Email Segmentation
The practice of dividing email subscribers into smaller groups based on set criteria.
Definition
Email segmentation divides your email list into targeted groups based on demographics, behavior, preferences, or other criteria. Segmented campaigns outperform non-segmented ones significantly—marketers report up to 760% increase in revenue from segmented campaigns. Common segments include demographics, purchase history, engagement level, and lifecycle stage.
Why It Matters
Segmentation is the difference between email marketing that annoys and email marketing that converts. By sending relevant messages to specific groups based on behavior, preferences, or demographics, you dramatically improve engagement and reduce unsubscribes.
Segmented campaigns consistently outperform broadcasts across every metric. They generate higher open rates, click-through rates, and revenue per email while building stronger subscriber relationships.
Examples in Practice
An e-commerce brand segments by purchase history and sends personalized product recommendations, increasing email revenue by 50%.
A SaaS company creates separate nurture tracks for different use cases, seeing 3x higher trial-to-paid conversion.
A nonprofit segments donors by giving history and sends targeted appeals, increasing average donation size by 25%.