What happens if a particular or seasonal product you are advertising only interests some of your subscribers? How do you filter out certain subscribers one month and not the next? How do you segment them?
It’s simple. You profile subscribers according to various common denominator/s and group them together (how you profile subscribers is up to you). And, you do this by using our “subscriber segmentation” tool. You can create as many segments as you like, save each one and also use them across one or more mailing lists. Our email marketing services give you the opportunity to create a highly targeted, effective email advertising campaign which will benefit your email marketing efforts in the long run.
So, how do you segment your email newsletter subscribers? Below we have given you a general overview of how to do segmentation – we hope it helps!
Setting up your data: define information needed from your email subscribers
You’ll need to decide on the type of subscriber information you would like to capture from your readers and then store it in either an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV file. Decide on the criteria and label your columns accordingly.
You'll either need to obtain a subscriber email address or mobile number as these are basic required fields. You should take into account your target market, product, business needs and the aim of your email marketing campaign before deciding on other information you would like to capture. If, for example, you are an electronic goods store owner, you may wish to have the following fields:
Email | Gender | City | iPod Fan | Television Fan | Computer Fan
This way, when you send out promotions regarding pink iPods, you can target subscribers who fall under the category "iPod Fan" and "gender". Once you have decided on the criteria and labeled your columns accordingly you can now "create the dataset" within your account.
Creating the dataset: input information into your email lists
You will need to "create a dataset" in your account before uploading your spreadsheet. When you click on the "create dataset" option you will need to input the column headings in the blank text fields. Your columns should match the information you have in your spreadsheet and you'll also have to name your "dataset".
Uploading your data: store your information in your account
Once you have created your dataset in your account and are happy with your column names defined in your Excel/CSV spreadsheet; you are now ready to import the spreadsheet to your dataset. Remember to check your import settings before importing your file. To do this, you will see a + sign above where you import called “import settings”. Upload your spreadsheet to the dataset you have just created.
Subscriber segmentation: target that audience!
Assuming you have your dataset and mailing lists within your account already, you can ignore the handy hints documented above and move straight into creating your segment.
The steps are quite straightforward and easy to follow. The names of your columns from your "dataset" will appear in the drop down menu. Choose from the various options in the drop down menu to decide how you would like to profile your bulk email software subscribers.
You are able to edit, delete and save a specific segment. Now that all of this is in order you are ready to send your email campaign to a very detailed, specific target market.
Sending to your Segment: Saving your segment and profiling your send!
Once you have saved your segment you will be able to send to this same segment at a later stage. When you are ready to send to your segment you will see an option to personalize your newsletter. This means you are able to choose a specific field for your “from” address. Your segment will get dynamically generated at send time to reflect updated information.