How To Segment Your List To Send The Right Content To The Right People

Building a list is a crucial step to growing your business. However, if you want to create an even more responsive list and reduce unsubscribes, you’ll want to segment it.

This refers to separating your list according to specific subgroups – which you can target with highly relevant content and ads. These subgroups may be based on demographics, your audience’s interests, and behavior (e.g., what they’ve purchased).

So, here’s how to do it…

Step 1: Select an ESP With Built-In Segmenting

Most good email service providers (such as Aweber, GetResponse, and ConvertKit) offer segmenting tools so you can automate the process of segmenting your lists into subgroups. For example…

They’ll allow you to create “tags” that you attach to subscribers based on their purchases, interests, demographics, or other factors. You can then email (or exclude) everyone with a tag.

I mean…

let’s suppose one of your list segments includes everyone who’s purchased one of your products (we’ll call it “Product X”). You can do the following with this segment…

• • Send out special content that includes bonus information related to Product X. For example… “Here’s a bonus set of meal plans and recipes to go with Product X – FREE!”

• • Send out targeted offers, such as backend products related to Product X, E.G., “If you love Product X, then you’re going to love Product Y. Here’s an exclusive offer…”

• • Exclude this list segment whenever you’re sending out promos for Product X, so these folk aren’t receiving them for something they’ve already purchased.

As you can see, there are multiple ways to use your list segments, all of which will help boost response rates and lower unsubscribed.

And with that in mind…

Let’s look at how you can segment your list while knowing that a single user can have multiple segment “tags.” Bringing us to the next step…

Step 2: Plan Your Segments

Consider smart ways to segment your audience based on demographics, purchases, and behaviors.

Let’s take a look at several popular methods…

Segment Prospects and Customers

This is the most basic segment, where you separate prospects from those who have purchased from you.

Segment Based on Products

Here you segment your list according to which product your customer purchased or which lead magnet they requested.

Segment Based on Registrations

Do you have any events that your audience is registering for? You can segment based on these events, such as live offline events, webinars, and contests.

Remember that it’s important to separate contest entries from the rest of your list… because contest entrants tend not to be as targeted as people who are requesting lead magnets, so you need to spend extra time building good relationships with them. In other words…

You don’t want to immediately have your contest entrants start receiving all your regular promos. Instead, put them into an autoresponder and build relationships before they join your general pool of prospects.

Segment Based on Buyer Behavior

The idea here is to separate customers based on whether they always pay full price… sometimes pay full price, or always purchase when there’s a sale on. You can further separate bargain hunters based on whether they do flash sales, take advantage of coupon codes, or similar.

Segment Based on Demographics

Here you separate your list based on the demographics that matter to your particular niche or products. For example… you might segment by gender, age, and location.

NOTE: Location is almost always important for segmenting because you can send your emails when a particular segment of your list is awake and online.

Segment Based on Interests

The idea is to ask your subscribers what topics interest them and segment based on those. Ask when they first join your list or any time thereafter. You can follow up occasionally to see if their interests have changed.

Segment Based on Traffic Source

Another way to segment your list is based on how they discovered your business. For example…

If you segment based on which marketing partner sent them, you can send “Special Offers for Friends of John Doe.” Or… If the traffic comes in on certain keywords (such as “Deaf Dog Training”), you can segment based on the keywords that tell you what your subscribers are specifically interested in.

Segment Based on Email Behavior

Many email service providers help you keep track of people who open emails or click links. If your provider has these “automations,” you can segment your list according to whether someone is reading emails, clicking links, failing to finish a series of emails, or similar.

Suppose your email is designed to send people to your blog to read a blog on SEO (search engine optimization). You can segment your list by everyone who clicks on that link… because you’ll know they’re interested in SEO.

And even if someone doesn’t open your email… there’s another opportunity to “Segment.”

And finally…

Step 3: Utilize Your Segments

Once you start segmenting, you’ll want to begin utilizing these segments. For example…

If you know a specific segment of your dog-training list owns large dogs like Great Danes, you can segment that specific portion by writing “Ultra-targeted” emails that speak directly to owners of large dogs. Another example…

Suppose you’re sending your email subscribers to a sales page. Here are some possible scenarios…

• • If someone buys, they’re put on the “customers” segment, where you can initiate an onboarding sequence.

• • If they don’t open your email, you send a different email with a better subject line.

• • If someone opens your email but doesn’t click on the link, you follow up with an email taking a different sales tactic… test, Test, TEST!

• • If someone opens your email, clicks the link, but doesn’t buy your product… you might follow up with a discount valid for the next 24-48 hrs.

Now a few parting thoughts…

Conclusion

You just learned how to segment your list, producing better response rates for your email marketing efforts.

One more piece of advice…

This strategy isn’t reserved for prospects and customer lists only.

If you manage other types of lists – such as a list for your marketing partners… you can segment those lists too. For example…

Separate your super affiliates from the rest of your affiliates, which allows you to send special perks and offers to the super performers.

Go ahead now, and put these tips to work for you… you’ll be glad you did!