How to create segments

The segmentation of your email list is an advanced marketing technique that we strongly recommend. The core idea is to create subgroups of contacts that share a particular trait (age span, date of subscription, last click on a previous newsletter…) in order to create tailor-made newsletters for them.

In fact, professional email marketing is a matter of customization of offers: long gone are the times when people blasted a mass message to a large list of addresses, indiscriminately. On the contrary, Emailchef values all strategies based on a thorough knowledge of your user base. In this case, segmentation is one of the most important tactics.

First of all select a list and click on “Segments” as shown below:

How to create segment inside Emailchef

Click on “New segment”

How to create segment inside Emailchef

and enter the general details of the new segment: name and description.

How to create segment inside Emailchef

Then go on to the following page.

How to create segment inside Emailchef

Here you can specify the conditions that all emails from the list must respect to be part of the segment. You can interpolate the following default conditions:

  • email
  • first name
  • last name
  • privacy
  • terms
  • newsletter
  • contact rating
  • subscription date
  • subscription type
  • last newsletter sent date
  • last newsletter open date
  • last newsletter click date
  • message opened
  • message clicked
  • message not opened
  • message not clicked
  • message sent
  • message delivered

with logical operators or variables like “is”, “is not”, “is empty”, “starts with” etc.

You can select a segment that applies to all or any of the conditions set, and of course add multiple conditions (both connected by an “and” or an “or”).

In the following example, we are creating a segment composed by all contacts who have subscribed before January 7, 2020, and who have last opened an email before February 3, 2020:

How to create segment inside Emailchef

The resulting segment can also be visualized and exported as a JSON or CSV file, or cloned as a copy stored in the same Segments page.

How to create segment inside Emailchef

It’s important to understand that this is a powerful tool to create highly profiled campaigns, but it must be used carefully. That is: creating a segment is useful only if you have already in mind what kind of email you are going to send, and why to those contacts.

A typical example is a remarketing campaign. You select all people who have opened but not clicked on a previous newsletter, and send them the same offer with a small incentive and a subject line that underlines that.

Again: the are limitless options to segment and tailor your offers: but all of them start with a serious study of your customer base and their features.