How to Create Segments in Mailchimp: A Comprehensive Guide

Mailchimp segments allow you to target specific groups of your audience with tailored email campaigns, boosting engagement and conversions. This article provides a detailed, step-by-step guide on creating effective segments within Mailchimp. We’ll cover various segmentation criteria, from basic demographic data to advanced behavioral targeting, ensuring you get the most out of your hubspot-email-marketing-tactics-to-boost-roi/" class="internal-link" title="3 Hubspot Email Marketing Tactics to Boost ROI">email marketing efforts. Learn how to refine your messaging and improve your campaign performance by reaching the right people with the right content at the right time.

Table of Contents

• Understanding Segmentation in Mailchimp
• Creating Static Segments Based on Subscriber Data
• Creating Dynamic Segments Based on Engagement
• Advanced Segmentation Techniques and Integrations
• Segmentation Best Practices for Optimal Delivery

Understanding Segmentation in Mailchimp

Segmentation is the process of dividing your Mailchimp audience into smaller, more targeted groups based on shared characteristics or behaviors. This allows you to send highly relevant emails that resonate with each segment, leading to increased open rates, click-through rates, and overall engagement. Without segmentation, your email campaigns risk being generic and irrelevant to a significant portion of your audience, resulting in lower performance and potentially damaging your sender reputation. Mailchimp offers two primary types of segments: static segments and dynamic segments. Static segments are manually updated lists. Subscribers are added or removed manually or through import. Dynamic segments, on the other hand, are automatically updated based on criteria you define. As subscribers meet or no longer meet these criteria, they are automatically added to or removed from the segment. Understanding the difference between these two types is crucial for choosing the right approach for your specific needs. Benefits of Segmentation Effective segmentation provides numerous benefits:

• Increased Engagement: Sending relevant content increases the likelihood that subscribers will open, read, and click on your emails.
• Improved Deliverability: Engaged subscribers are less likely to mark your emails as spam, improving your sender reputation and deliverability.
• Higher Conversion Rates: Tailored messaging can significantly boost conversion rates by addressing specific needs and interests.
• Reduced Unsubscribes: Subscribers are less likely to unsubscribe from emails that are relevant and valuable to them.
• Personalized Customer Experience: Segmentation enables you to create a more personalized customer experience, fostering stronger relationships and loyalty.

Key Segmentation Criteria You can segment your Mailchimp audience based on a wide range of criteria, including:

• Demographic Data: Age, gender, location, language, etc.
• Purchase History: Products purchased, order frequency, average order value, etc.
• Website Activity: Pages visited, products viewed, time spent on site, etc.
• Email Engagement: Open rates, click-through rates, previous campaign interactions, etc.
• Signup Source: How subscribers joined your list (e.g., website form, landing page, event).
• Tags: Custom labels you assign to subscribers based on specific characteristics or behaviors.
• Predictive Data: Mailchimp uses data to create segments with people that are more or less likely to open your emails.

Example 1: Demographic Segmentation. Let’s say you run an online clothing store. You can segment your audience by gender to send targeted promotions for men’s or women’s clothing. To do this, you would collect gender information during signup (using a custom field in your Mailchimp signup form) and then create a segment based on this field. Example 2: Purchase History Segmentation. You could create a segment of customers who have purchased a specific product in the past. This allows you to send them targeted offers for related products or to announce new versions of the product. You could also segment by purchase frequency; sending different messages to first-time buyers versus loyal, repeat customers. Expert Tip: “Start with broad segments based on readily available data, like location or signup source. As you gather more information about your subscribers, you can refine your segments and create more targeted campaigns.” – Email Marketing Expert, Jane Doe.

Creating Static Segments Based on Subscriber Data

Static segments in Mailchimp are like fixed address books. You define the criteria, and Mailchimp identifies matching subscribers. However, these segments don’t automatically update. You’ll need to manually add or remove subscribers as their attributes change or as new subscribers join your list. This makes static segments ideal for groups with relatively stable characteristics or for one-time campaigns. Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Static Segment

• Navigate to Audience: In your Mailchimp dashboard, click on “Audience” in the left-hand navigation menu.
• Select Segments: Click on “Segments” from the dropdown menu.
• Create Segment: Click the “Create Segment” button.
• Segment Type: Click on “Static segment”.
• Add Subscribers: There are several options available:
  • Add Subscribers: If you have only a few people to add, you can add them one at a time here.
  • Import Subscribers: If you have a list of people to import, you can import them directly.
  • Copy and Paste Subscribers: Copy subscribers from a file and paste them here.
• Name Your Segment: Give your segment a descriptive name (e.g., “VIP Customers – 2023”). This will help you easily identify it later.
• Save Your Segment: Click the “Save Segment” button.

Example 1: Creating a Static Segment of VIP Customers. Suppose you want to create a static segment of your VIP customers who have spent over $500 in the past year. You would first need to identify these customers (perhaps through a report from your e-commerce platform) and then manually add them to the static segment in Mailchimp. You can import these subscribers, or copy and paste the relevant email addresses into the designated space in Mailchimp. Example 2: Creating a Static Segment for a Specific Event. If you’re hosting a local event, you might create a static segment of subscribers who have RSVP’d “yes.” You could collect RSVPs through a form linked to your Mailchimp account, then manually add those respondents to the static segment to send them event-specific updates and reminders. When to Use Static Segments

• One-Time Campaigns: For sending emails related to a specific event or promotion that won’t be repeated.
• Manual Curation: When you need to manually control which subscribers are included in a segment.
• Small, Stable Groups: When the criteria for the segment are unlikely to change frequently.

While static segments offer direct control, remember they require ongoing manual maintenance. If your audience characteristics change frequently, dynamic segments are usually a better choice.

Creating Dynamic Segments Based on Engagement

Dynamic segments are powerful tools that automatically update your audience based on predefined criteria. These segments are ideal for targeting subscribers based on their behavior, engagement level, purchase history, and other dynamic attributes. As subscribers’ data changes, Mailchimp automatically adds them to or removes them from the segment, ensuring your targeting remains accurate and up-to-date. Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Dynamic Segment

• Navigate to Audience: In your Mailchimp dashboard, click on “Audience” in the left-hand navigation menu.
• Select Segments: Click on “Segments” from the dropdown menu.
• Create Segment: Click the “Create Segment” button.
• Segment Type: Click on “All contacts” or “Contacts who are subscribed”.
• Set Conditions: Use the dropdown menus to define your segmentation criteria. You can combine multiple conditions using “AND” or “OR” logic.
• Preview Segment: Click the “Preview Segment” button to see which subscribers meet your criteria.
• Name Your Segment: Give your segment a descriptive name (e.g., “Engaged Subscribers – Last 30 Days”).
• Save Your Segment: Click the “Save Segment” button.

The key to creating effective dynamic segments lies in defining the right conditions. Mailchimp offers a wide range of options, including:

• Email Activity: Opened, not opened, clicked, not clicked, specific link clicked, subscribed, unsubscribed.
• E-commerce Data: Purchased any product, purchased specific product, order total, order count.
• Contact Details: Age, gender, location, language, signup date, tags.
• Campaign Activity: Sent specific campaign, opened specific campaign, clicked specific campaign.
• List details: Opt-in time, member rating, is a VIP

Example 1: Creating a Segment of Engaged Subscribers. Let’s say you want to target subscribers who have opened at least one of your last five email campaigns. You would create a dynamic segment with the following conditions: “Email activity | has opened | any of the last 5 campaigns.” This segment will automatically update as subscribers open or don’t open your future emails. Example 2: Creating a Segment of Customers Who Haven’t Purchased in 90 Days. This segment is useful for re-engagement campaigns. The conditions would be: “E-commerce data | has not purchased | any product | in the last 90 days.” You can then send these customers a special offer or reminder to encourage them to make another purchase. Example 3: Segmenting by signup source. Let’s say you wanted to send a targeted promotion only to people that signed up via a specific landing page. You could select “List Details | Signup Source | is | [Your Landing Page Name]”. Combining Conditions with AND/OR Logic You can create more sophisticated segments by combining multiple conditions using “AND” and “OR” logic. “AND” requires that subscribers meet all the specified conditions to be included in the segment. “OR” requires that subscribers meet at least one of the specified conditions. For instance, you could create a segment of “Engaged Subscribers in California” by combining the “Email activity” condition (has opened any of the last 5 campaigns) with the “Location” condition (is in California) using “AND” logic. This would ensure that only subscribers who meet both criteria are included.

Advanced Segmentation Techniques and Integrations

Beyond basic demographic and engagement data, Mailchimp offers advanced segmentation techniques that leverage integrations with other platforms and custom data to create highly targeted segments. These techniques can significantly improve the effectiveness of your email marketing efforts. Integration with E-commerce Platforms Integrating Mailchimp with your e-commerce platform (e.g., Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento) unlocks a wealth of customer data that can be used for advanced segmentation. This data includes:

• Purchase History: Products purchased, order value, order frequency.
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV): Predicted revenue a customer will generate.
• Product Categories: Categories of products a customer has purchased.
• Abandoned Cart Data: Items left in a customer’s shopping cart.

You can use this data to create segments such as:

• High-Value Customers: Customers with a CLTV above a certain threshold.
• Customers Who Purchased a Specific Product Category: Send targeted promotions for related products.
• Abandoned Cart Recovery: Send emails to customers who left items in their cart to encourage them to complete their purchase.

Example: Abandoned Cart Segmentation. Integrate Mailchimp with your e-commerce platform and create a segment of customers who have abandoned their carts in the last 24 hours. Send these customers an automated email with a reminder of the items they left behind and a special offer to encourage them to complete their purchase. You might also include free shipping or a discount code. Using Tags for Custom Segmentation Tags are custom labels you can assign to subscribers to categorize them based on specific characteristics or behaviors that aren’t captured by default Mailchimp fields. Tags provide a flexible way to create highly granular segments. You can add tags to subscribers manually, through integrations, or via automation workflows. For example, you could add a tag to subscribers who attended a specific webinar, downloaded a particular resource, or expressed interest in a certain topic. Example: Segmenting Based on Webinar Attendance. Create a tag called “Webinar-XYZ” and add it to all subscribers who attended your Webinar XYZ. You can then create a segment of subscribers with this tag to send them follow-up materials, special offers, or invitations to future events. Predictive Segmentation Mailchimp offers built-in predictive segmentation, which uses data science to automatically identify subscribers who are likely to engage with your campaigns. These segments include:

• Likely to Open: Subscribers who are most likely to open your emails based on their past behavior.
• Likely to Unsubscribe: Subscribers who are at risk of unsubscribing from your list.

Using these segments, you can tailor your messaging to maximize engagement and reduce churn. For example, you might send your “Likely to Open” segment your most important announcements or promotions. You could also try sending your “Likely to Unsubscribe” segment a special offer or a personalized message to remind them of the value you provide.

Segmentation Best Practices for Optimal Delivery

Creating effective segments is only half the battle. To maximize the impact of your segmentation efforts, it’s crucial to follow best practices that ensure optimal deliverability and engagement. Here are some key considerations: Maintain List Hygiene Regularly clean your email list to remove inactive subscribers, bounced email addresses, and spam traps. This will improve your sender reputation and deliverability. Mailchimp offers tools to automatically identify and remove these types of subscribers. Specifically, consider automatically removing subscribers who haven’t opened an email in a certain timeframe (e.g., 6 months, 1 year). You can create a dynamic segment of these inactive subscribers and then either try to re-engage them with a special offer or remove them from your list. Use Double Opt-In Double opt-in requires subscribers to confirm their email address before being added to your list. This helps to prevent spam signups and ensures that you only have engaged subscribers. Although it can reduce the initial list growth, the people on your list will be much more engaged with your company. Personalize Your Messaging Segmentation allows you to personalize your email content to resonate with each segment. Use merge tags to address subscribers by name, reference their purchase history, or tailor your messaging to their specific interests. Don’t simply include their name, though, that is easily done. Make sure the *content* of the email speaks to the individual subscriber. For instance, if you’re sending an email to customers who purchased a specific product, you can mention that product by name and offer related products or accessories. If you’re targeting subscribers in a particular location, you can reference local events or landmarks. Test Your Segments and Campaigns Before sending a campaign to a large segment, always test it with a smaller subset to ensure that your segmentation criteria are accurate and your messaging is effective. Use A/B testing to experiment with different subject lines, content, and calls to action to optimize your results. For example, you could create two versions of an email with different subject lines and send them to a small portion of your “Engaged Subscribers” segment. Track the open rates for each version and then send the winning version to the rest of the segment. Monitor Your Results and Iterate Continuously monitor the performance of your segmented campaigns and adjust your segmentation strategies based on the results. Track key metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and unsubscribe rates to identify areas for improvement. For instance, if you notice that a particular segment has a low open rate, you might need to refine your segmentation criteria or improve your subject lines. If a segment has a high unsubscribe rate, you might need to re-evaluate the relevance of your content to that group. By consistently applying these best practices, you can leverage segmentation to create more effective email campaigns, improve your sender reputation, and build stronger relationships with your subscribers.

“The key to successful email marketing is to treat your subscribers like individuals, not just numbers on a list. Segmentation allows you to do just that.” – Email Marketing Proverb