What is Segmentation in Email Marketing?

In advertising, segmentation is the key to an effective marketing strategy, and it is often more important than the ad’s copy or design elements.

This is because an ad’s content is not as important as who is receiving the ad — you wouldn’t try to sell feminine hygiene products to the average man.

This also applies to segmentation in email marketing.

What is Segmentation?

Segmentation has been around before email marketing and it comes from the term market segmentation.

Market segmentation is when you divide an audience into smaller groups based on certain qualities; these smaller groups are known as market segments.

Because people in market segments have similar qualities, these qualities can be used to market a product to them in a single, appealing advertisement.

Traditional Market Segments

There are five market segments that are traditionally used in the marketing industry.

Market Segment	Definition	Examples
Geographic Segment	People that live in the same region, city, state or country	Live events, like concerts, marketed to people who live in the same state Advertising a local store to people who live in the same town
Demographic Segment	People with similar age, gender, ethnicity, income, education, or profession	Children’s toys marketed to parents Power tools advertised to trade professionals
Psychographic Segment	People with shared interests, beliefs, lifestyles, or hobbies	Nutrition supplements for health enthusiasts Survival gear for campers
Behavioural Segment	People with similar shopping habits, brand loyalty, or buyer awareness	Loyalty rewards for brand enthusiasts Discount coupons for price-driven customers
Hybrid Segment	A combination of other market segments	Self-care products that appeal to students who value mental health (combines demographic & psychographic segments)

Segmentation in Email Marketing

Most email marketing platforms let you create market segments from your subscriber list in two ways:

1) creating a smaller, separate list

OR

2) defining a segment

Here’s where it gets confusing: in email marketing, the term ‘segment’ does not refer to the traditional market segments discussed above.

Segments vs. Lists

A segment in email marketing is a group of subscribers that is automatically updated based on a definition.

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Example

In your email marketing platform, if you had defined a “one-time customer” segment as “customers who have only made one purchase”, then…

Subscribers are automatically added to this segment when they make their first purchase

Subscribers are automatically removed from the segment if they make another purchase

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On the other hand, a list is group of subscribers that can only be updated by workflows, opt-in forms or manually.

Although it’s confusing that there are two ways to do segmentation in email marketing, this is because segments and lists each have their own unique features:

Both segments and lists are important for your overall segmentation strategy, but we’ll dive into their specific uses in a separate post.

For now, just remember that market segmentation can be done through lists or segments in email marketing.

3 Ways to Use Segmentation in Email Marketing

1. Analyzing Your Audience

If you’re planning your next campaign ideas, it’s helpful to think about who you want to engage.

You can define some segments to research potential audiences, and then build a campaign or workflow around them.

2. Sending Campaign Emails to Segments

Once a segment has been created from your subscriber list, you can send campaign emails to any combination of segments or lists.

3. Triggering Email Workflows

Your subscribers can trigger an email workflow by joining a list or segment.

Workflows can also be used to add or remove a subscriber from a list.

Segmentation is the cornerstone to an effective email marketing strategy, and it’s also heavily underused.

That’s why marketing agencies trust our white-label email marketing services, so that we can use our years of segmentation expertise to deliver the best results, and all they have to do is manage the client.

Learn more →

Further reading: Building segments on Klaviyo