI tools.

“Lean on your CSM. We really couldn’t do what we do without our Attentive CSM and the whole team behind her. If there are levers you can pull within your platform, your strategy, your journeys, or your segmentation, pull those levers first.”
— Brittany Werth, Chief Operating Officer, Simplified by Emily Ley

With Attentive, Simplified has rebuilt SMS as a strategic growth channel that fits the way the team works: lean, thoughtful, personal, and deeply connected to the customer relationship.

“The SMS program we have today is thanks to Attentive’s dedication, expertise, and genuine investment in our success.”
— Liz Holtzman, Marketing Director, Simplified by Emily Ley

For Simplified, returning to Attentive wasn’t simply a platform change. It was a return to the partnership, strategy, and support that helped SMS work in the first place.