Understanding contact segmentation

Segment your contacts into groups with similar demographics or interests to send more targeted emails and improve your open and click rates

Segmentation is the act of dividing your contacts into smaller groups, or segments, based on shared information or common characteristics. If you have several different audiences you're trying to engage with, segmentation can help you get the right message to the right people at the right time.

• Improving email engagement with segmentation
• Segmenting existing contacts using lists and tags
• Creating custom segments through the segmentation dashboard
• Using click segmentation in an email
• Choosing a segment while scheduling an email
• Segmenting contacts through contact sign-up forms
• Pairing segmentation with the Automation Path Builder

Improving email engagement with segmentation

When you send an email, you want your contacts to open it, read it, and answer your call-to-action. If your contacts find your content relevant, they're more likely to open and engage with your next email, improving your open and click rates. Segmentation helps you to break your audience down into smaller groups so that you can send more targeted messages to the contacts that will find them the most interesting.

When your contacts are segmented, you can send:

• Shorter emails - You don't have to write a long newsletter with a little something for everyone. Give each email a clear purpose.
• Targeted email content - Pick a specific audience that you're writing for and customize the email content just for them.
• More frequent emails - When your emails are shorter and more targeted, you end up sending more emails overall, but your contacts are only seeing the ones that matter to them.

Be a better marketer: Learn more about the power of segmentation.

Segmenting existing contacts using lists and tags

Lists are the most basic way to segment your contacts and are very flexible! If you're sending emails, you've already got at least one contact list that you're actively adding your contacts to, but did you know that you can create up to 1000 unique lists in your account? Once you've got your lists mapped out, it's easy to get your contacts onto them:

• Existing contacts - Move only the relevant contacts onto each list. It's fine if a single contacts ends up on multiple lists!
• New contacts - Create a sign-up form and select the specific list you want to add new contacts to. When new contacts join your list, they end up right where you want them.

List segmentation isn't fancy, but it's very effective, and adding tags takes your list segmentation to another level! Individual contacts can be labeled with a tag, so that you can create a segment of contacts across multiple lists, or divide one list into multiple segments. You can have up to 500 unique tags, and they're easy to create an manage.

• Learn more about list management
• Learn more about tag management

When sending an email, just choose the list, combination of lists, or combination of lists and tags to reach the right audience with your message. (See below.) For example, the contact in the below image is on the Monthly Specials list and tagged as a vegetarian. If the restaurant wants to promote a vegetarian entrée, they can choose to send an email only to contacts on the Monthly Specials list who also have the vegetarian tag. This will get that dish in front of the diners who would be the most interested in eating it.


 

Did you know? Your list size can help determine what combination of lists, tags, and custom segments is right for you. Learn more.

Creating custom segments through the segmentation dashboard

Our Segmentation Builder is a powerful tool that helps you find the relevant contacts when you need them. You have lots of control over how targeted you want to be. When you create a segment, you can filter out contacts using any combination of:

• Contact profiles
• Email activities
• Engagement
• List membership
• Shopping activity
• Sources and providers
• Tags
  
  

Once your segment is created, you can then send emails to it. The segment refreshes so that only the most current group of contacts that meet all of your chosen criteria are included on the email. Over time, some contacts may fall out of the segment while other contacts are added, preventing you from sending email to contacts who won't find it relevant.

Using click segmentation in an email

If you've got text links, buttons, or clickable images in your emails, Click Segmentation is an easy way to start segmenting your contacts. Anytime someone clicks on a link, they're added to a contact list of your choosing so that you can follow up with related content later.

When you insert the link into your email, just check the box to enable Click Segmentation and choose your list. You can even create a new list if you need one! Want to take things a step further? Set up an automated email that triggers when a contact is added to a list so you can reach your contacts when they're highly engaged.


 

Choosing a segment while scheduling an email

If you've taken the time to segment your contacts, it pays off when you're ready to send them emails. From the Schedule Page, you can send to:

• A single list or combination of lists. If a single contact appears on multiple lists, they only receive your email once.
  
  
   
• Contacts with a specific tag across a single list or multiple lists. You can also choose to exclude contacts with a tag from receiving your email.
  
  
   
• A custom segment. Only the most current contacts who meet your segment criteria receive your email because the segment is automatically refreshed right before sending.
  
  
   

Segmenting contacts through contact sign-up forms

Your sign-up form is your most important list growth tool, and can be used to segment your contacts from the start. Using the right sign-up form at the right time helps you get your contacts onto the right list, and ultimately makes it easier for you to send the most meaningful content, too.

• Give options - Our Inline, Pop-Up, Banner, and Flyout Sign Up Forms let you add multiple list options for sign-ups through your website. When your contacts view your form, they can choose which of your lists they want to sign up for.
• Create multiple versions - Our Lead Generation Landing Page and Facebook and Instagram Lead Ads allow for a single list option, but you can create multiple versions of the form to share with different audiences.

Pairing segmentation with the Automation Path Builder

Automated emails can be triggered whenever a contact is added to a list, which makes them a natural pairing if you're segmenting your contacts through sign-up forms or Click Segmentation. The Automation Path Builder is a time-saving tool that gives you lots of control over the email and SMS content your contacts are seeing, and lets you set the timing for when they see it.

• Welcome path - Perfect for sign-up forms, a Welcome path is triggered whenever a contact joins a list through one of our sign-up tools. You set the timing for when the email is sent and control the timing of content of any emails that follow. All email plans come with a single Welcome path, but upgrading your plan gives you the ability to create multiple Welcome paths with content that is customized for each list.
• Custom path - Perfect for emails enabled with Click Segmentation, you can create a single email or a series of timed emails to follow-up with more information when your contact clicks a link in your email and is added to a specific list.

Want to learn more about segmenting your contacts? Watch our webinar:

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