email marketing segmentation - mailing

Segmentation in Email Marketing is dividing your email list into smaller groups with similar characteristics. For example, you might segment your list based on location or job title to send targeted messages to each group.

Segmentation allows you to reach more customers with relevant content and offers, which can help increase engagement and sales.

Analysing Your Email Audience

Defining your email’s target audience is the first step to creating a segmented email marketing strategy. Email audience definition can be done in many ways, but it’s essential to consider whom you want to reach and what they need from your business.

Once you’ve defined your target audience, it’s time to identify customer segments based on their behaviour and interests.

For example:

  • If someone has purchased a product or service from you before, they are likely interested in other products or services the company offers. So they should receive offers explicitly related to those topics (e.g., “Would you like more information about our new line of T-shirts?”).
  • If someone hasn’t purchased anything yet but has visited several pages on the website without leaving any contact information or making any purchases yet (signalling interest), then sending them an email with a discount code could be an effective way of converting them into customers who will return later down the road once they’re ready for purchase!

Creating Segments for Targeted Messaging

Creating customer segments is the next step in creating a targeted email marketing strategy.

You can segment your customer or audience based on different factors like actions, interests, age and many others.

For example, if you want to send an offer for new products only to customers who have purchased from you before but not recently (and thus may be ready for another purchase), then you would create a segment called “New Customers.”

email marketing segmentation - strategy
Once you’ve created your segments, it’s time to craft tailored messages or content that speak directly to each group of people–and then test those messages against one another. This will help ensure that all your efforts are working toward one goal: getting more conversions from every email sent to the world.

Delivering Targeted Content

You can personalise email content by leveraging automated emails.

Automated emails (for example, in an e-commerce shop) are sent based on a trigger. An example of a trigger is a purchase or items left in the cart or abandoned cart. These triggers allow you to send targeted email messages or email notifications that resonate with your consumers and increase engagement. For example, if someone abandons their cart after adding an item, you could send them an email offering 20% off their next purchase if they complete their order within 24 hours.

Another way to leverage segmentation campaigns is by optimising them based on customer behaviour or preferences to deliver targeted content at the right time for each person or group (segment).

This helps you create relevant messaging that resonates with each segment’s interests while improving conversion rates because it gives customers what they want when they want it most.

Measuring Segment Performance

Measuring performance is critical to the success of your email marketing campaigns. It allows you to track the effectiveness of your segmentation efforts and adjust your strategy as needed. There are several key metrics you can use to measure segment performance:

Email engagement: Email engagement refers to how your audience interacts with your emails. This includes metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and overall engagement rates. By measuring the engagement of each segment, you can determine which segments are most responsive to your messaging.

Conversion rates and ROI: Conversion rates measure the percentage of email subscribers who take a desired action after receiving your email, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. ROI (return on investment) measures the revenue generated by your email campaigns compared to the cost of running those campaigns.

You can determine which segments are most profitable for your business by measuring conversion rates and ROI for each segment.

Customer lifetime value (CLV): Customer lifetime value measures the total revenue a single customer generates for your business over their relationship with you. By measuring CLV for each segment, you can identify high-value segments worth investing in.

You’ll need to use an email marketing platform that provides detailed analytics and reporting to measure these metrics. Most email marketing platforms offer some form of reporting, but some are more robust than others. Look for a platform that offers detailed segmentation reporting. This is because you can easily compare the performance of different segments.

Once you have your metrics, you must analyse them and use the insights to improve your segmentation strategy. For example, if one segment has a significantly higher CLV than others, you may want to invest more resources in that segment. Or, if you find that one segment has a low engagement rate, you may want to adjust your messaging or targeting to better resonate with that group.

In summary, measuring the performance of your segmented email marketing campaigns is critical to their success. By tracking engagement, conversion rates, ROI, and CLV for each segment, you can identify areas for improvement and optimise your strategy over time.

Using A/B Testing for Segmentation

A/B testing for segmentation compares two versions of a home page or any sub-pages to see which one performs better.

The first step in setting up an A/B test is to create two different versions of your email template–one with the new design and one with the old design. Then you’ll send both versions to half your subscriber list so that each person gets one version or another depending on what group they were randomly assigned to (this is called “random assignment”).

Once this initial round has been sent, you can begin analysing results by looking at open rates, click rates and unsubscribe rates for each version over time if there are significant differences between them (for example, if one has significantly higher open rates), you know which design works best!

Best Practices for Segmentation

Segmentation is all about dividing your email list into smaller groups based on shared characteristics, and it’s a highly effective way to target your messaging to specific audiences. However, in segmentation, some best practices can help make the most of your email marketing through segmentation efforts.

Use customer data to create segments: The first step in effective segmentation is to use customer data to create meaningful segments. This includes information like demographics, interests, and purchase history. By analysing this data and reports, you can identify patterns and group customers into segments with common characteristics. For example, you might create a segment for customers who have bought your product or service in the past 30 days or for customers or buyers who have shown interest in a particular service or product line.

Automate segmentation: One of the keys to effective segmentation is automation. Using automation tools, you can create segments automatically based on predefined criteria. This saves time and ensures that your segments are always up-to-date. You can also automate the delivery of targeted messages to each segment, which can help improve engagement and conversion rates.

Implement segmentation strategies: You can use many different segmentation strategies, depending on your goals and the nature of your business. For example, you might segment your email list based on geography, interests, or behaviour. You might also create segments based on customer personas or customer journeys. The key is choosing the right segmentation strategy for your business and implementing it effectively.

In addition to these best practices, there are several other things to remember regarding segmentation. First, track your results and adjust your segmentation strategies as needed. You may find that one segment is more responsive than another or that specific messages work better for certain segments. By tracking your results, you can optimise your segmentation efforts over time.

Second, be sure to respect your customers’ privacy and preferences. Ensure you have permission to use their data for segmentation purposes, and allow them to opt out of any segments or campaigns they’re not interested in.
Finally, always keep your customer at the centre of your segmentation efforts. The goal is to create targeted messages that resonate with each segment, so focus on their needs, interests, and behaviours. By doing so, you can create a more personalised and engaging email marketing experience that drives results for your business.

Segmentation Strategies to Try

You can use segmentation to target different groups with different messages, or you can use it to identify which tactics are working best for each group.

There are three main types of segmentation: geographic, demographic and behavioural.

Geographic segmentation divides your audience based on where they live or work (e.g., “all customers in California”).

Demographic segmentation divides them by age range, gender and other factors like income level or marital status (e.g., “all female customers under 25 years old with an annual income less than £50k”).

Behavioural segmentation divides them into those who have already made purchases from you vs those who haven’t yet purchased anything from you but might be interested if given the right offer at the right time (e.g., “customers who have purchased from us before vs those who haven’t yet purchased anything from us”).

The Future of Email Segmentation

Predictive segmentation is becoming a reality with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Automated segmentation will also become more common as marketers look for ways to streamline their processes while achieving high results.

The best part? You can start using these technologies today!

Behavioural segmentation divides them into those who have already made purchases from you vs those who haven’t yet purchased anything from you but might be interested if given the right offer at the right time (e.g., “customers who have purchased from us before vs those who haven’t yet purchased anything from us”).

Conclusion

email marketing segmentation
Email marketing segmentation is a powerful tool for marketers, but it can be challenging to implement.

The key to email marketing segmentation is to start small and build from there. Once you have a basic email segmentation strategy, you can start optimising your campaigns for success by testing different messages and offers on different audience segments.

When done right, segmentation unlocks the potential of email marketing by allowing you to personalise content for each group of customers–and get better results as a result!