What segmentation means
Segmenting means dividing your subscribers into groups so that different groups receive different messages. Instead of sending one email to everyone, you might send one version to people who have bought and another to people who have only signed up. The aim is relevance. A message that matches what someone cares about is more likely to be read and less likely to be marked as unwanted.
You do not need a large list or complicated software to begin. Even two or three groups can make your email noticeably more useful.
Why bother
Generic messages are easy to write but easy to ignore. A subscriber who bought a dog collar does not need an email about garden tools. Irrelevant mail leads to unsubscribes and spam complaints, which in turn hurt email deliverability. Relevant mail does the opposite. Segmentation is also a practical form of personalization, one that depends more on sensible grouping than on any clever technology.
Results vary by store and audience, so treat segmentation as something to test, not a guaranteed lift.
What you can segment by
You can only group people by information you hold, and you should only collect what you need. Be open about the data you gather and how you use it in your privacy policy.
Purchase status. Subscribers who have never bought, first-time buyers and repeat buyers have different needs. Someone who has never bought may need reassurance about shipping and returns. A repeat buyer may want news of new arrivals.
What they bought. Customers who bought a particular category can be told about related items, care advice or refills. Keep recommendations sensible: suggesting accessories for something recently purchased makes more sense than repeating the same product.
Interests they told you. A sign-up form can ask what a person is interested in, or let them tick topics. This information is volunteered, which makes it both accurate and respectful.
How they found you or when they joined. Someone who signed up for a restock alert expects different mail than a person who joined through a giveaway. New subscribers might receive a welcome series before they join the regular mailing.
Engagement. People who open and click regularly can be mailed more often. People who have gone quiet might receive fewer messages, or a special effort to bring them back, as discussed in the article on win-back campaigns.
Order value or frequency. Your best customers may merit early access or a thank-you. Be careful not to treat other customers badly in comparison.
Location. If you ship to several regions, delivery times, shipping rates, currency or seasons can differ. Regional shopping habits can also change what is relevant.
A sensible starter set
A small store could begin with only these groups:
- Subscribers who have not yet bought
- Customers who have bought once
- Customers who have bought more than once
- Subscribers who have not opened or clicked for a long time
That already allows distinct messages: gentle encouragement for newcomers, a thank-you and product tips for first-time buyers, news and early access for loyal customers, and a respectful check-in for the quiet group.
You can add interest-based groups once you know what your catalog and customers support. If your product range is narrow, you may not need many segments at all.
Using segments in practice
Welcome and post-purchase messages. Send different welcome emails to people who joined with an offer and people who joined from a purchase. A thank-you for first-time buyers can include care tips and how to reach support.
Campaigns. When you announce a new product, send it to the segment most likely to care first. If the announcement is relevant to everyone, send it to everyone. Segmenting is not mandatory for every message.
Suppression. Segmentation is also about who should not get a message. Do not send a first-order discount to people who have already bought. Exclude recent purchasers from a campaign for the same item. Remove people from promotional mail if they have asked for fewer messages.
Frequency. Let people who want more hear more, and give others a lighter touch. Offering a preference page where subscribers choose topics or how often to receive mail is a good way to do this and can reduce unsubscribes.
Pitfalls
- Too many segments. Every group needs its own content. If you cannot keep up, messages go stale or are not sent. Start with a few.
- Tiny groups. A segment of a handful of people yields results too noisy to learn from.
- Guessing about people. Assuming a person’s interests from a single purchase can be wrong. Someone buying a gift is not necessarily interested in the product category.
- Creepy specificity. Referring to detailed browsing history can feel intrusive. Keep references to things the customer would expect you to know.
- Old data. Tags and lists need to update when behavior changes. A person who was a “new subscriber” last year should not stay in that group.
- Ignoring consent. Subscribers agreed to certain types of mail. Segmenting does not widen that permission.
Checking whether it works
Compare each segment’s clicks, orders, unsubscribes and complaints with the results for the same message sent to everyone. Look at orders more than opens, and watch trends over several sends instead of a single one. Your store analytics should show whether email visitors in different groups behave differently. You can also try split testing a segmented message against a general one, changing one thing at a time. If a segment does not perform differently, it may not be worth maintaining.
Start with the groups that answer a real question about your customers, keep the segments few and the messages useful, and add more only when you have the capacity to serve them well.