email-segmentation

Email Segmentation: 15 Segments to Break Your List Into

Email marketing is one of the most effective marketing strategies to build a solid business. Email marketing segmentation represents the grouping of email subscribers into subgroups divided by various criteria, such as preferences, interests, location, activity, and more. Email segmentation can dramatically improve the conversion rate from email marketing activities.

SegmentDescription
New subscribersSend welcome emails to new subscribers during and after sign-up to introduce them to your brand and encourage engagement.
PreferencesSegment subscribers based on their preferences, such as those interested in blog posts versus those interested in sale notifications. Tailor email content accordingly to improve engagement.
InterestsAnalyze purchase history to determine subscribers’ interests and send recommendation emails about related products or services.
LocationNotify subscribers about events or promotions in their area. For businesses with physical stores, inform customers about their closest walk-in store for in-store promotions.
Open rateReward subscribers with high engagement (e.g., high open rates) with special offers to maintain their loyalty and encourage continued interaction with your emails.
InactivityReach out to inactive subscribers to remind them of missed opportunities and encourage them to re-engage with your brand by highlighting recent offers or updates they may have missed.
Lead magnetSegment subscribers based on their lead magnet preferences to send them relevant content. Ensure subscribers interested in multiple lead magnets receive information for all relevant topics.
Shopping Cart AbandonmentSend reminders to subscribers who have abandoned their shopping carts to encourage them to complete their purchase, potentially offering discounts or incentives to incentivize them to return.
Abandoned FormCapture email addresses of visitors who abandon forms on your website to follow up with them later and encourage them to complete the sign-up process.
Customers Who Didn’t BuyOffer valuable incentives to visitors who showed interest but didn’t make a purchase to salvage the relationship and encourage future purchases.
Segment by PurchaseRecognize and reward loyal customers with special offers or discounts based on their purchase behavior, such as offering appreciation coupons or cheaper offers to customers who make multiple purchases or large orders.
Change in Purchase PatternMonitor subscription-based customers and reach out to those who suddenly stop their subscriptions to gather feedback and address any issues.
Segment by ReviewsEncourage customers to leave reviews by sending targeted emails with friendly reminders. Testimonials can boost brand reputation and encourage others to make purchases.
Segment By Website ActivityAnalyze visitor activity on your website to understand their interests and preferences. Use this data to create personalized offers and products tailored to their needs and preferences.
Segment by GenderIf your business offers products or services tailored to specific genders, segment subscribers by gender to deliver relevant updates and promotions. Avoid sending irrelevant content to subscribers by ensuring they receive updates tailored to their preferences.

A quick intro to email segmentation

Email list segmentation is the process of dividing your subscribers into smaller groups for better-personalized emails. Rather than sending the same email to all your subscribers, segmentation will foster better engagement and hence better click rates. In all, segmentation will help improve the effectiveness of your campaign.

Upon segmentation of subscribers, your automation will work better, as you have different autoresponders for different segments of your audience. 

Segmenting your email list starts when the users submit their data. You need to know why and how they got on your list, their names, location, and lead magnets that attracted them to your list. This will enable you to personalize emails to them that will trigger their interest.

15 Segments to Break Your List Into

New subscribers

Send new subscribers a series of welcome emails during, and after sign-up.

Preferences

Subscribers who want to hear about blog posts vs. those who only want sale notifications.

Interests

The purchase history of subscribers is an indication of interest. Send customers recommendation emails about related products.

Location

When you have events happening in a location, you should notify your subscribers who live in that area about the event, they may not be able to attend, but it helps you build goodwill. Also, if you have a physical store as well as an online store, you can inform customers about their closest walk-in store for promotions that are in-store only.

Open rate

Reward subscribers that engage your emails with special offers to maintain their loyalty.

Inactivity

Let inactive members know what they have missed since their last activity; using analytics on how more people are benefitting from your offers may just remind them of how much they are missing out on, and they get active again.

Lead magnet

Send content to your subscribers on their lead magnet preference. Different people have their choices for consuming information. Some subscribers may put in for more than one lead magnet, so it is important to include them in separate lead magnet lists so that they can get information for all new information.

Shopping Cart Abandonment

This is quite common for E-commerce businesses as some customers will fill up carts without checking out due to many reasons best known to them. It is important to remind them to complete their purchase and to offer a freebie if necessary. E.g., “complete your purchase and get a 15% discount off your next purchase”.

Abandoned Form

Some visitors will appear on your website but will not complete their registration. It is important to make their email address the first detail you will ask for so that if they don’t even complete the sign-up, you can always reach out to them some other time. You can also use WordPress’ WPForms Form Abandonment Add-on to save emails even if they don’t submit.

Customers Who Didn’t Buy

You might have launched a product with limited quantity, and your visitor missed out on the opportunity to buy. You can try to compensate them by offering really valuable offers to them that salvages your relationship with them. 

Segment by Purchase

Treat customers who purchase large amounts by offering them appreciation coupons or free gifts that will make them attached to your brand. Also, customers who have returned to make more orders – say 3 times, have shown some sort of loyalty and you should reward them by giving them cheaper offers on their next few purchases. You should also take note of certain purchases that are seasonal. If a customer purchases a weatherproof jacket for the snowy period, you should be able to suggest lighter cotton clothes in your promotional emails during the start of the summer season.

Change in Purchase Pattern

If you have a virtual product or service where you need the customer to regularly subscribe, if they stop suddenly, you should check in with mails to ensure you aren’t doing anything wrong. Always ensure to conduct a survey on why the user canceled as it will help build user experience for other subscribers.

Segment by Reviews

Testimonies of your customers can never be overestimated, as they propel other skeptical users to make their purchases. Sometimes customers are too lazy and selfish to drop a review, but constant friendly reminders with targeted emails can do the trick and boost your brand reputation.

Segment By Website Activity

You can monitor your visitor’s activity on your website to know what exactly what they are looking for, using tools to extract their browsing data and sorting similar users together to create personalized offers and products for them just as if they are inside of you.

Segment by Gender

If your business sells separate items for men and women, most notably fashion, you should segment your subscribers by gender to exclusively give them relevant updates. You definitely do not want to update women about men’s clothing and vice versa.

Key Insights

  • Email Marketing Segmentation: Email marketing segmentation is the practice of dividing email subscribers into smaller groups based on various criteria, leading to better-personalized and more effective email campaigns.
  • Benefits of Segmentation: Segmentation fosters better engagement and click rates, leading to improved campaign effectiveness. Automated responses can be tailored to different segments, enhancing overall performance.
  • 15 Segments for Email List: Different segments for email list include:
    1. New Subscribers: Send a welcome series to new subscribers.
    2. Preferences: Segment by content preference (blog posts vs. sale notifications).
    3. Interests: Recommend products based on purchase history.
    4. Location: Notify subscribers about local events or promotions for physical stores.
    5. Open Rate: Reward engaged subscribers with special offers to maintain loyalty.
    6. Inactivity: Encourage inactive members to re-engage by showcasing missed benefits.
    7. Lead Magnet: Send content based on subscribers’ lead magnet preferences.
    8. Shopping Cart Abandonment: Remind customers to complete their purchases and offer incentives.
    9. Abandoned Form: Capture email addresses of users who don’t complete registration.
    10. Customers Who Didn’t Buy: Offer valuable deals to salvage relationships.
    11. Segment by Purchase: Reward frequent buyers or offer promotions based on specific purchases.
    12. Change in Purchase Pattern: Check in with customers who stop regular subscriptions to understand their reasons.
    13. Segment by Reviews: Encourage customers to leave reviews with targeted emails.
    14. Segment By Website Activity: Monitor user activity on the website to create personalized offers.
    15. Segment by Gender: Tailor updates and products based on subscribers’ gender, especially in fashion businesses.
  • Conclusion: Email segmentation is a powerful tool for personalized marketing, leading to better engagement and improved conversion rates. By understanding customers’ preferences, behaviors, and demographics, businesses can create more targeted and relevant email campaigns.

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