Segmenting your email newsletter - why it's a game changer for your business
In today's digital landscape, where inbox overload is the norm and consumers demand personalisation, segmenting your email newsletter has emerged as a strategic imperative for businesses of all sizes. By dividing your subscriber base into distinct segments based on demographics, behaviour, preferences, and more, you unlock a treasure trove of opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of your email marketing efforts.
From lowering churn rates and reducing unsubscribes to boosting engagement levels and optimising costs, the benefits of segmentation are far-reaching and profound. In this blog post, we'll delve into the compelling reasons why segmenting your email newsletter is not just a good idea, but a critical component of a successful email marketing strategy.
If you’re new to the idea of segmenting, don’t think of it as merely sending a regular newsletter to one group within your audience - although of course it can be as simple as that - but instead consider sending tailored messages that speak directly to the segments in your lists. Some ways to segment a list are more appropriate to ecommerce businesses as you’d have prior purchase data, and require asking your audience for more information, or making educated guesses on your part.
Take a deep dive into your chosen email tool - Mailchimp for example has user flows to group people based on interaction, while ConvertKit allows you to include interest links direct inside emails for someone to receive more information on a particular topic with just one click.
Bear in mind that regulations such as GDPR and ePrivacy mean you have to be careful the information you’re storing on your contacts - especially on the demographics side of things, but take a look at the following and see if these ideas might inspire you:
Demographics: Segment your audience based on demographic factors such as age, gender, location, income level, occupation, etc. This allows you to tailor your messages and images to specific demographic groups.
Purchase History: Segment your audience based on their purchase history or past interactions with your products or services. This can help you send targeted offers or product recommendations to those who have shown interest in similar items in the past.
Engagement Level: Segment your audience based on their level of engagement with your emails. This could include segments for active subscribers who regularly open and click on your emails, as well as inactive subscribers who haven't engaged with your emails in a while. You can then send re-engagement campaigns or special offers to inactive subscribers to try and rekindle their interest.
Interests or Preferences: Segment your audience based on their interests, preferences, or behavior. You can gather this information through surveys, website tracking, or previous interactions. For example, if you're an e-commerce store selling clothing, you might segment your audience into categories like casual, athletic or formal.
Lifecycle Stage: Segment your audience based on where they are in the customer lifecycle. This could include segments for new subscribers, loyal customers, or those who have recently made a purchase. You can then send targeted messages to each segment to nurture them further along the customer journey.
Email Engagement Preferences: Segment your audience based on their email engagement preferences, such as frequency of emails, types of content they prefer (e.g., newsletters, promotional offers, educational content), or preferred communication channels (e.g., email, SMS, social media).
Behavioral Triggers: Segment your audience based on specific behavioral triggers, such as website visits, abandoned carts, or email clicks. This allows you to send timely and relevant messages based on their actions.
VIP or Loyalty Program Members: Segment your audience based on their participation in VIP or loyalty programs, if applicable. This allows you to provide special perks or incentives to your most loyal customers.
Product Preferences: Segment your audience based on their preferences for specific products or product categories. This allows you to personalize your messaging and promotions based on their interests.
Survey Responses: Segment your audience based on responses to surveys or feedback forms. This allows you to send targeted follow-up messages or offers based on their feedback and preferences.
Be careful that people don’t receive multiple versions of the same campaign at once - sending all past customers a message and then a similar but different message to all your VIP/loyalty members will of course result in significant overlap. Many email tools allow you to cross-reference previous campaigns, so you can start with one email to a segment, then on the next you would mark to exclude anyone sent that previous email.
Another approach might be to stagger the emails - schedule them far enough apart that if someone received similar message again they wouldn’t hit that unsubscribe button as it’s a reasonable time between.
By segmenting your email newsletter audience in these ways, you can deliver more personalised and relevant content, leading to higher engagement, increased sales, and improved customer satisfaction.
