It’s no news to marketers that segmenting email marketing lists can improve open and click-through rates. However, it’s a waste of time and resources treating your subscribers the same way when you are of their diversity.
Rather than sending the same email to everyone, find out what your subscribers are interested in, what content they want, and even who they are so that you can give them the right content.
You should ditch bulk emailing and enter the modern age of email marketing segmentation that converts by gathering more data about your subscribers and customers.
Before proceeding, let’s get to know what segmentation means in email marketing.
What is Email List Segmentation?
Email segmentation is an email marketing strategy that divides your contacts into groups to deliver targeted marketing content and make sending customized emails based on contact data easier.
You can segment your email lists based on any category in your database that you have access to, including geographic data, demographic data, psychographic data, behavioral data, etc. Email marketing segmentation helps in the creation of long-lasting email credibility that improves over time.
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How to Segment Online Niche?
Your email will be more tailored if you have more information about your customers. However, the type of customer details you’ll need varies by industry. Gender, for example, can be an important piece of profiling data if you run an online fashion store.
Here’s a breakdown of the different types of segmentation you can use for each niche:
- eCommerce segmentation strategies
Every piece of information you gather about your customers increases your conversion potential when running a webshop.
A simple example would be to divide a fashion newsletter into sections based on gender. It makes sense to send a women’s set to your female audience. But it doesn’t have to end there. More data on interests, family circumstances, shopping habits, and gifting will allow for a far more layered segmentation strategy.
Climate, country, and weather are three underutilized eCommerce segmentations that I recommend you look into. What is the reason for this? Weather will directly affect your purchasing intent for your umbrellas and winter coats, just as seasons vary from one place to the next.
- SaaS email segmentation
To submit relevant messaging, SaaS marketers need accurate subscriber data.
Consider categorizing the users’ information based on their profile and behavior. Then, segment the prospects using the data chart. How committed the new prospects are and where they are in the conversion funnel play a big role.
- Consulting and B2B email segmentation
When it comes to B2B email segmentation, there’s also the issue of hitting the right user. At the organization you’re targeting, the user might be a decision-maker, an influencer, or a principal. You can segment by company size, occupation, position, and industry, online interest.
- Real estate email segmentation
Families face a major decision when purchasing a home because it is a long-term investment. And people can only choose a home that they want, can afford, and is suitable for the whole family.
So, you need to know who your clients are as an email marketer to send them targeted emails that are important to their interests, financial position, and family. You can segment your real estate email by marital status, income, location, etc.
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Ways to Segment Your Contacts
Here we get to see five methods for segmenting your contacts and making efficient use of your customer data.
- Contact tagging
Contact tagging is an essential aspect of email marketing segmentation and data collection of your contacts. A contact tag is simply a database “mark” that can be applied to any email contact. It can track things like interest, product purchases, content downloads, geolocation, attendance at events/webinars, email clicks, website surfing, and so on.
Contact tagging enables you to identify the types of content your subscribers are interested in and segment them based on their profile and behavior.
Most of the time, contact tagging is an automatic method for adding information about your contacts. This is done with the aid of your email marketing tools. For example, you can use the tag “Sales ebook downloader” to find contacts who have expressed interest in the ebook subject. So you add a filter to your contacts and only submit sales-related material to those who downloaded your lead magnet. Contact labeling aids in the organization and uses behavior-based data collected by the contact during the customer journey.
- List-based segmentation
Using separate email lists for each of your (main) segments is another way to segment your email marketing audience.
Unlike contact tagging, which allows you to segment your contacts from a single email list, list-based segmentation results in different lists. This was the old way of doing things with email marketing apps, and some ESPs just deal with lists.
Subscriptions to mailing lists are a modern equivalent. Someone may be signed up for new blog posts, updates, deals, event details, or other subject or preference lists. Marketers that are new to email marketing typically start with list-based segmentation because it is simpler and makes more sense before refining the segmentation.
List-based segmentation isn’t as common as it once was. Since some older ESPs could only create profiles for one list, people who were in two lists would have double profiles and be charged twice. Even using list-based segmentation, you can’t get as sophisticated with your email targeting as you can with tagging and dynamic segmentations.
- Static/dynamic segmentation
Consider static segmentation to be the act of making a choice and then freezing it in time. That might sound like the Walkman of email segmentation in a dynamic setting. Segmentation dating back to the Stone Age. Static segmentation can’t keep up with the constant changes in customer engagement and purchases on the internet. This is where dynamic segmentation enters the image.
Dynamic segmentation uses real-time data to build dynamic groups of people who move in and out of the target segment as they meet (or don’t meet) the requirements you set. It’s a fluid communication segmentation system that tracks the customers’ actions and data in real-time.
However, there will be times when you need to “freeze” your pick. Here are some examples:
The most obvious usage for a static list is submitting a follow-up to a previous mailing or, more broadly, when you need to do additional sub selections using a previous set (later on).
- RSS email segmentation
The acronym RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, and it is a web feed that allows users to subscribe to and read updates from online content such as news, stories, and blog posts. When a new post is published, the feed is changed, and the new post is added.
You can provide material that your contacts are interested in using an RSS feed in your email campaigns and automatic communications. But it gets much better when we talk about RSS segmentation, which allows you to offer different RSS content to different segments.
Some businesses build a “personal RSS feed” using backend processes. Similarly, XML or API calls may be used to drive products or product suggestions. The concept remains the same. Some email marketing tools allow you to load and filter a (large) RSS feed, as well as fetch RSS feeds based on categories or personally prepared RSS feeds.
Using an RSS feed in your campaigns is a smart way to automatically keep your contacts informed about the latest news and blog posts. The feeds’ content can be as uniform, segmented, or even one-to-one customized as you want.
- Analytics-based email segmentation
Email segmentation doesn’t have to be one-of-a-kind or dependent on your contacts’ details. More email segmentation opportunities can be discovered using any form of analytics, whether inside or outside of your email software. However, understanding the subscribers’ profiles, behaviors, and the required targeting is the first step in analytics-based segmentation.
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6 Top Email Marketing Platforms for Segmentation
- ActiveCampaign – best for small businesses
- Automizy – best for segment automation
- ExpertSender – best for a detailed segmentation
- Moosend – best for list segmentation
- MailChimp – best for advanced segmentation
- Sendinblue – best for personalization
1. ActiveCampaign – best for small businesses
ActiveCampaign is an email marketing automation platform that provides a set of tools to help small and medium-sized businesses acquire, retain, and eventually engage their customers through advanced email segmentation. The tool offers automation that works wonders in marketing and sales funnels.
You could send a specific message to only those contacts who would be interested in it, and you could also exclude those contacts who would not be interested, using advanced segmentation. Then, since your contacts will believe that your messages are important to them, your deliverability and interaction will remain strong.
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2. Automizy – best for segment automation
Automizy is a one-stop-shop for email marketing. Through linking your marketing channels and activating your automated workflow, you can use omnichannel marketing.
By automating email autoresponders and lead nurturing campaigns, you can save a lot of time. With Automizy, you can automate contact segmentation and tagging.
Automizy, as an email provider, helps you to save time by automating your contact tagging process. Also, send laser-targeted emails to customers that convert.
If you’re doing B2B email marketing, for example, targeting contacts based on their position at a company is a fantastic idea. Imagine what else you can do with your email marketing beyond segmenting contacts based on their purpose.
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3. ExpertSender – best for a detailed segmentation
ExpertSender is a multichannel marketing platform that helps growing businesses address marketing problems through email, SMS, web, smartphone, and web platforms.
One of the best features of ExpertSender is the ability to build advanced and very detailed segments based on the customers’ purchase and behavioral data. They’re also dynamic, which means that client information is modified in real-time. And it’s all super easy to use and works fast.
ExpertSender’s tidy, detailed dashboard is another feature. It’s simple to use and doesn’t overwhelm you with details.
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4. Moosend best for list segmentation
Moosend is a low-cost email marketing tool that can handle a wide variety of marketing tasks, including contact segmentation and targeted email marketing.
Moosend is more than just a platform for sending bulk emails. List Segmentation in Moosend is a powerful feature that lets you submit targeted email marketing campaigns to a particular audience from your entire email list.
You can automatically send customized content to your contacts, much as you would if you were speaking with them in person.
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5. MailChimp – best for advanced segmentation
MailChimp is a piece of software that allows you to handle mailing lists, newsletters, and automated promotions. For example, you can build list-based email segmentation in MailChimp and split your contacts into various lists based on what they have in common.
MailChimp’s app is easy to use and provides access to various email marketing resources in one location.
MailChimp keeps track of specific information, such as an email subscriber’s position, allowing you to segment your mailings based on geo-IP, operation, contact status, language, source, and other factors.
It’s a useful feature for business owners who want to target particular segments of the market. You will optimize the potential of your campaign by being able to reach specific geographic areas.
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6. Sendinblue – best for personalization
Via marketing strategies and transactional communications, Sendinblue enables companies to create and develop relationships. You can configure your email segmentation with Sendinblue so that each reader receives an email that is tailored to their specific needs or interests.
Email segmentation will give your campaigns and your whole brand a more personalized feel.
Sendinblue’s segmentation engine makes it easy to manage your contacts without creating separate email lists for each segment. You can quickly isolate and split your contacts, then reassemble them into new mailing lists.
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Conclusion
Finally, keep in mind that segmentation isn’t the be-all and end-all of a successful email campaign. Don’t segment your email list just to be able to say you did.
If you’re investing a lot of money into hyper-segmentation and only getting mediocre results, you may want to rethink your strategy. Are you segmenting correctly? Does the content of your emails correspond to the segments of your mailing list?
Perhaps a more straightforward email list segmentation process is better for your target audience. After all, it’s the same as in the world of television. There are times when dividing up tasks is appropriate; other times, it is preferable to work as a group.