Growing your subscriber list is the goal for most businesses, but building is only the start when it comes to getting the most from your email marketing. Next, you need to know how to segment your email lists to ensure you’re constantly engaging your audience. We’ll show you how.
Your emails are only as powerful as the audience they reach. You can have the most stunning designs and compelling copy, but sending the same generic message to everyone throws away potential sales and engagement.
The days of one-size-fits-all email blasts are long gone. Mastering email list segmentation is non-negotiable if you want to boost open rates, drive action, and build customer retention.
Think about it—what if your emails spoke directly to your audience’s needs, preferences, and behaviours? That’s the difference between being another email in the inbox and being the email that gets opened, read, and clicked.
Ready to learn how to segment your email lists for a better, more tailored approach to retention marketing? Let’s dive in.
How to Segment Your Email Lists in 6 Simple Steps: The TL;DR Version
You’re a busy person, we get it. So, if you have no time to check out our six steps to email segmentation in more detail – here’s the lite version:
- Step 1: Define your goals – what’s important to you? What do you want from your emails?
- Step 2: Collect & organise subscriber data – know who you’re talking to and what they love.
- Step 3: Identify key segments – use details from step 2 to group prospects together.
- Step 4: Choose the right tools – Klaviyo allow you to set up specific email flows
- Step 5: Craft tailored content – create sends really resonate with your segments
- Step 6: Test & optimise – complete A/B testing to experiment with different factors like content styles, subject lines, send times etc.
Obviously, there’s more to each step that this. So let’s dive deeper and break out each step in more detail. First though, how important is segmenting your emails? Do you even need to do it?
Remember, you don’t need to tread the lonely path of email ROI success alone. Drop Zero can help with our high-performing, specialist email marketing campaigns.
What Are Email Segments?
Getting more personal with your sends is a great way to make your email stand out in your customer’s inbox. Because, let’s face it, if your subscribers have signed up to your mailing list, the very least you can do is know who they are and what they like.
When we talk about segmenting your email list we mean breaking down your contacts into chunks, based on their attributes, likes, and behaviour.
Dividing your mailing list into particular groups can be a daunting prospect. But your consumers are real people, so you want to engage them with things they’ll really enjoy. This is key to developing a good customer relationship.
So, now we know what segments are, why are they so important to eCommerce email strategies?
The Importance of Email List Segmentation
In today’s crowded inboxes, relevance is everything. You transform your emails into tailor-made messages by dividing your audience into targeted segments based on their needs, behaviours, or demographics.
Studies show that segmented campaigns drive 30% more opens and 50% more clickthroughs than generic email blasts.
It’s more than personalisation—it’s about sending the right message to the right person at the right time.
Segmentation and getting your sends right is one of our top email marketing tips. It has the power to turn your emails into meaningful touchpoints, helping you create stronger connections, drive engagement, and build lasting customer retention.
Simply put, it’s your secret weapon to getting noticed and achieving results in every campaign.
Step-by-Step Guide to Segmenting Your Email List
Segmentation ensures every email is relevant to its recipient. Here’s how to do it:
1. Define Your Objectives
Before diving into segmentation, understand what you’re trying to achieve. Do you want to improve open rates, increase conversions, or enhance customer retention? Setting clear, measurable goals will help you identify the right approach to segment your list.
You might set goals like “Increase open rates by 20% in the next quarter” or “Boost conversion rates from segmented campaigns by 15%.” Clear objectives will guide your strategy and help you measure success effectively.
Real-Life Example:
TuffWraps set clear goals to boost revenue from email campaigns, focusing on targeted engagement to drive results. This strategy led to a jump in campaign-driven revenue from 37.16% to 51.25%.
2. Collect & Organize Subscriber Data
Accurate subscriber data is crucial for effective segmentation. Popups are great tools for generating subscribers, however, they generally lack the ability to learn more about your audience at the point of signup.
This data can include demographics (like age, gender, and location), behaviours (such as browsing habits or purchase history), and email engagement (opens, clicks). Your email marketing platform—Klaviyo, Mailchimp, or HubSpot—can help you collect and organize this data.
Use forms, surveys, and analytics to capture information about your audience.
Ask questions at the point of collecting emails, such as their interests or preferences, to help categorize them immediately.
3. Identify Key Segments for Targeting
Effective email list segmentation requires creating segments based on shared characteristics, behaviours, or preferences. Some email segments can be more lucrative than others for your brand. Here are some proven ways to segment with authority:
- Demographics: Use information like age, gender, location, and job role to send more relevant content. For example, a retail store may send different product promotions based on the subscriber’s region or climate.
- Behaviour-Based Segmentation: Analyse your subscribers’ past actions, such as purchase history, website browsing, or email interactions. If a subscriber has visited a product page multiple times but hasn’t purchased, a timely email with an incentive could be the nudge they need.
- Engagement Level: Track how actively subscribers engage with your emails. Grouping them as highly engaged, moderately engaged, or inactive can help you send targeted messages. For instance, highly engaged subscribers might receive sneak peeks of upcoming products, while inactive ones receive win-back offers to re-engage them.
- Purchase History: Understand what your customers buy, how often they purchase, and their spending habits. Use this data to send targeted product recommendations or special offers. For instance, a beauty brand might recommend complementary items to customers who recently bought skincare products.
- Sales Funnel Stage: Divide your list based on subscribers’ stages of the customer journey—new leads, first-time buyers, or repeat customers. New leads may benefit from an introductory welcome series, while loyal customers could be rewarded with exclusive discounts or VIP perks.
But segmenting your audience can make many facets of email marketing easier. it allows you to speak to one type of person – which is much more powerful that trying to address a crowd. Segmenting can also help make your CTAs (call-to-actions) hyper-targeted and powerful.
In fact, 64% of marketers personaliase their emails through segmentation, which shows how crucial it is to understand and implement this practice for targeted messaging.
Real-Life Example:
DKNY honed in on targeted segmentation by analysing customer behaviours, such as deal-hunting and subscription preferences. This resulted in an 8% increase in click rates and a 24% reduction in email volume.
Is all this sounding tough? No problem, just get us to do it for you! Drop Zero Digital are specialists in unlocking the power of your email marketing.
4. Choose the Right Tools for Segmentation
Klaviyo stands out for its powerful email automations. It allows you to set up flows that trigger emails based on subscriber actions—like purchases, site visits, or email clicks.
This automation helps deliver timely, personalised messages that resonate with each segment, driving higher open rates and conversions. All of a sudden, you’re seeing (and feeling) the positive effects of connecting with rather than just selling to your audience.
Klaviyo’s advanced analytics also provide valuable insights into your campaigns’ performance, enabling you to refine and optimize your strategy to achieve better results over time.
By leveraging Klaviyo or a similar tool, you can ensure your segmentation is efficient and deeply impactful, helping you maximize the effectiveness of every email sent.
Real-Life Example:
We leveraged the power of email automations to invigorate Island Importer‘s 120k-strong contact list. Our flows delivered an open rate of 40%, leading to $44,405 in total revenue from a 6-month campaign.
5. Craft Tailored Content for Each Segment
Once your segments are set, developing content that resonates with each group’s unique needs and interests is next. Personalised emails strengthen the connection and increase the chances of engagement.
Research shows that 74% of online consumers feel frustrated when they receive content that doesn’t match their interests. Sending irrelevant content can also lead to higher unsubscribe rates and spam reports, especially as policies around these issues become increasingly strict each quarter.
To avoid frustrating your subscribers and triggering stricter filters, ensure your content aligns closely with each segment’s preferences and needs, providing a more positive interaction with your brand.
Tailored messages enhance user experience, boost engagement, and drive better results for your email campaigns.
Real-Life Example:
Our sharp email designs, tailored content and methodically arranged email campaigns delivered a whopping 970% ROI for NITE WATCHES. That return includes a 99% increase in revenue and a staggering £140,057 generated – all of that from just 6 months work.
6. Test & Optimize for Continuous Improvement
Testing your segmented campaigns is crucial to understanding what resonates with each segment. Use A/B testing to experiment with different subject lines, content styles, and send times, then analyse the results to see what drives the most engagement.
Track metrics like open rates, click-throughs, and conversions regularly to refine your segments and messaging. Use the insights to optimize your strategy continually.
Real-Life Example:
Our optimisations across an 8-month email marketing campaign for Jamali Gardens, an event and home decor specialist, delivered a 260% increase in open rates driving more than $584,000 in revenue
What Are The Best Segments for eCommerce Brands?
There’s no simple answer when it comes to picking the best segments for your business. However, generally speaking, these examples are actionable across most sectors of eCommerce email marketing.
- Purchase history
- Time since last purchase
- Abandoned carts
- Browsing behaviour
- Click-through-rate e.g. what has made them click historically?
- Gender
- Geolocation
- Position in the sales funnel e.g. are they ready to buy or just searching for more info?
- Occupation
- Info collected through surveys
While these email segment examples can work across most business types, it’s important to know your audience and business to ensure you pick the right data sets to target.
For example, gender might be an important factor for a clothing store. Whereas a Builder’s Merchant might be more interested in occupation or customer purchase history.
Is Email Segmentation Worth It?
The simple answer is yes. Every business is trying to find ways to increase sales or connect on a deeper level with their audience, and email segmentation is a simple way of moving forwards on that goal.
In fact, recent research has found that personalised emails generate 50% higher click through on your call to action. Plus, marketers who use this segmented email approach recorded an uptick in revenue, some as high as 760%.
Still think you’re better off without?
Transform Your Email Strategy with Segmentation Today
Segmentation is the key to creating targeted campaigns that resonate with your audience.
By sending the right content to the right segments, you’ll increase engagement, improve open rates, and build stronger customer relationships.
Find out more about how we can help energise your sends (and revenue) with powerful segmentation and super-sharp email marketing strategies.
