Drive better results from your marketing efforts
Segments are groups of people defined by a set of conditions (e.g., what they’ve done and properties about them). Unlike a list, which is a fixed group of subscribers, a segment will grow as new people meet the conditions you've set and shrink as people no longer meet them.
Once you create a segment, use it to:
- Send targeted campaigns.
- Trigger automated flows.
- Analyze segment engagement.
- Target your sign-up forms.
- Target your advertisements (e.g., on Google and Meta Ads).
We recommend creating a segment of subscribers who have engaged with your content in the last 30 days. They are a great audience for your regular email newsletter or other ongoing communications. Let's run through how to build this.
Identify segment conditions
Segments are defined by a set of conditions like: demographics, purchase behavior, profile properties, and marketing engagement. You don't have to choose just one condition; rather, you can combine multiple to build the segment that best suits your needs.
Before you create your segments, plan out a strategy around how you will use them. Think about what defines your brand, products or services, ideal customer, and overall marketing goals. Let's run through some of your options while building:
Demographics
What it is:
Segments based on qualities such as, age, gender, occupation, education, income, and nationality.
Example:
A product that may be segmented based on demographics is a shaving set; in particular, this brand can benefit from targeting their content to a gender-specific segment. That way, they feature products that are relevant to each audience member.
Behaviors
What it is:
Segment your audience based on profile behaviors. A few examples include:
- Actions taken on your website.
- Online shopping habits.
- Actions tracked across your integrations.
- Engagement with your messages.
Example:
A cosmetic company expands their marketing reach to former VIPs. They create a segment of profiles with a high predicted CLV, but who have not shopped recently. This audience might need a targeted incentive to re-engage and become loyal shoppers once again.
Geographic location
What it is:
Build your segment based on a customers location, such as town, county, zip code, or country. When grouping different geographic segments, consider elements such as language, culture, and currency; each may change depending on the region you are targeting.
Example:
A business uses geographic segments to reach their audience in a specific city. They target profiles who live in Boston to announce a new store opening up in that city.
Characteristics
What it is:
Grouped customers based on their personality traits, values, interests, attitudes, lifestyles, and even predictive analytics about them. This is similar to demographic segment conditions, except your focus is more on mental and emotional attributes.
Example:
This brand recognizes the need to target individuals based on their unique interests and lifestyles. For instance, they create distinct content for a high-value shoppers segment versus a low-value shoppers segment using predictive analytics about their audience members.
Use key features in the segment builder
Customers appreciate receiving relevant and personalized content. Let's review how to use key features in the segment builder to create highly targeted, personalized, and relevant segments.
Choose the right condition
When creating a segment, select the conditions that align with your marketing objectives.
Let's walk through an example. Nani, a health and wellness brand, wants to create a segment of all engaged email subscribers, using conditions like whether or not they: can receive emails, have recently clicked a text message, or recently subscribed to email marketing.
Filter a segment condition
You can also refine your segment by adding a filter to your segment conditions. Use a filter to identify the buying patterns of different groups based on age, gender, location, or income level. This allows you to customize marketing messages and offers accordingly.
Let's say Nani decides to group subscribers who have indicated that they have sensitive skin. Perhaps they have shared this directly with Nani; however, others may have simply ordered from their sensitive skincare collection. They add a filter to the second condition that will include anyone who has placed a sensitive skin order.
Use the AND/OR connectors
You may now be wondering when to separate your conditions with an AND versus an OR connector. Let's define each connector, so you'll know when to use each one:
- AND
The AND connector narrows down your segment by requiring all specified conditions to be met. It creates a more restrictive segment, resulting in a smaller and more focused subset of your audience. - OR
The OR connector expands your segment by allowing any of the specified conditions to be met. It broadens your segment, including subscribers who meet at least one of the conditions.