{"id":139802,"date":"2022-03-23T14:49:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T14:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getflywheel.com\/?p=31785"},"modified":"2023-06-28T17:10:45","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T22:10:45","slug":"segment-email-list-increase-engagement","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/resources\/segment-email-list-increase-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"How Strategically Segmenting Your Email List Increases Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019ve been in the online business space for any length of time, you\u2019ve probably heard about the importance of your email list and email marketing strategy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the exhortation goes, you need to be building a list, always. This is where your profits lie! This is the only communication channel you can control! You can make money even with a small list!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Email lists are indeed important for all kinds of businesses, especially those selling digital products and services (like web design!). And one of the nitty-gritty email list philosophies you\u2019ll bump into time and time again is that of segmenting your list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Segmenting your email list is basically what it sounds like\u2014taking your list and splitting it up into different bits. It can be a really powerful tool in your marketing toolbox once you understand the basics of segmenting, especially when you\u2019re in a profession that has two potential audiences\u2014your clients and prospective clients, and any other people you might want to build into an \u201caudience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But even if you\u2019re a client-work-only kind of business, segmenting is a fundamental digital marketing strategy you should understand. There are always things you can do with email segments to make your emails more valuable, and when you\u2019re a service provider (or really, any business at all!), value is one of the goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Huge Benefits of Email Segments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Segmenting your list is a form of efficiency, and I (personally) am all about efficiency. Here\u2019s how that works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you segment your list, what you\u2019re doing is applying specific labels (actual labels within your email service provider, or even separate lists, depending on how your ESP works) to different \u201cpopulations\u201d within your email list. If you\u2019ve only got 200 people on your list, this might seem like a dumb thing to do, but it becomes more and more important as your list grows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What segmenting allows you to do is speak only to the specific people on your list who would be interested in whatever you\u2019re sharing. This leads to all kinds of great marketing KPIs, like higher open rates and bigger conversions, which is nice to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\u2014and this is important\u2014the act itself of only sending out relevant emails to your readers is good for business. Your email deliverability will go up, your engagement will go up, and you\u2019ll build all kinds of good rapport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nobody likes to be on an email list that sends out all kinds of mass broadcasts that clearly aren\u2019t relevant. If I\u2019m a client of yours, for example, I don\u2019t really want to hear about your course for new designers. I\u2019m not a new designer, it\u2019s not relevant to me, and dealing with this irrelevant email in my inbox is annoying and a waste of my time. It might even make me not want to work with you again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you set up a segment that contains ONLY the people who might be interested in your course for new designers, and you send the email only to those people, everybody is happy. The non-designers are blissfully ignorant, the newbies know about this great new opportunity, and you\u2019re not that annoying person who keeps sending irrelevant emails. Everybody wins!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: Identify Your <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Target Audience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first step to getting your segmenting off the ground is to identify your audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Yes, for the realists among us: It can be weird to think about clients and such as an audience, but the use of \u201caudience\u201d in this sense is just business jargon. It doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re performing and it doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re stuck-up; it\u2019s just the word that gets used for this specific concept.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your target audience can mean any number of things, but basically it boils down to \u201cthe group(s) of people you want to talk to.\u201d When it comes to your email list segments, you can think of the \u201ctarget audience\u201d as the different types of people who will be on your email list, and go from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve been focused on services you provide but you want to start branching out into new territory, either by developing courses, becoming a speaker or consultant, or otherwise developing a part of your business beyond the actual services you provide, you\u2019ll have multiple distinct target audiences. The main work at this step is identifying all of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clients and prospective clients would obviously be one of your target audiences, but then newbie developers might be a target audience, or experienced designers who want to move into high-end design. Marketing professionals might be an audience, depending on what you want to do. Get clear on the right person you want to reach, and that will inform your target audience as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 2: Identify Your Different Segments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve got a list up and running\u2014maybe it\u2019s your client database, maybe it\u2019s that plus a bunch of email opt-ins you\u2019ve picked up from a free download, maybe you taught in an online summit and you\u2019ve got all those interested registrants. Whatever it is, you\u2019ve got a list! Now it\u2019s time to come up with the segments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are quite a few different ways you can structure your segments, and you should go into this knowing that some people will fit into multiple segments. That\u2019s not a bad thing! Just don\u2019t get the idea that one email address can only be in one segment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first step is to think about the different ways people came to your list. What were they looking for? What are some of the natural groups they might fit into? It might be that some have signed up for a specific free download. Maybe you have one segment for each service you offer. It might make sense to have segments by location, company size, or even length of time they\u2019ve been on your list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next step in coming up with the right segments is to think about what exactly you want to share with your audience(s). If you want to announce a new service you\u2019re offering, who will that service be most helpful for? The answer to that question is a segment. For example, if you\u2019re offering a new retainer service, you might want to announce it to clients from the past six or 12 months and exclude everyone else on your list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Other possible segments you might use:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Level of skill or knowledge, including participation in a course or courses you offer (those who have participated, those who haven\u2019t)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Purchasers of a specific product<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Profession (a segment for designers and a segment for developers, for example)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Type of business entity (law firm, medical office, non-profit, school. etc.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Work \u201ctype\u201d (like freelancers, traditional employees, small business owners, and students)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Demographic information<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Step 3: Use the Segments for Great Positioning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Once you\u2019ve got your segments set up, it\u2019s time to start using them! This is how you can make the most out of your email list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As you continue to grow your business and come up with new services and offers, you\u2019ll be able to send those things specifically to the people who will be most likely to be interested in them. And in that scenario, again, everybody wins!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Over time, you\u2019ll get used to segmenting and it will become a natural consideration every time you send an email. You\u2019ll begin to see new segments that already exist in your list, and you\u2019ll also be able to establish new segments you want to develop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    If you\u2019ve been in the online business space for any length of time, you\u2019ve probably heard about the importance of your email list and email marketing strategy. As the exhortation goes, you need to be building a list, always. This is where your profits lie! This is the only communication channel you can control! You…<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":297,"featured_media":0,"template":"","resource-topic":[],"resource-role":[],"resource-type":[916],"class_list":["post-139802","resource","type-resource","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nHow strategically segmenting your email list increases engagement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ready to increase your email engagement? 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