While pre-built email marketing templates in Klaviyo remain a common starting point for many, their biggest drawback is the endless cycle of edits and adjustments needed to make them fit each campaign. This not only slows down production, but can lead to inconsistency in branding and design.
A modular template system offers a stronger alternative—one that balances consistency with flexibility. You can maintain a unified brand identity while tailoring email layouts to different campaign goals without reinventing the wheel each time.
Klaviyo Universal Content builds on this modular approach. It enables teams to design, store, and reuse adaptable content blocks across campaigns.
We’ll walk you through how to use universal content in Klaviyo effectively so you can create campaigns that are efficient and versatile. Let’s get started.
What Is Universal Content in Klaviyo?
In Klaviyo, the Universal Content feature is a way to create a reusable block of content that you can insert into multiple emails and templates — and update in one place to have the changes automatically reflected everywhere it’s used.
In the Klaviyo template editor, you can save blocks or sections as universal content. When you do, you can choose to apply future edits to every instance of the universal block across all your templates.
Think of it like a “global content snippet” or a shared content block. Here are the key aspects of Universal Content:
- Reusable: You can design a content block once and save it as Universal Content for re-use later.
- Consistency: Klaviyo reusable blocks help maintain brand consistency across all your campaigns and flows.
- Dynamic personalization: Can still use dynamic tags inside Universal Content so it’s personalized in each send.
- Centralized editing: This means when you edit universal content in Klaviyo, every email or flow that uses it will update automatically — no need to manually edit each one.
In Tandem with the Custom HTML Editor
Universal Content in Klaviyo works with the custom HTML editor too, but keep the following points in mind:
- Create universal content in Klaviyo as an HTML block, then insert that block into your custom HTML email.
- When inserted, it acts like a “placeholder” that pulls in the saved HTML from your Universal Content library.
- Any changes you make to that Universal Content later will update across all HTML emails where it’s used.
Consider this:
You’ve created a reusable block of HTML for the email footer, including a legal disclaimer and social media icons. Instead of copying and pasting this code into every email, you save it as Universal Content—in the form of Klaviyo reusable blocks. When you insert this block into your emails, it doesn’t embed the code directly; rather, it acts as a dynamic placeholder that references the original block.
This means if you need to update the disclaimer or add a new social media icon, you only have to edit the single Universal Content block. All the emails where that block is used will then automatically update.
Applying & Editing Universal Content Across Emails
For using Universal Content in Klaviyo, follow these steps:
- Go to Content → Universal Content in Klaviyo.
- Create a new piece of Universal Content.
- Switch to Source / HTML view while editing, then paste in your custom HTML code, and save.
- In your email template or campaign (custom HTML editor), insert that Universal Content snippet.
- Klaviyo will merge the saved HTML into the final email just before you hit send.
You can also drive edits locally if you need. Opt for “Unlink and edit independently” to make edits in universal templates.
Limitations of Klaviyo Universal Blocks
Before you dive into Klaviyo email design, remember that the Universal Block feature has a couple of limitations:
- You can’t directly edit Universal Content inside the custom HTML template. Which means that you must edit it from the Universal Content section only.
- If your custom HTML uses inline CSS or specific responsive code, make sure it’s self-contained in the Universal Content block so it renders correctly when merged.
But dynamic variables still work inside Universal Content, even in HTML mode.
Best Practices: Universal Content for Klaviyo Email Design
Now that you know how to use Universal Content in Klaviyo, Below is a list of best practices you should keep in mind while using the feature in Klaviyo:
- Identify frequently used blocks (Klaviyo template sections) before saving them as universal content blocks.
- Use clear and specific naming conventions. Include function, location, and version information when necessary to prevent confusion and duplication as your library grows.
- Document naming structures and organizational guidelines for your team to maintain consistency.
- Build master templates and modular components that utilize universal content for rapid campaign development.
- Establish approval workflows and document dependencies within your team to manage updates.
- Provide training and clear guidelines to all team members for creating, editing, and applying universal content.
- Send test emails and check all interactive components.
- Verify universal content updates so you don’t unintentionally affect branding, messaging, or functionality.
Wrapping Up
If you’re ready to build campaigns that balance speed with consistency, Universal Content is one of the most powerful tools in Klaviyo’s toolkit.
While there are limitations to keep in mind, adopting this approach means less time spent on repetitive edits and more time focused on strategy, personalization, and results.
If you need help with designing universal email templates for Klaviyo, get in touch with us, and let’s get started!