Understanding Ecommerce Customer Segmentation

𝐒𝐮𝐛 𝟏𝟎% 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝟎.𝟓% 𝐂𝐓𝐑. 𝐀 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥. Something had to change! Here’s what we did 🌟  ↴ Community Insights: ↳I reached out to operators in ClubPF ⚓︎, Pavilion, and other communities, and LinkedIn to learn from their email campaign strategies. Focused Segmentation: ↳ We noticed that the top marketers and ops professionals were creating highly engaged audience segments. We reduced our audience size by 90%, focusing on: → Last email opened from sales/marketing → Recent website visits → Event registration/attendance → Asset downloads or form submissions Building Engagement: ↳ We enriched contact details and evaluated titles, companies, goals, challenges, and content engagement across emails and our website. Gathering Feedback: ↳ We contacted 20+ engaged contacts to understand their email preferences, knowledge gaps, and content consumption habits. Strategic Expansion: ↳ We expanded our list by 5-10% weekly, monitoring performance closely. Within 3 weeks, we saw: 20%+ open rates 1.5%+ CTRs By the end of the quarter, our segmented email campaigns achieved a 30%+ open rate! Key Takeaways 💡: 👉 People-First Approach: Engage internally with the best team and externally with your audience. 👉 Data-Driven Decisions: Use engagement signals to create focused segments. 👉 Continuous Improvement: Regularly gather feedback and adjust strategies. ✨ This journey was about putting people first, aligning our team, and delivering value to our audience. The results speak for themselves! S/o to Ritakshi J. Sagar Mishra and Soumyajit Chakladar - we worked week after week to make this happen! Picture Context - Winter in Boston in 2010. Sometimes this is what being a GTM Operator feels like 🤣 #EmailMarketing #GTM #datadriven

Managing hundreds of emails daily as a CEO should be overwhelming. It's not. Here's my system that saves me hours weekly: The Setup: Smart Inbox Architecture Instead of one chaotic inbox, I run five purpose-built streams: Needs Action - requires my response Awaiting Reply - tracking delegated tasks Read Later - FYI content for downtime Remember This - reference material Delegated - team ownership items Each lives as a separate Gmail label with its own filtered view. No email touches my main inbox for more than seconds. The Automation: AI-Powered Triage I built a simple n8n workflow that: * Reads incoming email instantly * AI categorizes based on content/sender/context * Applies appropriate label * Archives from main inbox * Zero manual sorting. Zero decision fatigue. The Execution: Context Batching Gmail's "Stay in Label" feature is gold. For example, when processing Read Later emails, I stay locked in that view—read, delete, next. No context switching. No re-reading the same email 3x wondering what to do with it. Result: What used to take 90 minutes now takes 5 or 10. This isn't about having a clean inbox for aesthetics. It's about: * Never missing critical customer issues * Faster response times on strategic decisions * Actually disconnecting after hours (everything's already triaged) * Team gets faster feedback because I'm not drowning Your inbox shouldn't be a to-do list. It should be a routing system. Full technical breakdown here on setting up multiple inboxes: https://lnkd.in/g4Th_b3w

Your email marketing list has three types of people on it: Readers who never buy Buyers who never read And the 8% who do both Most brands optimize for the readers. They craft perfect subject lines, test send times, obsess over open rates. Meanwhile, the buyers are ignoring every email and just coming back when they need to reorder. Here's what nobody talks about: Your buyers don't need more emails. They need fewer, better timed ones. I pulled data from brand's ESP. Here's what we found: People who bought 3+ times had an average email open rate of 11%. People who bought once had an average email open rate of 34%. The best customers were ignoring most emails! So we split the list: Segment 1: High engagement, low purchase These people open everything but never buy. They're tire kickers. Entertainment seekers. Freebie hunters. Action: Moved them to a weekly digest instead of daily sends. One email, all the content. Stop burning domain reputation on people who aren't converting. Segment 2: Low engagement, high purchase These people buy every 40-60 days like clockwork. They ignore promotional emails. They don't care about your content. Action: Sent them exactly three emails between purchases: - Day 30: Refill reminder (just inventory check, no pitch) - Day 45: "You're probably running low" - Day 55: Reorder link, one-click Open rates stayed low (12%). Conversion rate on those three emails: 43%. Segment 3: High engagement, high purchase The golden 8%. They read AND buy. Action: These people got everything. New products first. Behind-the-scenes content. Early access. VIP treatment. The result after 90 days: Total email volume: Down 62% Revenue from email: Up 31% Unsubscribe rate: Down 55% The lesson: Stop treating your email list as ONE Your best customers don't want to hear from you more. They want to hear from you smarter. Figure out who's buying despite your emails, and get out of their way.

Your “engaged segment” is probably costing you email revenue. I audit accounts all the time where segmentation starts and ends with: - 30-day openers - 60-day clickers - 90-day engaged The brand sends content to everyone they think is active. The problem is that's not segmentation. That's filtering. For all of the focus on deliverability in email marketing the last couple of years, we've lost sight of the fact that other data points help drive incremental revenue for a business. Thankfully it's not hard at all to do more, especially when a brand is running on Klaviyo. That means a TON of data is at their disposal. Three simple fixes I look for first: *Exclude recent purchasers* Stop promoting a product to someone who bought it last week. Set a 7-, 14-, or 30-day exclusion window based on your product cycle. If the order isn’t even fulfilled yet, they shouldn’t be in a promo send. *Separate product subscribers from non-subscribers* If someone is already subscribed, they don’t need the pitch again. They need education, usage reinforcement, loyalty building. Cross sell to another product. *Use RFM to change the message* A one-time buyer and a 10-time buyer should not get the same email. Your “Needs attention” segment is often where the incremental lift lives. These people bought before. They just need a reason to come back. Here’s the part most teams miss: The incremental lift doesn't come from creating 10 new campaigns to different groups of users. That's never worth the cost it takes to write, design and deploy that volume (whether you're running things in-house or with an agency). Here's the key: Use dynamic content. Inside a single send: • VIPs see early access • Rewards members see points • Lapsed buyers see a comeback offer • Recent purchasers see something completely different That’s segmentation that drives revenue without multiplying production. Open and click data can inform targeting. It cannot be your growth strategy. If your segmentation doesn’t reflect how people actually buy, you’re not going to make as much money as you should.

I discovered why your best customers never open your emails. Yet they keep buying. Here's what's really happening: Your best customers don't need convincing anymore. The segmentation truth most brands miss: You're wasting premium email real estate on people who already trust you. Meanwhile, your prospects (who actually need nurturing) get lost in the noise. Here's the reality: → Your VIPs: Bookmark your site, buy without emails → Your prospects: Need education, social proof, and trust-building → Your one-time buyers: Sitting on the fence, need that extra push But most brands do this backwards: They send discount emails to loyal customers (who'd pay full price). They send the same generic content to cold prospects (who need warming up). Smart segmentation looks like this: • Prospects: Welcome series, education, social proof • New customers: Product tips, usage guides, community building • Repeat buyers: New arrivals, restocks, recommendations • VIPs: Exclusive access, no discounts needed The breakthrough: When you stop trying to "convert" customers who are already converted... You can focus your best content on people who actually need it. Your prospects get the attention they deserve. Your VIPs get respected for their loyalty. Bottom line: Your best customers will buy with or without your emails. Your prospects won't buy without them. Segment accordingly.

𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗤𝟭 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀. Every time I hear “we’re dialing back sends in January,” I know what I’ll see in the account. Revenue flat, inbox cold, list getting weaker by the week. You don’t have a volume problem. You have a relevance problem. Here’s the rule of thumb I follow when demand drops in Q1. 𝟭. 𝗜 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 My baseline is 2–3 campaigns per week. That doesn’t change in January. Q4 is the spike, Q1 is the reset, not radio silence. If you go quiet, deliverability and the relationship both slide. 𝟮. 𝗜 𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 Q4 blows segmentation wide open. Brands go from 90-day engaged to 180, 365, sometimes 2-year “why not” lists. In January, I pull that right back to warm and recent. Fewer people, more intent, cleaner signals. 𝟯. 𝗜 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 November and December are about consumption. “Buy this, get this, last chance.” January is about commitment. So themes shift to habits and routines, New Year identity, “upgrade one thing, not everything.” I focus on helping people get more out of what they bought in Q4 and solve seasonal pain points. Same cadence, different job. 𝟰. 𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 Prospects, first-time customers, repeats, and high-intent non-buyers don’t need the same message. Prospects get value and trust. New customers get “here’s how to get the most from what you bought.” Repeat buyers get smart cross-sells. Q4 clickers who never purchased get a softer nudge that meets their intent. That’s how I can keep frequency stable without feeling spammy. The relevance does the heavy lifting. So when people ask, “Should we send more or less in Q1?” my answer stays the same. 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁. 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀.

+63% revenue per campaign in 14 days. Most DTC brands dream of email performance like this. Pietro Pelizzari at Orbis (Swiss wellness brand) just made it reality. Here's the crazy part: He didn't hire more people. Didn't overhaul his entire email strategy. Didn't even change his messaging. He just stopped shooting emails to just his 30-day engaged list. The problem? Orbis had a solid email list of health-conscious Europeans. But they were treating a fitness fanatic the same as a casual browser. Generic segmentation = generic results. So Pietro tried something different. Instead of just sending emails to his engaged list, he let AI watch customer behavior and tell him exactly when someone was ready to buy. They started with just two AI-segments that were pure gold: - Segment 1: Site visitors showing strong purchase signals (but not converting) - Segment 2: New customers displaying early loyalty behaviors Every night, these segments updated automatically based on real actions. Not demographics. Not assumptions. Actual behavior. The results hit different: → +63% revenue per recipient → +10% revenue per campaign → +72% email efficiency → Deliverability scores back in the green Pietro's reaction: "It's like switching from a shotgun to a sniper." Here's what most brands miss: Your customers are already telling you when they're ready to buy. Their clicks. Their browse time. Their purchase patterns. It's all data you can act on. But most teams are still segmenting ONLY by "bought in last 30 days" or "lives in California." Meanwhile, brands like Orbis are reading behavioral intent in real-time. Then to start, they're just layering better segments on top of what they're already sending. Same team size. Same budget. 63% better results. Your customers are sending you the buying signals you need to convert more. Are you listening?

Email segmentation isn't just a tactic. It's a MINDSET. 💡 I've seen countless marketers blast their entire list with the same message and wonder why their open rates are in the gutter. But here's the thing: Great email marketing isn't about reaching EVERYONE. It's about reaching the RIGHT people with the RIGHT message at the RIGHT time. It's a form of respect, really. You respect your audience by only sending relevant content. You respect your reputation by not forcing messages where they're unwanted. You respect your results by being strategic, not desperate. So what's the solution? A three-layer segmentation approach that transforms your email program: Layer 1: Engagement-Based Segmentation ✅ • Active (opened/clicked in last 30 days) → Regular sending • Warm (31-90 days) → Reduced frequency, value-focused • Cold (90-180 days) → Re-engagement only • Dormant (180+ days) → Suppress or remove This alone tells ISPs your mail is wanted and valued. Layer 2: Risk Tiering 🚦 Ever notice how one bad apple spoils the bunch? Same with email lists. Isolate higher-risk audiences: • New leads or purchased lists → Separate domain • Low engagers → Cautious, infrequent sending • Promotional content → Isolated sending infrastructure Your main domain stays pristine. Your reputation stays intact. Layer 3: Behavior + Demographics 🎯 Now the fun part - personalization based on: • Purchase behavior (what they buy) • Content interests (what they click) • Lifecycle stage (where they are in journey) The real question? Are you still treating your email list as one massive audience? If so, you're leaving engagement on the table and risking your sender reputation. Remember: In email, precision beats volume every time. Segment with intention. Send with purpose. Watch your results transform.

I've been running cold email campaigns for years now. And one thing is very clear: Cold email still works. Meetings are getting booked. Deals are still closing. Pipelines are still being built. But the way most people run outbound today is completely outdated. What worked even 12-24 months ago is now quietly failing. Here are the biggest shifts we're seeing. 1. Deliverability is now the real bottleneck Getting emails into the inbox has become exponentially harder. The old playbook was simple: Buy domains → warm them → blast emails. That approach is dying fast. Today you need to: Test inbox placement before campaigns Monitor sender reputation constantly Keep warmups running always. A good rule we follow: → Send 15-20 warm-up emails per day per inbox → Send 15-20 real emails per day per inbox This balances your sending patterns and keeps inbox providers comfortable with your activity. 2. Segmentation has replaced "personalization" A few years ago a custom first line was impressive. Now? Everyone is doing AI personalization. And most of it is terrible. You've probably seen emails like: "Hey John, saw your LinkedIn post about AI." Congratulations. You scraped LinkedIn. That's not impressive anymore. Instead of writing a custom line for every person… We focus on segmented personalization. 3. The segmentation framework we use Before writing a single email, we segment markets across five dimensions: Sub-industry Example: fintech → payments → embedded finance Company size Startup vs SMB vs enterprise Geography Region, country, or even state Company maturity Bootstrapped vs VC-backed Core problem Transaction fees, reporting, payout delays, etc. Once you combine a few of these… You end up with hyper-relevant segments. 4. Match segments to the right persona Once segments are defined, map them to the right decision maker. Example: Ecommerce brands → Head of Ecommerce / Growth SaaS companies → VP of Revenue / CRO Real estate firms → Managing Partners Different personas = different angles. 5. One underrated tactic: resonance campaigns Sometimes the best segmentation is shared identity. Examples: People who previously worked at Google Founders with product background Engineers who moved into product leadership People naturally trust others who share their background. These "resonance campaigns" often outperform generic outreach. 6. For small markets, go ultra-personal If your TAM is small… Consider high-touch outreach. Things like: Handwritten notes Personalized gifts Physical mail We've seen surprisingly strong results using this for high-value accounts. Cold email isn't dying. But lazy outbound is. The future of outbound is: Strong deliverability infrastructure Hyper-specific segmentation Relevance over volume If your campaigns feel stale right now… It's probably because the old playbook finally stopped working.