Audience segmentation

Also called list segmentation

Audience segmentation is splitting an audience into groups that behave differently, so each group can receive a different message.

Segmentation exists because averages hide behaviour. A list containing people who bought last week and people who signed up two years ago and never opened anything has one average open rate and two completely different populations inside it.

The useful splits are behavioural rather than demographic. What someone did — bought, opened, clicked, abandoned a cart — predicts what they will do far better than their age or country. Behaviour is also free to collect, which demographics rarely are.

Segmentation costs effort per segment, so the discipline is to keep few. Three well-chosen groups you actually write differently for beat twelve you send the same email to.

In practice

Splitting a list into buyers, openers who never bought, and dormant contacts lets the launch email say something true to each — and stops you mailing buyers a discount they already paid full price to miss.

Common mistake

Creating segments you never write separately for. A segment that receives the same message as everyone else is a report, not a segment.

Audience segmentation

In practice

Common mistake

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