Tip #281: Want More Clicks? Segment Your Email List

Imagine yourself catching up with your extended family at Thanksgiving dinner. Chances are you wouldn’t share the same stories with your dear ole’ granny in the exact same way you would your favorite cousin/BFF. Similar to email segmentation, you may want to create different email messaging for your loyal customers versus someone who has never set foot in your store but signed up for your email list in hopes of winning a giveaway.

Segmentation is the practice of dividing individuals into groups based on similar characteristics, such as interests, demographics or behaviors. Think about what happens when you sign up to receive emails from a business, only to find you’re not interested in the content. It doesn't take long before you start to delete their emails before looking at them, and eventually unsubscribe. Segmentation helps ensure the content in your email is relevant to unique groups of subscribers.

WHY SEGMENT?

According to MailChimp, segmentation leads to better open rates, more clicks and less unsubscribe rates. In fact, users who segment their email lists experience 64.78% more clicks than those who don’t use segmentation.

DIVIDE AND CONQUER

Here's some ideas from BigCommerce.com for categories you could focus on to segment your email list.

• Loyal/return shoppers
• High total transaction customers
• Subscribers who have not made a purchase
• Customers who haven’t made a purchase within 30 days, 90 days and 180 days
• Demographics such as age, location, etc.

If you're wondering how to identify which contacts fit in to which segments, here's three ways to source information.

  

1. LEVERAGE SALES DATA

You may already be capturing some of this sales data through your point-of-sale system which could help you identify top purchasers and one-time purchasers. Identifying sales data could present opportunities to upsell products, that could have otherwise been missed by sending your contacts the wrong messaging.

2. ASK FOR THEIR PREFERENCE

If you don't have access to your sales data, consider adding options like those pictured below to your subscription form to help you better meet the expectations of your contacts. Or if you have a printed sign-up sheet in your store, give them the opportunity to choose from a couple different options.

Constant Contact

3. TRACK SUBSCRIBER BEHAVIORS

If you use an email service provider like Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, etc. use their reporting features to identify what emails your contacts are reading, clicking and plain ignoring. Use this information to tailor emails that better suit their interests.

During the upcoming holiday season, leverage increased traffic, both in-store and online, to learn more about your customers and build a more effective email list. Identifying different segments of your contacts will not only help you better communicate through targeted messaging, but you can expect this tactic will improve your conversion rate too.

RCI Members: Constant Contact Email Marketing offers a fast, effective way to get your message out to customers and keep your organization top of mind. Start your email marketing today and receive an RCI member discount of 20% for purchasing the 6 month prepaid option or a discount of 25% for purchasing the 12 month prepaid option. Already use Constant Contact? Contact RCI to begin receiving the member discount.

Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.