Email Segments to build for Marketing

Segmenting your list can be a successful way to target your audience and ensure your contacts remain interested. This can help direct your marketing sends to be more thoughtful and less aggressive, preventing opt-outs and resulting in a lift in overall engagement and revenue. Create a better subscriber experience by sending contacts engaging emails that are relevant based on their browse behavior, purchase activity, demographics, and/or acquisition source. Here are top 11 segments to consider building today.

Based on Overall Account Status

Master Segment - Narrow down your list from all subscribers to all active users. In most cases, best practice is to send to at maximum, contacts that have engaged within the last 12 months. Avoid sending to contacts who haven’t heard from you in a while as this will lead to a spike in complaints and unsubscribes. Filter out addresses that are suppressed due to previously unsubscribing, marking as spam, or bouncing repeatedly.

Based on Purchase Activity/Frequency

Non-Purchasers - Educate this segment about your brand and promote key differentiators from competitors. In addition to offering them a small incentive in your Welcome Series, consider providing steeper discounts in promotional campaigns to motivate their first purchase. 

One-Time Purchasers - Begin to build a relationship with new customers by keeping them informed from the moment of their first conversion through a simple post-purchase series, thanking them and building their knowledge of your brand. Encourage a repeat purchase by providing recommendations on how they can expand their collection. If they don’t convert a second time within your standard repurchase period, consider a triggered win back campaign to drive a repeat purchase.

2+ Purchasers - These customers are loyal to your brand. Now is the time to capture additional information on their interests through surveys, click tracking, purchase history, and browse behavior to support a more tailored experience through personalization.

Product/Product Category - Create segments for your top-level product categories, or for key hero products that are commonly purchased. Target these audiences with cross-sell messages to promote additional accessories coordinating with their past purchase or other specific products within their category of interest.

AOV - Knowing average order value is especially helpful if your brand offers a wide range of products at various price points. Segmenting based off of this data point can help determine upsell opportunities by allowing you to send details on products within slightly higher price ranges.

VIP - Tie together a combination of the above purchase data to determine an “above average” customer (contacts who’ve purchased 2+ times or spent above a particular threshold) and reward them with sweet treats like early access to promotions or new product launches. This often equates to around 15% of your total active list.

Lapsed Customers - Factor in time since last purchase to determine win back opportunities for customers who haven’t purchased in a while as a nudge to convert again based on average re-order timing for your customer base.

Based on Engagement Level

Non-Openers - This can be over time period or for a dedicated campaign. Minimize level of effort and maximize reach by simply updating Subject Line and Preheader from a previously sent creative. Keep in mind that this audience often generates lower revenue.

Unengaged - Before categorizing a contact unengaged, implement a Reengagement Series to give them one last opportunity to engage by highlighting what they’re missing out on, such as new product releases. If they remain dormant on your email list, consider retargeting these contacts on other channels.

Based on Demographic

Demographics - Consider a contact’s location for a few key reasons:

Compliance Regulations: Consent, data collection and retention, mailing regulations, and violation penalties vary based on country, and in some cases state-by-state. Ensure you’re including or suppressing contacts in compliance with CAN-SPAM (United States), CASL (Canada), GDPR (European Union), and CCPA (California).

Seasonality: Winter in Florida is not the same as winter in New York. Use a contact’s location to serve content relevant to the season or climate.

In Store Opportunities: If you have a brick and mortar presence, use a contact’s location to serve up their nearest store location, or printable coupons for in store offers.