how to avoid promoting high-heels to a businessman (and other email segmentation tips)

What is Email Segmentation?

www.thebestofemail.com

http://thebestofemail.com/?utm_source=slideshare&item_id=segmentation


The theory behind segmentation is

that if you can identify groups of

subscribers within your mailing list

based on certain criteria,

and then tailor your messages

so that they will specifically

appeal to those subscribers,

then they will be more likely to respond

favorably to those messages, boosting

your engagement and conversion rates.




It’s basically an advanced way of

personalizing emails to individuals

within segments that you define

within your mailing list.




So if segmentation is so great, why aren’t more email

marketers using it?




So if segmentation is so nifty, why aren’t more

email marketers using it?

These days, most decent Email Service Provider

platforms make it pretty easy to define

segments and deploy messages to specific

groups within a mailing list, so

the “tricky” part isn’t in the technical process.




The biggest challenge to email segmentation

is in collecting the data from subscribers that

makes it possible to classify them into

segments in the first place and then knowing

when and how to use this data effectively

to maximize subscriber engagement.




It’s this challenge that still poses a barrier

to email segmentation for many email marketers

despite being well aware of its benefits.




So how do you collect data for the purpose of

segmentation?




The obvious place to collect data is during signup.




This opportunity is lost for marketers who

offer an “email address only” signup,

but marketers who provide an email signup

form that requests a few more details about

the subscribers usually have a good base

to work from, at least on a basic level.




As a rule, it’s best to keep the number

of details requested during signup to

a bare minimum and ask for only

what’s absolutely necessary to

perform the segmentation that’s

crucial to your business, because long

and exhaustive forms usually turn

people off from subscribing at all.




Examples of “Detail Request” Emails


You can always request more

details later on once you’ve had

a chance to establish trust with

your subscribers and demonstrate

that your content is valuable.

http://thebestofemail.com/portfolio_category/segmentation/?utm_source=slideshare&item_id=segmentation




Examples of newsletter signup forms that request minimal details to allow for basic but essential segmentation: American Apparel


http://thebestofemail.com/inspiration-gallery-items/american-apparel-newsletter-signup-inspiration/




Examples of newsletter signup forms that request minimal details to allow for basic but essential segmentation: Billabong

http://thebestofemail.com/inspiration-gallery-items/billabong-newsletter-signup-inspiration/




Examples of newsletter signup forms that request minimal details to allow for basic but essential segmentation: Nerdist News

http://thebestofemail.com/inspiration-gallery-items/nerdist-news-newsletter-signup-inspiration/



More Examples of Signup Pages


Examples of newsletter signup forms that request minimal details to allow for basic but essential segmentation: Armani Exchange

http://thebestofemail.com/inspiration-gallery-items/armani-exchange-newsletter-signup-inspiration/


http://thebestofemail.com/portfolio_category/signup-pages/?utm_source=slideshare&item_id=segmentation



The more data you accumulate about

your subscribers over time, the more

efficiently you will be able to identify the

various subscriber persona that make

sense to segment messages for.

Using Progressive Profiling to segment your mailing list




Even when you don’t have a lot of data about your

subscribers, you can still segment them into

groups based on their interaction with

your emails over time (hence

“progressive” profiling).




For example, using Email Analytics reports you can identify your

frequent openers from those who rarely open your emails, and same

goes for clicks. If you dig deeper, you can also establish which

subscribers consistently click on certain types of links in your emails.




This allows you to create reasonably accurate segments of

subscribers based on subjects or offers that interest them,

or on their level of activity (so that they can be rewarded)

or inactivity (so that they can be re-engaged).




According to a recent report from Experian Marketing Services, 70% of brands

did not personalize emails sent to subscribers in 2013 but most marketers (83%)

segmented their email campaign audiences by past activity data.


http://www.experian.com/marketing-services/email-market-study-2013.html



This demonstrates that despite the challenges of segmentation, email marketers seem

to feel comfortable using progressive profiling to segment their mailing lists, most likely

because it doesn’t rely on information provided by the subscribers themselves.




What type of data should you collect for the purpose

of segmentation?




The data that makes sense for one

company to segment by may not

necessarily be relevant for another,

so deciding what criteria is important

for segmentation purposes should really

be based on YOUR specific business

requirements and email program’s goals.




If your business caters for a niche audience (or several niche

audiences) then obviously you should request details that are

relevant for YOUR segmentation purposes.

For example, if you own a pet store, it would make sense for

you to ask your subscribers during signup what type of pet

they own so that you don’t bombard certain subscribers with

dog food promotions when they in fact own goldfish (etc.)




Being able to refer to a subscriber by his first name

isn’t really a form of segmentation, but it is about as

basic as you can get with personalization in email.

So for those email marketers who see segmentation

as “the deep end of the pool” but feel like they’re

still wading around with inflatable armbands, the

“first name” detail is a gentle way to inch further

towards the deep end.




Also, from the subscriber’s point of view, it’s nicer

to be greeted with “Hi %first name%” than “Dear

Valued Customer” because it feel as though the

sender is talking to him or her as an actual person

and not to just another anonymous subscriber on

a mailing list.




Any retailer who sells products that are

relevant to either men or women must be

able to distinguish between his female and

male email subscribers.

Knowing the subscriber’s sex is precisely

the thing that can prevent an email featuring

a promotion on high-heel shoes from ever

reaching a businessman who would prefer

a promotion for neckties and vice versa.




That’s not to say that some women may not

be interested in certain items on behalf of

the men in their lives or that men won’t on

occasion be on the lookout for something

for the women in their lives, but knowing

how to package these items properly for the

right audience (like this nice example from

ModCloth) is key to getting the desirable

reaction and not an “unsubscribe” as a

result of repeatedly irrelevant offers.

Sender: ModCloth (click on the image to view the full newsletter)


http://thebestofemail.com/inspiration-gallery-items/modcloth-get-a-gift-for-a-guy-and-learn-3-ways-to-wrap-it-standout-email/

http://thebestofemail.com/inspiration-gallery-items/modcloth-get-a-gift-for-a-guy-and-learn-3-ways-to-wrap-it-standout-email/



Knowing which country your subscribers are

from can help sharpen your messaging so

that you’re not sending certain people

content that’s irrelevant to them.

It also helps you review the performance of

your emails based on the geographical

location of your subscribers.

For example, if you can see from ongoing

analysis that your French subscribers are

particularly engaged with your emails (even

if you hadn’t intended it), you might decide

to tailor a promotion specifically for your

French audience in order to maximize sales.




If your catalogue includes many types of products or services, then knowing exactly what interests

each subscriber can help you customize emails with messaging that will be particularly relevant to

them. The more your subscribers feel that your content is relevant to them, the higher the likelihood

that they will engage with your emails.




1. Sending Birthday Emails helps

to endear your brand to a subscriber

by making him feel warm & fuzzy that

you “remembered” this special day and

took the trouble to send a birthday

greeting, or better yet – some

sort of birthday gift.

2. Classifying your subscribers

into age brackets can help you target

certain messages for maximum relevance.

You can even use different language to appeal

to different age brackets. For example, you

might have something to offer that’s

particularly relevant for college students

but not really for anyone else, or for

people of retirement age and

no one else (etc.) 3. In some cases,

marketers must verify

that subscribers are over

a certain age in order

to send them emails.

There are three main reasons why knowing your subscribers’ birthday is helpful:


http://thebestofemail.com/portfolio_category/birthday-emails/?utm_source=the_best_of_email_site&utm_medium=blog&post_id=how-to-not-sell-high-heels-to-a-businessman-and-other-email-segmentation-tips



This one’s also a no-brainer if you have easy

access to this data. Pioneered famously by

Amazon and now widely used by many other

online retail giants (although not always

effectively), the idea is to send people relevant

content based on their recent purchases.




The smart way to segment based on purchase history is to consider the

type of items that were purchased and then send targeted offers (in a

timely and respectful frequency) about complementary items. For example:

2. Or if someone just

bought a new bed, you

could send them an

email offering bed

linen options.

1. If someone just purchased

an airline ticket for a vacation or

business trip, there’s no need to sell

him another vacation or business trip

so soon after this purchase, but it would

make sense to send an email with

hotel recommendations or

local attractions.

3. Or, if someone just

download a whitepaper on email

marketing, you could send them

an email recommending other

whitepapers that may be

of interest.




The “hottest” time to strike a

shopper with an additional

relevant offer is at checkout time

or just after the purchase, but

only as long as the offer makes

sense, otherwise it’s just plain

pushy and annoying.




TO SUM UP: Segmentation isn’t always necessary for

every email you send, but if you identify situations

where tailoring messages for certain subscribers

would boost their relevance significantly and you

have access to data that allowed you to create the

necessary segments in your mailing list, then it

would be a missed opportunity not to do so.

This presentation was created by Noya Lizor,

Head Honcho at The Best of Email, a hub for showcasing

standout emails by marketers who are “getting email right”.

Visit www.thebestofemail.com to learn more about:

http://www.thebestofemail.com/

http://thebestofemail.com/list-growth-and-management/how-to-bait-your-signup-hooks-to-reel-in-more-newsletter-subscribers/?utm_source=slideshare&item_id=segmentation

http://thebestofemail.com/email-marketing-best-practices/how-to-write-subject-lines-that-get-emails-opened/?utm_source=slideshare&item_id=segmentation

http://thebestofemail.com/newsletter/?utm_source=slideshare&item_id=segmentation

http://thebestofemail.com/email-performance/today-might-just-be-the-day-you-fall-in-love-with-email-metrics/?utm_source=slideshare&item_id=segmentation