How to Build and Segment Your Email Lists

Picture this: you open your e-mail inbox and find a flurry of enticing content from your favorite brands. You click on the first subject line and discover an animated winter wonderland filled with puffy winter coats, hats, and gloves. The problem is, it’s October and you live in Texas, which means you’re still wearing shorts. The chances of your making a purchase on that day are slim. It’s just not relevant to you – yet. Now, the same email in December? That might elicit a click.

This is where taking the time to build and segment your email list can revolutionize your KPIs. Your customers expect email messages to be timely and relevant to their interests. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of email segmentation, or just not sure where to start, read on for some tips on how to get started.

What is Email List Segmentation?

Email list segmentation is a technique that marketers use to break up their email list into more targeted groups. The goal of dividing your list into smaller groups, or segments, is to cultivate a more personalized brand-customer relationship. You can segment your audience according to interest, behavior, demographics, or even product preferences. The goal is to create groups that are narrow enough to enable meaningful interactions, but not so narrowly targeted that your campaigns lose value.

Email segmentation not only gives the consumer a more tailored experience, but can also help you achieve your marketing goals as well. Research shows that a more personalized approach can help increase email open rates, create higher return-on-investment, and limit potential unsubscribes. In an increasingly digital world, you can’t afford not to personalize your customer’s experience, as it’s becoming more and more the expectation.

How to Get Started

Although the idea of creating an email segmentation list can sound daunting, but with a little planning, you’ll be well on your way. Best of all, many email marketing tools already contain the technology to assist you in your segmentation strategy. 

On a very basic level, you’ll need customer data, and with this data, you will need to create buyer personas. Creating these buyer personas will help you to identify certain trends and what sets your clients apart from each other. As we mentioned before, you’ll also need to ensure that your email software is equipped with segmentation options. Platforms like Mailchimp and Klaviyo come equipped with this functionality.

On a more advanced level, you can also use strategies such as page-level targeting, which is used to reach a specific audience (in real time) when they’re interacting with a particular page on your website. This can appear as call-to-actions, visuals, and personalized messaging. 

Some Ways to Consider Segmenting

There are so many ways to create segments for your brand, although these strategies won’t necessarily work for all. There are also many opportunities to use multiple strategies at once. Here are a few ways you can segment to get you started.

New Subscribers

New subscribers can often be overlooked, so why not offer them a warm welcome to your brand. These emails are a great way to set expectations, letting your clients know how often you’ll be contacting them, the benefits associated with being a subscriber, and links to your blog or social media presence.

Mobile Versus Desktop

Online users are increasingly using their mobile devices over desktop, so its important to ensure that you have optimized your content for both. If you’ve opened an email on both types of devices, you know that the user experience is very different. Don’t forget to tailor things like pop-up ads for mobile as well.

Geography

One of the easiest ways to segment is through location. Take a look at the example of the winter coat in warm-weather location in the beginning. Knowing where your contacts are from is crucial information, as it allows your brand to target the varying wants and needs of customers dependent on where they live.

Very Important Person (VIP)

Why not reward the top percentage of your users who engage and purchase with your brand with exclusives? You can offer a special sneak peek ahead of a launch, a discount, or priority access to events or webinars.

Engagement Level

You likely don’t have an issue keeping highly engaged clients continue to be excited by your content, but have you considered those people who may have stopped engaging with your content? Life can get busy, and by re-engaging with those clients who you haven’t seen in a bit, you can prevent them from unsubscribing, and make them feel included once again.

Although it may require a bit more work, email segmentation ensures that your campaigns are reaching the right people at the right time. It’s also good to know that email segmentation is fluid, so you may consistently be creating new personas, and finding new ways to personalize your strategies. Still unsure how to start? Contact us to get started today.