If there’s one thing that smart marketers know, it’s that email personalization is the key to turbocharging their email marketing campaigns. With studies showing that personalized emails are the biggest revenue drivers, it’s no wonder most marketers are adopting this marketing strategy.
To send personalized emails, you have to have a good list segmentation process in place.
For some marketers, this may not be so easy, as the only field they use in their opt-in form is the email field.
Source: Campaign Monitor
Perhaps you are one of them and wondering how you can segment your list in this case. We’ll look at that briefly but, first, we will cover the basics.
What is email list segmentation?
Email list segmentation is a marketing technique in which you separate or segment your email list into different segments based on a number of predefined conditions. The reasoning behind segmentation is that it helps you address your subscribers on a more personal level.
There are many factors used in segmenting a list. However, if you haven’t collected much data through your sign-up forms, segmenting your list can be a bit of a headache.
So how do you go about it?
How to segment your email list when you only have the email field
Even though you may not have much data about your subscriber as you would like, there are a few ways to get enough information to place them in a relevant segment. Let’s look at one of the major ones.
Tagging
When using email marketing software like Campaign Monitor, you can use a feature called tagging to help you collect data. Tagging is a way of monitoring what actions a particular subscriber takes on your website and within your emails. This includes the links they click on, pages they visit, and even purchases they make.
Other uses of tagging include providing a general location of the subscriber.
For more information on how you can use tags to personalize your emails, check out this helpful guide we created.
Engagement
Another way you can segment your list with just an email address is by the way subscribers engage with your emails. The best way to do this is by creating two segments, one for those who open and engage with your emails and another for those who haven’t engaged in a particular period. You can then design a re-engagement campaign for those who haven’t been active.
For the active ones, it becomes easy to target them according to their preferences, which you can learn from the links they clicked on or web pages they visited.
Past Purchases
Another great way to segment your email list is by subscribers’ past purchases. You can group those who made similar purchases together. You can also segment those who haven’t made any purchases at all. It then becomes easy to personalize the emails you send to such segments.
Location
Armed with just an email address, you can still determine the location of a subscriber using analytics tools and tags. Location is a great criterion for segmenting your list, as it enables you to create location-specific content for your segments. This is particularly helpful if you run a brick-and-mortar business, as you can use this to drive leads to your business.
Does it really matter?
Email segmentation is a critical component of any email marketing strategy. According to the DMA, segmented and targeted emails accounted for 58% of email marketing ROI in 2015.
Our own research has shown that segmentation can increase revenue by as much as 760%.
This is why you should take the time to segment your email list before you run your next email marketing campaign.
What now?
Armed with this information, you have no excuse to send broad “blast” messages in the name of email marketing, unless it’s a message your entire list will find relevant.
Take your email marketing a notch higher by segmenting your email list as best you can with the little data you have. You’ll be surprised at the impact it will have.