When it comes to email marketing, the most successful marketers are those who segment their mailing list database. By doing so, marketers can tailor their messaging efforts to the most likely individuals who are interested in their different offerings. Mailing lists can be segmented on almost anything these days – the date the user opened the message, what link they clicked on within the message, members who have previously purchased, etc. Yet, more often than not, I see marketers send mailings to their entire mailing list.

Sending the same message to your entire list most definitely is not the best way to execute your email campaigns. Instead, seasoned marketers divide their mailing list into segments (sometimes dozens of them) to which they send personalized campaigns. This kind of targeted messaging is based on the behavior of different user groups, determining what is relevant to them and the most direct path to drive them to purchase. So, once you have established a growing mailing list, segmenting it is the next step to optimizing your campaign efforts.

What happens after you segment? It is this step that is the most important. Here you wait for the clicks and opens to trickle in. If you did it right, you should see far more interest and higher open rates than previously experienced without segmentation. You will more than likely have fewer bounces and in turn a better list of people who really do want to receive your emails.

By the way, segmentation is also a good practice when you are ramping up a new IP or second IP. In this case, we recommend using segments by sending to your most recent clickers and openers first in order to secure a good sender’s reputation with the internet service provider (ISP) as quickly as possible.

###

Related Resources:

• Subscribe to Inside Lyris HQ our monthly online-marketing newsletter.
• Download free online-marketing guides, tools and webinars in the Lyris Online-Marketing Resource Center.