List Segmentation

List Segmentation: A Necessary Evil.

Gone are the days of "batch & blast" style email marketing. For a mailing to really perform these days, it has to be relevant to the recipient. That means your list must be segmented enough so that the content applies to the needs and wants of the consumer.

Don't fret- you are not alone when you start to sweat thinking about how much extra time it takes to segment lists. It's more work- but smart work- work that will pay off big in the end. There's almost always some type of manual piece of it too. But keep your focus and you will see that list segmentation is most definately a nessissary evil.  


First let's talk about the different types of "Data":

1. Endemic Data- ex: contact info, demographic info, lead record info
2. Transactional Data- ex: info from a transaction or purchase
3. Behavioral Data- ex: online/offline info collected as a result of something a recipient did/did not do, very actionable data, opens, clicks, calls, coupons used.
4. Computed Data- the combination of 2 or more of the types above

What's most important to your list? Relevancy!

• You must deliver/ship on time. You are what you ship.
• Timing and Relevancy is everything - ex. birthday messages
• Help yourself by sticking to your internal content calendar dates 
• One way to build relevancy is through using real time news and events in your email communication + relating it to your brand = “Trend Jacking” (not easy)  
• Using breaking news/trends  
• Big events  
• Weather  
•  Response to competition
• 3 Factors needed to create relevant content:
  o   The content they crave
  o   Proper list segmentation
  o   Real time communications