Segmentation

What is segmentation?

Email segmentation is a process of grouping your list into smaller subgroups based on certain criteria. An example of segmentation is sending a broadcast message to the people in your list who’ve purchased your product versus the subscribers who have not purchased yet.

How to segment an email list?

Segmenting an email list is a way to target a set of subscribers. You may want to send a specific message based on your subscriber’s interests, past purchases, or geographic location. To segment, you can ask your subscribers when they sign up for your list to let you know what topics they are interested in hearing about. Within the email marketing software you use, select the people the message is written for (the segment) and send your message to only those subscribers.

Related: 7 Simple Steps to Get Started with Segmentation

What is a segmented email campaign?

A segmented email campaign is a series of messages that are sent to a specific set of subscribers. These message are tailored to this group of people based upon criteria that may include things like interests or past purchases.

Why is segmentation important?

Segmentation is important because it helps you send a personalized, relevant message to your subscribers. Subscribers are far more likely to open and engage with your email when the content is tailored to their interests. This has benefits for your business and for your deliverability. Email inbox providers track something called an “Email Sender Reputation Score,” and while this can sound intimidating, what it boils down to is making sure the emails you send are being opened by your subscribers.

Using segmentation to help target your messaging and impact the overall open rate of your emails helps provide you a good reputation score — which in turn leads to your emails getting to the inbox.

What are the most effective ways to segment an email list?

There are almost an endless number of ways to segment your list. There are three core categories of segmentation:
1. Preferences
When signing up for your email list, ask folks what they are interested in. Perhaps you have a business where you sell your graphic art applied to stickers, t-shirts, drinkware and bags. On your signup form, ask people to select what they are most interested in. When you have a new style of water bottle in your shop, those who selected drinkware can be the first to know about the new item.

2. Past Purchases
Drive repeat sales by segmenting your audience to target past buyers. In some email marketing platforms, like AWeber, you can integrate with your ecommerce platform to automatically keep track of subscribers who have made a purchase, making it easy to send a targeted message without having to manually keep track of those customers.

3. Engagement
Knowing if a subscriber has engaged (opened a message or clicked on any of the links) can help tailor future messages. Ways you can segment based on engagement include resending a message to subscribers who may not have opened a message about a promotion you sent last week. Or sending a message to subscribers who clicked on a link for a particular hat you sell to let them know about a sale you are running for a scarf that compliments it.

Related: 16 Ways Email Segmentation Can Boost Subscriber Engagement