Long-Tail CI Framework: Standing Up Scalable Competitive Intelligence at Klaviyo

This case study was created from an episode of the Product Marketing Adventure Podcast. It has been adapted into Dusted's case study format to preserve and showcase the guest's real-world experience. Written to preserve the voice of the true author, Mindy Regnell.

Klaviyo is best known as a CRM for B2C businesses—we’re building the autonomous CRM that lets marketers scale their efforts, though it’s generally described as marketing automation software. I run the market and competitive intelligence program here and have been at Klaviyo about two years. I’ve been in e-commerce for 15–20 years and doing competitive intelligence for nearly a decade. Prior to my arrival there was no formal CI program; I was brought on specifically to stand one up. The market is extremely crowded: email platforms, SMS, WhatsApp, CDPs, reviews, and more sit alongside multiple product lines, geos, and segments. Internally I keep a slide that’s just a smattering of competitor logos—and it still isn’t exhaustive.

It was immediately clear we had far too many competitors to solve for one-by-one. Getting even a reliable shortlist of top competitors proved hard. Sales reps—especially new hires spread across geos and segments—faced an overwhelming landscape. Regional teams in EMEA and APAC routinely ran into smaller local players (300–1,000 customers) that a small CI team could never cover with individual battle cards, while global “tier-one” competitors still demanded deep coverage. Without a scalable system, onboarding would stay chaotic and regional reps would feel unsupported.