We all get email… lots of it. I remember when email was new (yes, I’m that old). At the time, getting an email from a friend or family member was super exciting. It was instant! No waiting! No post office or stamps! Woohoo! These days, email has become a sometimes dreaded part of daily life. We still love getting personal missives from those who care about us, but our inboxes mostly contain impersonal messages from people trying to sell us something. For businesses and organizations, how do you stand out? What can you do to help people realize that you want to help them? To achieve this, you need email segmentation.

What is Email Segmentation?

I’m so glad you asked! When you use email segmentation, you break up, or segment, your list into smaller groups based on a subscriber’s interest or needs. For example, a non-profit organization may have its list split into volunteers, donors, and event attendees. While it may occasionally send an update to everyone, donors don’t always need the same information as those attending an event.

Similarly, from a business perspective, a list may be segmented based on interest. If you offer different products or services, you may segment your list based on what a person has purchased in the past. A car mechanic, for example, may have a group of people who own antique cars. That person who just bought a brand new Tesla won’t need the same information as one who takes a vehicle to car shows.

Benefits of Email Segmentation

If you’ve incorporated marketing personas into your plan, and I hope you have, you can segment your list to address pain points felt by those particular people. Let’s look at some benefits.

1. Fostering Relationships

Sending emails with information based on subscribers’ interests lets them know you’re paying attention and care about them. It builds trust. Who doesn’t prefer messages from people who know and care about them, versus those that just urge you to “BUY MY THING”?

2. Increasing Engagement

Do you wonder whether segmenting your list will increase engagement? Think of it from your own perspective. If you receive an email about something that interests you, how much more likely are you to open it? Will you click the links? Probably.

For you number-happy folks, check out these statistics. Segmented campaigns had these effects:

• Improved open rates by 82%
• Improved CTR (Click Through Rate) by 75%
• Raised customer satisfaction by 58%

3. Raising Conversions

Now, on to the bottom line. You want subscribers in the bottom of your funnel and converting to customers, right? Of course! Establishing a trusting relationship and increasing engagement with your content will certainly help convert people. What do the numbers say? According to Hubspot, businesses who employed email segmentation saw as much as a 760% increase in revenue. I mean, I’m not the hugest numbers person, but even I know that’s… a lot.

Bottom line? EMAIL SEGMENTATION WORKS. It helps your relationships with your audience, increases engagement, and helps move people toward the bottom of the funnel. Even better, it’s not as hard or complicated as you think. We’ll visit how to get started in another post. In the meantime, keep swimming along!