The art of convincing a customer to buy from you is one that requires a creative mind and a rigorous approach. Selling is not a walk in the park. It is also not for the faint-hearted.
Traditionally, selling is done face-to-face. But while some of it is still being done that way, most businesses are now pushing their products online.
Welcome to the internet era. All aboard the virtual shopping cart, please!
One popular method of selling online is through email marketing. However, some businesses are still groping in the dark when it comes to email marketing.
The good thing is that most businesses have realized its power and are now enjoying the benefits of email marketing. They are now increasingly adopting this tactic as their primary online marketing tool.
But it’s not all rosy. Some businesses are still somewhat clueless as to how to effectively use this tool. As a marketer, you constantly need to come up with a kick-ass online marketing strategy in order to stay in business.
The answer to an effective email campaign lies in how you segment your contacts. Segmentation can be defined as the division of email subscribers into smaller segments based on set criteria. Getting info from customers has its benefits that boost your email marketing.
There’s nothing more annoying than receiving an email about something you have absolutely no interest in.
So, to make sure that this doesn’t happen, this is what you need to do.
5 Simple and Effective Ways to Segment Your Email List
1. What do they like?
Knowing your customers and what they like is a good starting point for your contact segmentation exercise. Finding out what your contacts like is your key to understanding their interests and aspirations are.
And how do you find out what they like? Well, by simply asking them.
One effective and widely used tactic is to start by creating a list that contains things your contacts might like. This list could contain anything from sales and promotions, new product information from different categories, company news, etc.
2. Identify their location
Ever heard of geo-targeting? Of course, you have. One way of identifying your contacts’ interests is by knowing their location.
This way you’ll be in a better position to specifically target them in the event you have a particular product or service that is unique to their location. The last thing you want to do is send an email to contacts about a sale that is happening in your store that’s located in a different state.
3. Know their age
This one goes without saying. Not all products attract the same age demographic. It is, therefore, important that you know firsthand what age bracket the product you are selling belongs to.
Knowing their age will also help you craft your messaging in a way that appeals and resonates with that particular age group. This will significantly increase your chances of converting your leads into buyers.
4. Know their gender
Just like their age, knowing your contacts’ gender is equally important. By segmenting your email lists according to gender put you in a much better position to sell to them products and services that they can easily relate to.
Be careful, though! Your emails shouldn’t be too gender-specific. You risk offending people and sending emails that are politically incorrect. Make sure to cross-reference their gender with past purchases.
5. Past purchases
Segmenting your contacts based on the previous buys is another big opportunity to grow sales. You can confidently use their purchase history to identify other relevant products and services that they might find useful.
Your contacts might not even be aware that you have other products that they could use. Yes, it’s true! Not all your customers know your inventory by heart, so help them out a bit. Segmenting using past purchases improves your chances of upselling significantly.
Once you have all your contacts segmented, you can integrate your email marketing tool with your CRM or another tools that your marketers rely on heavily via SyncApps. Just in case you want to get the most out of your email marketing.
