Why Simple Email Segmentation Works Better

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.

I spent 13 years sending millions of emails. Only 3 variables consistently made us money. At The Motley Fool, we built a monster company off of tremendous investing, and database marketing. The crazy part? A simple three-letter framework outperformed every “personalized” email anyone swore would be the next big thing. 🎯 Core Tenets of Database Marketing: RFM. -Recency (last click, last purchase, last email open) -Frequency (# of trades per year, # of logins, # of emails opened) -Monetization  ($ spent per year) That was the whole game. Personalization is great - once you’re “in” the product. But, what really drives revenue is RFM. Anything outside of RFM had to be tested first before we added it to our segmentation plan. 1/ The Metals System We created a simple tier system: Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze. Based entirely on RFM behavior. Then we made sure our best people were in our best products. Simple and highly profitable. 2/ The Testing Rule "Personalization" was all the rage at one point. Email marketers were segmenting by geography, age, industry, favorite color - you name it. But failed often to ask one very important question: Does this actually increase the response rate? Most didn't. Some did (investable assets was one that mattered). But age, Geography? Didn't move the needle. We only added variables that passed the test. 3/ Steal This: Before you segment by job title, company size, or industry vertical, ask: Have you tested if it actually improves conversion? Or are you just making your life harder? RFM first. Everything else gets tested. P.S. What's one segmentation variable you're using that you've never actually tested?

Email personalization doesn't have to be complicated. Most marketers overthink it. They build complex logic trees, segment customers into dozens of micro-categories, and end up with campaigns that take forever to launch. But here's the truth: The best personalization isn't about complexity. It's about relevance. I've seen companies spend months building the "perfect" personalization engine... only to abandon it because it was too unwieldy to maintain. The real problem? They tried to boil the ocean instead of starting small and scaling what works. Want a personalization strategy that actually drives retention? Here's the framework I use: ✅ Start with ONE lifecycle stage (new customers, loyal buyers, or at-risk) ✅ Use ONLY the data you already have (don't wait for "perfect" data) ✅ Build 1-2 dynamic modules that can scale across campaigns ✅ Test, measure, and THEN scale what works This approach transforms your retention strategy across every customer stage: → New customers: Welcome series that builds trust and habits → Active users: Product recommendations that drive 2nd/3rd purchases → Loyal customers: VIP perks that turn buyers into advocates → At-risk (30-90 days quiet): Targeted winback campaigns → Churned (90+ days inactive): Reactivation with compelling offers The results? Companies following this framework consistently see: • 20% higher repeat purchase rates • 10% reduction in customer churn • Dramatically improved email engagement But the biggest benefit? You'll spend less time fiddling with complex logic trees and more time actually driving retention revenue. Remember: Personalization isn't about showing off your technical capabilities. It's about delivering the right message to the right customer at the right time. Start small. Focus on relevance. Scale what works. Your retention metrics (and your sanity) will thank you.

Still blasting the same email to everyone on your list? That’s exactly why your eCommerce UX and email performance are stuck. 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲. That’s the "spray and pray" tactic. It feels safe, but it leaves massive revenue untapped. Here’s why 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 transforms your strategy: ✅ 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗨𝗫:   → Segment by purchase history, geography, or behavior.   → Serve up product recommendations that 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳—not just what’s convenient for you. ✅ 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀:   → Stop sending 20% off to people who just bought (and annoy them).   → Instead, message first-time buyers with a “Welcome” flow, and reward VIPs with early access. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀:   People expect relevance.   When your offer lands 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, open rates and AOV jump. 💡Pro tip: Even basic segmentation (like splitting by LTV or product interest) will outperform generic blasts every single time. Ready to ditch the generic?   Drop a "Yes" if you’re segmenting—or ask for a starter framework. https://lnkd.in/gfJvWZUx #eCommerce #EmailMarketing #CustomerExperience #CRO

You’ll almost always improve outbound campaign performance by segmenting one layer further More specific subsets of data = more specific messaging If you reach out to “Saas marketing leaders”, the messaging will be written to that population of people (very broad) If you segment by: - sales-led growth companies (use outreach as tip of the spear to engage buyers) - marketing-led growth (use seo, paid ads, 1:many advertising to bring inbound buyers to them) - product-led growth (free product signups drive conversion to paid users inside product experience itself) You will be able to speak much more specifically to how you impact each of these environments Thus actually helps you make messaging better in two ways 1) it is more specific, so it is more compelling / believable. It catches positive attention and people believe that it was written for them 2) you remove the disagreeability of sounding like everyone else. Via negativa. The pattern interrupt of being different than the average message sent to a marketer (since so few do the work to be specific) further elevates the impact of your message In SOME instances, results don’t change a ton based on segmentation - but that’s a topic for another post…