Email Segmentation Strategy

Like chess, build a strategy

Email segmentation is the division of your contact list into sub-groups based on relevant types of shared characteristics, such as geographic location, interests, buying behaviours, and so on. Mailchimp’s latest user data shows segmented campaigns generate a 14.37% better open rate and 64.78% more clicks than non-segmented campaigns. It is, therefore, an essential part of maximising the return on any email campaign so having a robust strategy in place is essential. But, how do you create that strategy?

First, decide which type of segmentation you’re going to use. There are four types:

  • Geographic
  • Demographic
  • Psychographic
  • Behavioural

Geographic deals with location. Depending on your product or service, this may or may not be a key relevance.

Demographic relates to the age, gender, family size, level of education, ethnicity, household income, etc. 

Psychographic focusses on traits such as interests, habits, personalities, lifestyles, blending conscious and subconscious motivators.

Behavioural describes the way in which that particular consumer interacts with your brand, the way they use it and their knowledge level.

Once you’ve decided which of these is the most helpful to your campaign, you then need to:

  • Decide which criteria are most helpful – think Where, Who, Why?
  • Request the most essential parts of that criteria as part of the initial sign-up process so you can begin to build the picture right from the initial point of contact

Do be careful not to break your audience into segments that are too small as this creates complication and confusion rather than being helpful. Ensure you update your strategy on a regular basis to keep up with your customer base. Lastly, don’t focus on the largest segment if that’s not the one with the most buying power! Look for the segment that has the potential to deliver the best return on investment for you.

Implementing segmentation will enable you to better retain your customers and grow your email list – the key is to get the strategy right and to keep refining it. Email-Postman can help you create a strategy that really works for you.