Congratulations! You’ve built an awesome list. You’ve worked your butt off to gather something that’s more valuable than gold – email addresses! They’ve come from all kinds of places – campaigns, offers, IRL networking – it’s a culmination of your hard work.
Now, to start sending emails to keep them engaged. Hold on a minute, you’re not going to send them ALL the same newsletter or email, are you?
Put down the keyboard and grab a cuppa. Let’s talk about segmentation…
What Is Segmentation?
Email list segmentation is all about dividing up your email list into groups. These groups can be made up of very particular people with different qualities, such as their industry, whether they’ve purchased from you before, which one of our products they’re interested in, and if they still need convincing to buy from you.
All of this means the right people will be looking at the right stuff rather than seeing irrelevant info that might put them off.
Why Segmenting Your Email List Matters
You may be wondering, ‘Nathan, why would I go to all the trouble of sending different emails to different people when I could send the same one to everyone with one click?’
Good question. Let’s go through the benefits you’ll get as payoff for your hard work…
More Relevant Content
This is pretty obvious. When you send content that’s meant for a specific group’s interests, you’re more likely to find their pain and interest points. No one likes getting irrelevant emails that take up inbox space! You’re more likely to get an unsubscribe that way.
Stronger Relationships
By sending content that actually connects with certain people, you’re speaking directly to them rather than a faceless crowd. This fosters a much more personal relationship and builds that all-important trust.
Improved Open Rates
It can be tough to improve your open rates, but list segmenting makes your recipients more likely to click on messages that they’re actually intrigued by. And higher open rates mean better engagement with your offers.
Higher Conversion
Open rates are just the beginning. Let’s not forget the whole point of your email marketing efforts – to find customers and clients genuinely interested in your service or product. When you’re speaking their language, customers are more likely to take that action.
Track Your Segments
Wondered which types of customers are buying more? Wonder no more. By segmenting, you can track down exactly which email recipient groups are buying what and when.
Support A/B Testing
Segmenting your email list makes for much more straightforward A/B testing. You can compare tiny variations with a specific audience group, making it simple to see what’s working best for whom.
Creating Personas
If you’ve seen any of my previous blogs, you know I love creating personas. It’s crucial to have a customer avatar, but it’s equally important to have more specific personas for each subcategory of your audience.
For instance, if you’re selling coaching services to female entrepreneurs, your messaging needs to directly reflect their aspirations, interests and tone.
A persona is more than a fancy term for describing your ideal customer. It’s a practical tool for filtering your subscribers into the categories that fit them best. So you can give them the help they’re already looking for.
Adapting Your Message For A Segmented List
Now you have your segments – and personas – you can create content that suits them.
How does this translate into an actual email? Well, in a newsletter, you can have content blocks that are swapped out for each segment.
You can address specific pain points and tailor your offering. This personalisation builds better rapport, going beyond just adding in a subscriber’s name. This way, people feel included in your messages rather than talked at as if they’re part of a general crowd.
And this content block swapping is pretty easy to implement, too. You can have a standard template ready to go and simply add in the relevant product promos or news.
Some high-profile examples you might recognise…
Netflix
If you’re a Netflixer (with or without the chill), you’ve probably been getting emails from them. Take a look at one now. You’ll notice it includes movie and show recommendations based on your most recent viewing history. Pretty nifty levels of personalisation that are actually useful to you, right?
Airbnb
Airbnb will send you emails with ideas for accommodations or destinations that are based on your recent stays or searches. This is a great way to get customers returning to the website and propelling them closer to a conversion.
Ready To Get Segmenting?
Segmenting your list just makes sense. Simple changes to suit your readers in your newsletter can make a big impact; I’ve seen it over and over for my own clients. So put your newfound knowledge into action – or, if you’re still unsure or just too busy, get in touch, and I’d be happy to help you out with all things email marketing.
