The Secret to Relevant Emails: Segment Your List An interview with John Arnold, Regional Development Director and Author of Email Marketing for Dummies by Amy Black, Constant Contact Editor, Hints & Tips e-Newsletters According to a 2006 study by Jupiter Research, engaging your audiences in more relevant communications could increase net profits by an average of 18 times*. That's why, as email marketers, we need to do everything possible to make our emails relevant. One of the best ways to create a relevant experience for your subscribers is to segment your email list and send content to each group based on their specific needs and interests. In this interview, John Arnold gives insight on how to get started with segmentation. HT: What is the definition of email list segmentation? It sounds a little daunting. JA: Don't let the word scare you. It's the task of breaking your list into groups with similar interests and needs so you can send highly relevant communications. You don't need a separate list for every customer detail. You can effectively target your emails with a few segmented lists. HT: For someone who is just getting started with email marketing, is there an easy way to begin segmenting right out of the gate? JA: Absolutely. The best time to collect information for segmenting purposes is right when your prospect or customer joins your email list. For starters, you can easily create segmented lists by offering options with checkboxes on your sign-up form. For example, a music store might create a list for each type of instrument they sell, so they can send information relevant to the musicians who play a particular instrument. If you use an email service provider, such as Constant Contact, anyone who checks a box is automatically added to the corresponding segmented list. HT: Are there other ways to learn more about your subscribers from the sign-up form? JA: You can ask for personal information, such as a zip code or a personal preference, to determine what's relevant to the person signing up. For example, a retailer with an e-commerce website and a brick-and-mortar store might ask whether someone prefers to shop online or in the store. That way, the retailer can create two separate lists and send email coupons that contain an online promotion to one list and an in-store promotion to the other list. One word of caution: Long sign-up forms can be a barrier to signing up. Ask for essential information on your sign-up form and gather more information after your prospect or customer has committed to joining your list. HT: How can you get this type of information from your subscribers after they join your list? JA: For those who just joined, include a link to a short survey in your welcome email. Use the survey questions to ask for non-critical information that helps you add your people to the appropriate segmented lists so you don't have to ask on your signup form. Once you have the survey results, you can create new lists or add to existing ones based on how respondents answered questions. Remember, you don't have to ask for all the information you'll ever need in one survey either. This is a great time to get your list members used to short, relevant surveys so they are willing to participate in the future. Ask one or two questions, and make sure you explain how the answers to your questions will help you send more relevant information. Then continue to send short surveys every now and then to gather more information. HT: Let's say that I already have a list of 1,000 subscribers. How can I easily segment it? JA: One way is to use your tracking reports. Let the links that people click on help you understand them better. Your tracking reports make it easy for you to save anyone who clicks on a link to an existing list or a new list. For this to work well, you want to make sure the words you use for your links are very specific. For example instead of providing a single "Buy it now" link in an email promotion, offer other choices to learn about your audience like, "Do you shop for kids? See all products in our youth category" or "Are you price conscious? Shop our August sale items." Something else I recommend is to place links inside the body of a paragraph. For example, a travel company describing an African safari might mention that the hotel has a golf course and then link the words "golf course" to the golf course's website. This helps the travel company to know that anyone clicking the link is interested in golfing while on vacation. They can simply save all who clicked to a list, and then follow up with an email that focuses on golf. HT: Any final thoughts to share? JA: Remember that there is a real live person on the other end of each email address. Every time you create an email, ask yourself whether your email content is addressing the specific needs of your audience, or whether you're only addressing the needs of your business. Segmenting your list will set you up to do both effectively.