10 Segmentation Tricks to Increase Open Rates

Segmentation is a powerful tactic for email marketing success. It allows you to create more targeted and valuable marketing messages, which increases your email open rates.

In this post, we’ll share 10 segmentation tricks that will help you increase your open rates.

1. Use geography to your advantage

Where your audience is located can give you a lot of information about who they are and what kind of content they might be interested in.

For example, if you have a large portion of your audience in a specific city, you might want to send them an email about an upcoming event in that area.

You can also use geography to your advantage by sending emails at the right time of day. If you have a global audience, you can segment your list based on time zone so that everyone receives your email at a time that makes sense for them.

2. Always ask for a subscriber’s birthday

Who doesn’t love getting a birthday email? Birthday emails get the highest open rates of any promotional email.

When you ask for a subscriber’s birthday, you can send them a special email with a coupon or a free gift on their birthday. This is a great way to build a personal connection with your subscribers and increase customer loyalty.

You can also use birthday data to segment your email list and send targeted birthday email campaigns to your subscribers. This will help you increase your open rates and drive more sales.

Pro-tip: You can also use this data to segment your email list and send targeted birthday email campaigns to your subscribers. This will help you increase your open rates and drive more sales.

3. Consider your subscribers’ gender

If you have data on your subscribers’ gender, you can use this to your advantage when creating your email marketing segments.

For example, you could create segments for male and female subscribers and then use this information to send targeted content, such as product recommendations, that are more likely to be of interest to each group.

You can also use gender to personalize your emails, such as by using the subscriber’s first name and the pronouns they prefer in the subject line or greeting of your email.

4. Segment based on your subscribers’ interests

What are your subscribers interested in? It’s a good idea to learn as much as you can about your audience and their interests. This can help you create more relevant email content.

For example, let’s say you’re a software company with a mix of B2B and B2C customers. You could create a survey to ask your customers what other types of software they use and how they use your software.

You could then use this data to segment your email list into B2B and B2C customers and send them content that’s relevant to their interests.

5. Use your subscribers’ past purchases

If you’re an e-commerce business, you already know that your customers are interested in your products. But what if you could take it a step further and show your customers that you know what they’re interested in?

One way to do that is by segmenting your list based on your customers’ past purchases.

For example, if you sell clothing and you know that a certain segment of your customers only buys women’s clothing, you could send them an email that features your latest women’s collection. You can also recommend relevant tools, such as the best Wix affiliate apps to help with their website or e-commerce needs.

Not only does this show your customers that you know what they’re interested in, but it also increases the chances that they’ll open your email and make a purchase.

You can take this a step further by using a referral platform like ReferralCandy to identify which of your customers are not only making repeat purchases but also referring others. These loyal advocates can be placed in a special segment where you reward them with exclusive offers or sneak peeks—creating a win-win for your engagement and your bottom line.

6. Segment based on how often your subscribers buy

This is a good way to gauge subscriber interest and intent. If someone buys from your store on a weekly basis, they’re a highly engaged customer who’s likely interested in your email marketing.

On the other hand, someone who hasn’t bought from your store in a year may be less interested in your email marketing. And, if you’re sending the same emails to both of these customers, you’re almost certainly hurting your open rates.

One of the easiest ways to segment your list based on purchase frequency is to send a re-engagement email to subscribers who haven’t bought from you in a while. You can use this email to ask if they’d still like to receive emails from you and give them the option to update their email preferences.

7. Send emails based on how long your subscribers have been with you

If you’re a brand new subscriber, you might not be ready to get the same emails as someone who’s been with a company for years.

Consider sending a welcome series to new subscribers. This is a great way to introduce them to your brand, tell them what to expect, and get to know them a little better.

As you get more information about your subscribers, you can start to send them emails that are more tailored to their interests and needs.

8. Segment based on your subscribers’ level of engagement

Segmenting your email list based on the level of engagement is a great way to ensure that you’re not sending too many emails to people who aren’t interested.

If you have a lot of subscribers who haven’t opened any of your emails in the past few months, you may want to consider creating a segment for them and then sending them a re-engagement campaign.

On the other hand, if you have a segment of subscribers who open and click on your emails regularly, you may want to consider sending them emails with more advanced content or special offers.

9. Send a different email to people who haven’t opened any of your emails

Finally, you can also segment your email list to create a special list of people who haven’t been opening your emails.

This is a great way to give your open rate a quick boost, as it allows you to send a different email to this list of disengaged subscribers that’s designed to get them to open your emails more often.

10. Use a combination of segmentation tricks

To get the most out of your email list segmentation, you can use a combination of the tricks above. For example, you could segment your list by engagement level and then further segment by location or purchase history.

Just make sure you’re not over-segmenting your list. If you create too many segments, it can become difficult to manage and you might end up sending the same email to multiple segments.

But, if you’re strategic about how you segment your list, you can create highly targeted email campaigns that – along with sending from pre-warmed email accounts – will help you increase your open rates and drive more sales.

Conclusion

Segmentation is a powerful tool that can help you take your email marketing to the next level. However, it’s important to remember that it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. The best way to get a handle on segmentation is to get to know your audience and make sure that you’re sending the right content to the right people.