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30 Ways To Slice Your Email Database For Finer Email List Segmentation

December 11, 2018
10:56 PM

Having a high-volume email list will not necessarily mean a lot of it cannot provide you with ROI. Segregating and personalizing emails is becoming important to narrow down the target population and improve customer engagement.

Email lists can be segregated to generate higher returns

1. New subscribers

Having the new subscribers segmented can be a good way to build strong buyer personas. It is necessary to convert such subscribers into loyal customers by sending a string of welcome and offer emails to engage them right from the start.

2. Preferences

It is important to understand the user preferences as it will help reduce the chances of them opting out of your email list. Give your subscribers the option to set their preferences on how often they want to hear from you and what type of content they want to receive.

3. Gender

If you offer products that are gender-specific, it is always advisable to send out separate emails depending on your preferences. It would be easier to tailor-fit the content keeping in mind the aspects that appeal to the respective sexes.

4. Age

Age-based segregation is mainly helpful when you sell products or services to various age groups. It can be further specified to marital and lifestyle status as well.

5. Job function

Your email list could contain a whole cluster of different job functions like office personnel, salespeople, marketers, consultants, developers, customer service, accountants, etc. The approach followed for one domain may not hold good for the other.

6. Interests

Every user is different from one another- a painter has different product sets from that of someone interested in cars, so, this criterion gives you a whole new window of the market that would have been unknown with an unsegmented email list.

7. Location

Location-based categorization is important to deliver specific content to buyers based on geographical relevance. You cannot email an offer of a brand that is not available in user-specific cities. It becomes pointless and gives a negative view of your products and services.

8. Acknowledgements

Customers must be acknowledged for the fact that they have been doing business with you. Also, emails congratulating them on personal milestones may remind them of that particular product or service they wanted to buy. Such emails not only drive your sales but also gives them a sense of connection to your brand, driving them to even suggest you to other potential customers.

9. Open rates

Data collected on email open rates can be very helpful to target users based on the frequency by which they open emails. Users who view your emails can be regularly provided with rewards or special access while users who do not, can be targeted with emails that would persuade them to check.

10. Inactivity

Inactivity may be a sign of lack of interest or just a lapse in memory. Either way, categorizing inactive users and sending more enticing offers or coupons to these dormant users can re-engage them with your company.

11. Abandoned forms

Many users begin to fill in sign-up forms, but would not complete them. Irrespective of the reason, it is important to remind them that they left midway. This can also promote your chances of improving customer relationships.

12. Abandoned shopping cart

On the other hand, an abandoned shopping cart may reflect hesitance, and some persuasion is all they needs sometimes. The email needs to remind the user of the purchase that he/she might have missed out on or make them want the complete their purchase by showcasing relevant products.

13. Purchase history

The types of purchases made by a customer can tell you a lot about him/her. For example, a middle-aged man who bought a fishing rod or shows some interest in it can also be a target for boating equipment. It would be easier to send specific emails which might interest them.

14. Type of purchase

If you offer a lot of different types of products, segmenting your customers by their choices is a great way to determine what their interests are, so that you can offer curated products that you know they’ll love.

15. Purchase frequency

Frequent buyers don’t need much upselling. So, you can just reward them with a special coupon or an invitation to join your loyalty program. You can use targeted email marketing to encourage one-time customers to come back for future purchases.

16. Website activity

By monitoring the activity of the user, you can tell what they might be looking for or what type of content keeps them engaged. The ones with limited activity can be focused to attract and keep them engaged on your website.

17. Buyer persona

You can create targeted email lists by separating your subscribers into various buyer personas by looking at what they’ve opted for, what they’ve clicked on across your pitched emails, and their behavior on your website.

18. Business type

The type of organization that a company identifies itself as, will be an indicator of the type of email content that will be most relevant to them. This can range from non-profit, to an enterprise or associations, and so forth.

19. Business industry

The industry that you wish to target is very important as different industries have different types of needs although in a similar domain. If you collect industry information about your subscribers, you can align your email content which is highly relevant to them.

20. Survey respondents

If you conduct surveys via email, a simple reward or acknowledgment would go a long way. They will be glad to know that you respect and appreciate the time they took out of their day to help you out!

21. Loyalty

Long-term customers who have maintained regular business with you need to be kept engaged by regular customer appreciation and thank you emails.

On the other hand, those who are not regular enough may not require a similar treatment, but they need to be drawn to buy-in rather than be thanked.

22. Purchase cycle

Certain purchases have a cycle- they are seasonal or occur at specific time. Knowing where your customers are in their unique purchase cycle can guide your email marketing campaigns effectively.

23. Change in content engagement level

Sometimes, people simply get busy and stop engaging with your emails like they used to, and this can happen no matter what you do. However, if you don’t do anything to re-engage those subscribers, you could lose them forever.

24. Change in buyer behavior

Particularly, if you offer a monthly subscription, or you have a product that needs to be re-purchased on a regular basis, you should check in with the customers when they change their buying patterns.

25. Stages in the sales cycle

New subscribers need to be nurtured and warm leads need to be pitched for the sales to eventually close better deals. Moreover, the existing customers need to be presented with cross-selling or up-selling. Every stage of the sales cycle should have its own unique email marketing campaign.

26. Satisfaction index

It is important to know where a customer stands with regard to how satisfied he/she is with the products and services provided by the company. Knowing this will help target unsatisfied customers with special offers and discounts and retain regular merchandise to customers who are happy with what is being provided.

27. In-stores Vs Web visitors

If you have both offline selling space and an online shop, then segment your customers by where they engage. This way, you can provide specific information to your customers who buy from your offline store about specific online-store promotions.

28. Page views

Customers who have high page views need not be targeted with bright subject lines or exciting offers as they are a regular visitor to your page on any given day. The ones that need to be targeted are those who do not engage on your website.

29. Content format

As it is seen that the type of industry influences the type of email you send and so does the format of the content. You should remember that the tone used for various designations that are addressed are not generally the same. They may be at the c-suite level or hold a regular executive position within a company. Moreover, your content should also be aligned to the industry your target audiences belong to no matter when you pitch them.

30. Customer value

Customer value is based on the amount of time and money that they choose to spend on your website. The ones who spend more don’t necessarily need more generous offers, but they should be spoken to in the emails in a way that makes them feel special. So, start segmenting your emails right away. However, before you do so you might as well take a look at some tools that may make it a little easy for you to get across to your target audiences. They do not promise everything that is mentioned here, but they can undoubtedly help you kick start the process.

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Kevin Morris

Blogger & Content Writer. Kevin Morris is a man of his thoughts. His interests mainly reside in digital marketing, data analysis, and related areas. His association with DataCaptive has added a fresh perspective to the content. His favorite pastimes include reading, music, traveling, and penning down his creative ideas.

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