As the saying goes, you can never put a good one down. This same thing applies to email marketing.
Despite the increasing number of digital marketing strategies – from social media, SEO, mobile, paid ads, etc. – email marketing continues to lead the game in key performance areas, especially conversion rates.
However, getting more conversions takes a good email list built organically and targets the right audience, which is what list segmentation is all about.
What is List Segmentation?
List segmentation is the process of grouping contacts in your list based on the information you have about them. This information could be about their demographics, purchasing habits, or familiarity with your company. Basically, anything that will provide you with more information about your potential consumers.
With this information, you can create personalized content or messages to target those segments and increase conversions.
The 10 Ways to Segment for More Conversions
1. Surveys or Quizzes
When you conduct a survey or quiz, you collect valuable customer data that goes beyond basic demographic information. Surveys are very useful for collecting insights about your target audience’s preferences, values, and behavior. Look for patterns in the survey responses you get and use them to create another segment in your list. You should also reward email recipients who complete the survey through incentives like freebies, a raffle coupon, etc.
Quizzes are another way to create customer profiles. People love answering quizzes. Thus, you can include this type of activity more often in your email marketing strategy.
2. Demographics
Demographics is one of the most basic ways to segment your lists. With demographic data, you only focus on any quantifiable characteristic of your email contacts, such as their age, gender, location, job, etc.
Although this is basic information, it’s still helpful to identify your audience’s needs or interests. For example, you should avoid sending promotional emails about your upcoming wedding fair to 60-year-old people because their goals or priorities differ from what your campaign wants to promote.
So if you only have a standard package subscription with your email marketing service, this type of segmentation may work for you.
3. Purchase History
You could use your customers’ purchase history to segment your email marketing list. This is especially true for customers who bought something that may need renewal or refilling after a certain period. You can send targeted emails to remind these customers about a reorder.
You can also segment your list for one-time customers and send them a thank you email. To increase your chances of repeat purchases, give them tips on how to make the most out of their first order or offer a reward they can use on their next order.
4. Frequency of Purchase
When you see customers purchasing on a regular basis, you can safely assume that they really like your product or service. Notify this group of loyal customers whenever your company introduces a new product or service. You can also offer special discounts to the people in this category.
You can also cross-sell or up-sell to this customer segment by recommending similar products in your inventory. For example, if you notice customers who buy more during the mid-week, you could create an email marketing segment for them and send campaigns based on their shopping schedule.
5. Amount of Purchase
The amount of money your customers spend should tell you what kind of offer you should send them. Simply put, you should segment your email marketing lists based on which customers are willing to spend more on higher-priced items and who are buying low-priced items. This will help you determine which product or service to market to a specific group to increase and improve your chances of converting them into an actual sale.
6. Opt-in Frequency
When you use lead magnets on your sales prospects, you should pay attention to how they opt into your offer. Lead magnets are offers that guarantee your leads will receive free content, items, or services in exchange for their personal information.
Some may opt-in via your website or social media, while others may opt in via both platforms. Your goal is to keep track of the latter, as they will be your target audience for new lead magnets, whether you use your website or social feed to notify them about current offers.
7. Abandoned Shopping Carts or Forms
Customers who abandon their shopping carts or forms on your website can be added to another email marketing list. Take the time to figure out why they left your site. They may have been looking for more information about your product or service but couldn’t find it.
You could then send them a reminder email about their pending order, along with a detailed product description and clear instructions on how to complete the purchase.
Make sure to craft your message in such a way so they can see the value of why closing the sale at that time is important for them.
8. Email or Website Activity
If your website activity is low, it could be due to a lack of follow-through or a lack of engagement.
Bring the attention of your email subscribers to what they’re missing out on, or create a special email marketing campaign to bring them back to your site. It’s critical to track which of your recipients are engaging less with your emails so you can take steps to re-engage them.
Meanwhile, you could monitor your customers’ email activity to see who is opening and clicking on your emails, which will help you build more customer segments.
Final Words
Digital marketing can help you collect more data, but when you have too much customer data, it only makes sense to organize it so that your email marketing is as relevant and targeted as possible.
List segmentation is the starting point of a good email marketing campaign because it helps you deliver the right content to the right target audience at the right time. This kind of personalized email marketing can help you achieve your sales conversion efforts and overall business goals.
