Email marketing segmentation: how to send the right message

Email marketing remains one of the most effective channels for communicating with customers. Successful email campaigns can generate high ROI and help your business grow.

To achieve these results, it's not enough to simply send mass messages to all your subscribers. Let's face it, all of us have had the experience of deleting annoying and irrelevant emails that we didn't even bother to open.

The key to successful email marketing is audience segmentation. Through it, you can send personalized and relevant messages that resonate with recipients.

What is email segmentation?

Imagine you own a clothing store. You wouldn't send the same catalogue to everyone, would you? You'll have special offers for men, women, children, maybe even for lovers of certain styles or brands.

👉 The goal is to create targeted personalized campaigns that meet the needs and preferences of the audience.

Segmentation is a type of personalization, but there are some key differences between them. Email marketing segmentation helps you decide who to send emails to and who not to, based on demographics, interests, and user behavior.

Personalization, on the other hand, allows you to communicate with recipients individually. For example, in addition to the customer's name, you can use their purchase history and preferences.

🍕Imagine, for example, that you want to order a family pizza for dinner, but the preferences of each family member differ from those of the others. Eventually, you realize that it's better to order several different pizzas tailored to individual desires.

It's the same with your emails. Your subscribers are different people with different interests, needs and preferences. Email segmentation is the way to turn that family pizza into several smaller ones that everyone will be happy with.

How do you segment for email marketing?

Email marketing segmentation isn't just a fashion trend, it's a must for anyone who wants to achieve high results. It is a key tool for improving results by allowing you to send personalized messages that are more interesting and useful to recipients.

By achieving the full potential of your email campaigns and turning them into personalized messages that resonate with your subscribers.

Building segments: where to start?

👉 The first step is to collect data about your subscribers. The more you know about them, the more accurate your segments will be.

✅ Demographics

Different age groups have different interests and needs. For example, young people may be interested in fashion trends, technology and social events, while older subscribers may be looking for health, beauty and convenience products.

Men and women often have different preferences for products and services. Segmenting by gender allows you to tailor your messages to the specific needs and interests of each group.

For example, for women you can create emails that focus on beauty products and fashion accessories, while for men you can focus on tech devices and sporting goods.

The geographic location of subscribers also plays an important role in segmentation. You can send localized offers and information about events in a specific area.

✅ Interests

By analysing users' previous purchases, you'll understand what they like and what they're interested in. Even without a purchase, what subscribers view on your website reveals their interests.

If someone is looking at outdoor furniture, they are probably planning to renovate their outdoor space. Use this information to send emails with inspiring design ideas, garden maintenance tips or special offers on garden products.

✅ Behaviour

Behavioral segmentation is more complex than geographic and demographic segmentation because it requires collecting and analyzing data about the actions of users on your website. When analyzing the actions of your users, you can rely on several metrics.

For example, take note of purchases that have been made recently and suggest similar products. Segmentation can also be done on users who have added products to the cart but have not completed the purchase. Here is the time to prompt these subscribers to complete their order or you can offer them a special offer.

The email campaign can also target users who have visited the site and viewed multiple pages. In this case, you already know what their preferences are and with the right campaign you can spur them into action.

What are the benefits of email marketing segmentation?

We believe that every email you send is an opportunity to build a stronger relationship with your customers. But how do you do that when every customer is unique? The answer is easy: email marketing segmentation. This strategy for successful email marketing brings multiple benefits to your business.

⭐️ Increased engagement

When you send personalized messages that are tailored to your subscribers' specific interests and needs, the likelihood that they will open and read your emails increases significantly. This leads to higher levels of engagement, which is a key metric for successful email marketing.

⭐️ Better personalization

Personalized emails show your customers that you understand and value them. This builds trust and loyalty, which is essential for the long-term success of your business.

⭐️ Higher open and click-through rates

When subscribers receive messages that match their interests and preferences, they are more likely to respond positively and take action.

This increases the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns as relevant content creates a sense of personalised attention and care, which increases customer satisfaction.

⭐️ Lower levels of deregistration

One of the biggest challenges with email marketing is retaining subscribers. When they see value in the content they receive, they are less likely to unsubscribe from your list. This is an important aspect of maintaining long-term customer relationships and ensuring a stable base of loyal subscribers.

⭐️ More conversions

Targeted messages tailored to the needs and wants of recipients lead to higher conversions. When emails are tailored to the specific interests of subscribers, they are more likely to take desired actions such as making a purchase, signing up for a webinar or newsletter.

Ideas and strategies to segment your subscribers

In theory, everything sounds good so far, but in practice you may encounter difficulties. In order to make this process easier, we show you in a few steps how to segment your audience.

Inevitably, in this endeavor you will need email marketing software to effectively group your customers based on certain criteria.

👉 Step 1: Data collection and analysis

To segment effectively, you need to have accurate and up-to-date data about your subscribers. Start by analyzing the information you've already collected - demographics, purchase history, website behavior. Then consider what additional data you can collect through surveys, feedback forms, or tracking tools.

👉 Step 2: Experimentation and automation

Once you have the necessary data, it's time to start experimenting with different segments. Use your email marketing software to create personalized campaigns that target specific groups of subscribers. Automate processes to save time and effort, and get creative in your approach.

👉 Step 3: Measurement, Optimization and Development

Once you send the emails, keep track of how the recipients interact with them. Measure what they open, what they click on, and what type of content engages them. Use this data to improve your future campaigns.

For example, if your loyal customers aren't clicking on surveys, send the next survey to a segment of loyal customers who are showing interest. If a large portion of recipients don't open emails on Mondays, schedule the emails for a different day.

For optimal results, you can use A/B testing. Divide your list into "A" and "B" groups, and experiment with different messages to see which content will be more successful.

💡Tips for successful email marketing segmentation

• You don't have to create dozens of segments at once. Start with a few basic ones and build on them over time.
• Make sure the segmentation criteria are clear and easy to understand.
• Experiment with different types of segments and content to find what works best for your audience.
• Use subscribers' names, interests and past behaviour to create more personalisedmessages.

✅ Best practices for segmentation in email marketing

Segmentation is an art that requires balance and attention to detail. We offer a few best practices to help you maximize your results.

• Don't get caught up in creating countless segments right from the start. Get to know your subscribers by trying to gather as much relevant information about them as possible. Start with a few key groups based on the criteria most important to your business.
• Use the information you gather to create personalized messages that meet the needs and interests of different segments.
• Personalized content is the key to successful email marketing as it shows your subscribers that you understand and value their individual preferences.
• Constantly analyze the results of your campaigns and optimize your segmentation strategies.
• Track metrics such as email open rates, clicks and conversions to understand how different segments are performing. Don't be afraid to experiment with different approaches and optimize your campaigns based on the results.
• Use email marketing automation tools and platforms that offer segmentation and personalization capabilities. Automation can greatly ease the segmentation process, saving you time and effort.
• Regularly update and clean your email list to ensure segment accuracy and relevance.

Ready to take your business to the next level? With creativity and good data analysis, you'll find the right formula for email marketing segmentation that will maximize the results of your campaigns.

Read our other resources for a successful email marketing strategy.