Segmentation and personalization: what they are and how to apply them in trigger campaigns

To increase the effectiveness of email campaigns, various strategies can be employed. One option is to use segmentation and personalization. In this article, we will provide definitions of these concepts, list the benefits of these approaches, and explain how to apply them in your marketing campaign.

What is segmentation and personalization?

Segmentation and personalization are different concepts. To avoid confusion, let's define each one.

Segmentation is a way of targeting email campaigns. Only those subscribers interested in a specific type of content are selected from all subscribers. This is done using a segment—a part of the subscriber base that meets specific criteria.

To learn how to build a segment on our platform, refer to this article.

Personalization is a strategy for interacting with customers based on using data about the user. It involves applying an individual approach, identifying preferences, and customer needs.

For example, personalization may include using the customer's name, surname, mentioning recent purchases, offering products based on their history, and so on.

If we compare these two methods, personalization is more «individual» than segmentation.

With segmentation, all customers included in the mailing receive the same content.

Personalization, however, creates unique content for each recipient based on previously collected customer data.

Why apply these approaches?

Both segmentation and personalization make your marketing campaign «warm». If a «cold» campaign leaves subscribers feeling like they've received another mass email, a «warm» one shows that their preferences are genuinely taken into account.

Applying these approaches can:

• increase customer loyalty;
• boost audience engagement;
• improve conversion rates;
• retain customers;
• gather feedback.

In our blog, you can read about four segmentation models that will help increase engagement.

Effectiveness of segmentation and personalization

According to data from February 29, 2024, seven out of ten business leaders increased their investments in personalization. 80% of companies noted that personalized content increased user engagement, and 62% emphasized its positive impact on customer retention (Key figures on the use of personalization among businesses 2023 | Statista).

In recent years, expectations from companies have grown. More and more customers want to see a thoughtful approach to emails and a commitment to addressing their needs. Implementing segmentation and personalization strategies in email campaigns is the most effective way to meet user expectations.

Common mistakes in using a personalized approach

The essence of this approach is to show that your subscribers are so important to you that you are willing to invest time in gathering information about them. You respect their time and trust and will not send them uninteresting or spammy content.

The main mistake is incorrectly collected data. If customer data is not verified, the segment will be built with an error. As a result, the purpose of the mailing is lost. A similar mistake is to hyper-personalize content without having enough experience. Such content can either significantly increase loyalty or undermine customer trust. You can read more about this in our blog.

Other mistakes marketers can make:

1) Using generic segmentation methods

The simplest segmentation methods based on gender or loyalty program status no longer impress customers: these methods have been used for a long time and have become commonplace. To make your email truly personalized, it's necessary to avoid obvious approaches like «blue for men» and «pink for women».

2) Offering popular content to those who are not interested

The mistake of assuming that popular products and services will suit all subscribers. The popularity of a product indicates that it is bought more often than others, but not necessarily liked by all customers. A product that sells well may be acceptable in terms of price, more frequently stocked in stores, or more actively advertised.

To make content personalized, it's important to consider the specific preferences of individual buyers rather than all customers in general.

3) Recommending the same content to all funnel participants

There are two challenging aspects here: generic recommendations and insufficient knowledge about the buyer.

Generic recommendations are based on categories like «new users — selection of popular items» or «returning customers - items based on shopping cart history». It's possible to segment customers even at the initial stage: we'll explain how to implement such a case using our platform below. In turn, for existing customers, products can be recommended based not only on purchase history but also on viewed pages, email opens, and traffic.

The problem of insufficient knowledge about customers is related to generic recommendations. To gather more data, A/B/n testing can be conducted, traffic sources can be analyzed, and social proof can be used for different buyers.

How to make personalized email campaigns with Altcraft Platform: example with online courses

You can send personalized email campaigns using our platform. For example, it could be a triggered campaign sending a personalized template congratulating the user on registering for a course. Let's explain in detail how to implement this case.

For instance, let's consider three educational courses: «SEO promotion», «Analytics: basic concepts», and «Personalized email campaigns: what it is and how to create». To track which course the customer is enrolled in, you need to create an additional field in the database. You can read how to do this in this article in the section «Standard and additional fields».

Create an additional field called «current courses» and specify the type as a «enum». Enter the names of the courses; for long names, use spaces or underscores. Here's an example of how it might look:

Leave it without setting up:

Now, in the profile card under the Additional fields section, the created field has appeared. Information about the current course can be changed manually or through an API request. You can test the launch of a triggered campaign by manually specifying the current course in the profile card. Another option is that the information will be updated automatically after you set up an API request to update profile data.

Go to the Templates section.

We need to create a template notification for successful course registration. You can read about how to create your own template for sending emails here.

We need to insert a variable into the body of the email that will show the current course. To do this, click on the variable icon, then From profile, Custom field.

Specify the database and select the desired variable from the drop-down list.

Click OK. After that the variable will be automatically inserted into the body of the e-mail:

Next, you need to create or edit a trigger campaign. You can read more about what a trigger campaign is and how to create it in this article.

In the Templates section, select the notification template.

Next, in the Trigger section:

1. Specify the event type «Profile fields update». Optionally select the waiting time.

2. Select the database.

3. Specify the name of the field to be changed. Condition is «Changed».

Save the campaign. Now, when the information about the course is specified in the profile card, the trigger campaign will be launched and a letter with congratulations will be sent to the user's e-mail.