Email segmentation is like a rite of passage for serious email marketers. Bulk email can only get you so far. If you want to provide subscribers with the most relevant content possible, you have to segment that list of contacts.
What is email segmentation?
When we talk about list segmentation, we’re referring to the concept of breaking up your email subscriber list into different groups based on unique sets of data.
Email personalization is absolutely essential for retention and engagement, as 67% of subscribers expect it. Meanwhile, almost half of consumers say they get annoyed or frustrated when brands don’t provide personalized content.
42% of consumers say it frustrates them when brands don’t provide personalized content.
Segmenting your list is the first step you should take down the road to hyper-personalization. Not only does this make customers happy, but marketers say they notice a 20% increase in sales after launching personalized email campaigns.
Personalization can boost your sales by 20%.
What are some of the best email segmentation ideas?
With email segmentation, you have virtually endless options for personalizing your email campaigns. Here are some of the best email segmentation ideas to consider.
- Past purchase history
- Browsing behavior
- Geolocation
- Gender
- Weather
- Content interest
- Stage of the sales funnel
- Engagement such as open or click-through rates
- Occupation
- Homeowner vs. Renter
- Education level
- Family size
- Marital status
- Information collected through surveys
- Traveling
- Time zones
- Inactivity
- Device and email client
- Website activity
This image shows an example of how you can break your list up in Campaign Monitor based on basic information like geographic location and gender:
Source: Campaign Monitor
Email service providers like Campaign Monitor can help you put your email segmentation ideas into action with cutting-edge personalization features, based on what your customers have purchased, where they’ve traveled, where they like to eat, and more.
How to measure your email segmentation results
Although tracking your open rates says a lot about your subject line quality, it provides little information in terms of your content quality. You want to know whether or not your personalized email segmentation ideas are actually relevant to your segmented audience.
Instead, first look at your click-through rates. Simply log into your email service provider dashboard and click over to your various campaigns and check the results to help give you a good idea of who felt inspired enough by your content to take action.
More importantly, you want to know who converted. Providers like Campaign Monitor make it easy to merge data from Google Analytics, WooCommerce, and Shopify so you can figure out which emails are actually making an impact.
Does it really matter?
Segmenting your list and how you do so is vitally important. Your short-term goal is to provide your subscribers with unique, valuable, and interesting content. You do this with an ultimate goal of improving click-through rates and conversion.
The only way to provide useful content is to segment your list as much as possible—the smaller the segment, the better and easier it will be to target and personalize your content.
What now?
Now that you understand personalization and have some email segmentation ideas, you can get started breaking up your list. Try sending out different surveys to figure out which type of content your subscriber segments may appreciate and watch your open, click-through, and conversion rates go up.
Are you ready to take your email personalization to the next level? Check out our Ultimate Email Personalization Checklist to get started.