Tailor-made: Email Content that Connects with Everyone on Your List

Email marketing is highly efficient and possibly the lowest-cost digital marketing tool you have in your arsenal. The ROI for email marketing can be phenomenal – that is, if you’re using it correctly. That means creating content specifically for targeted demographics, then testing, tracking and analyzing your results. What that doesn’t mean is sending out the same eblast to everyone on your database every time you have a sale and never looking at your analytics. Guilty? Here’s how to start strong with segmented content.

Why segmentation is important

The effectiveness of any marketing campaign centers on a well-planned and executed strategy. So, before you start drafting your next email, make sure you have a good understanding of the people in your database. Your message needs to be tailored to every individual you’re sending it to, and that will involve creating different messages for different target demographics.

Sending the same email to everyone ignores the fact that you have people of different genders, ages, personal preferences, locations and economic statuses on your list. Plus, your database will also have customers at different stages of your sales cycle. That’s why the success of your email campaign hinges on your ability to segment and deliver just what your different target audiences need at just the right time. You’ll see a significant increase your click and open rates, as well as your conversion rates when you meet this need.

How to segment your lists

If you’re just starting out in the segmentation game, you may just have a database that contains only names and email addresses. This type of list is difficult to segment, due to lack of additional information on customers. The first step will be to gather more information from the people on your list. This can be achieved by:

• Importing lists from a CRM: If you keep track of your leads and customers via a CRM or other software, you can often download segmented lists based on whatever criteria you input into the CRM including sales cycle stage, gender, household income, etc.
• Asking for it: Invite your subscribers to update their profiles, contact information and addresses. Don’t be pushy – you want your potential customers to feel comfortable giving up more personal information.
• Tracking metrics: As you track your email campaigns, you’ll get information on click, open and bounce rates. These metrics can be used to segment your list on the basis of responsiveness or engagement.

Top email segmentation techniques

The data you collect about your audience can be segmented in many different ways. But the most important way the one that helps you tailor content in order to increase your conversion rates. If you’re not quite sure where to start, here are some very basic, but very effective ways to segment your email database to create more personalized content.

• Gender: Men and women have different preferences and respond differently to certain types of messages, colors, photos, etc.
• Location: Location can be used to direct clients to offers at your nearest location, as well as appealing to their culture or language. It’s also important if you are scheduling events at particular locations.
• Age: If you have date-of-birth information on your clients, you can send particular offers and messages to particular age groups.
• Personal interests: Gather this information from previous purchases or downloads, online shopping carts, etc.

Keep in mind that as you get started, it’s best to just start with one variable. As you collect more user data, you can add other variables and make your email messages even more specific. But even segmenting by one variable will show a difference in the effectiveness of your marketing emails. And don’t forget to track your segmentation success by delivery, click, open and conversion rates. Use this information to keep modifying and refining your messages and segmentation techniques, until you find a formula that delivers the best results.