Themes of this article
- Introduction
- Before you start
- Step-by-step
- Frequently Asked Questions
Segments are vital to send relevant content in your email marketing. E-goi offers various ways to segment your database easily.
What is segmentation?
Effective email marketing is all about segmenting your contacts to target them with relevant mailings! That's why we pulled out all stops to offer you a smattering of ways to slice and dice your database in E-goi (basically, if you can imagine it, it can be done.
Before you start
Requirements
- Make sure your contact list has already been imported into E-goi. If not, import it using an Excel or CSV file, including as much information as possible for future segmentation.
- Familiarize yourself with the interface and location of menus in E-goi. You will mainly work with the "Contacts" menu.
Step-by-step
Basic segmentation
1) If you haven't done so already, import your contact database into E-goi (you can't obviously segment an empty list ;). Make sure your Excel or CSV file includes as much information as possible on your contacts, sorted into different columns (email, name, mobile, city, etc.). This will make segmenting much easier later.
2) Once the import is finished, go to the "Contacts" menu, head to the mailing list you want to segment and click on the "Contacts" button.
3) A page listing all contacts in that list will come up. Segments in E-goi are basically stored searches - you just search for something, get the matching results and save them as a segment. So, for example, to set aside all your contacts using Hotmail, just go to "What do you want to search for?", click where it says «All fields», select «E-mail» (to narrow the filter down to email addresses), type in "@hotmail" and hit «Apply». After a few seconds, the contact listing will display only those with Hotmail addresses (glancing at the lower right corner of the listing will tell you how many they are). Now simply click "Save as" (upper right corner), enter a name for this segment and save it. Done! To go back to the full contact listing again, just click "Reset search".
4) Your segment is now saved. How can you put it to use? Simple, when you're about to send out your mailing, just make sure to change the "Segment" option in the deployment page from "No segment" to the one you created. The subscriber counter at the top of the page will reflect this change and your mailing will go out to the segment you selected instead of the whole list.
5) Segments in E-goi are dynamic, so any new sign-ups or imported/updated contacts matching the segment you created will automatically become part of the segment.
Segment contacts by city
1) If the database you imported into E-goi has a "city" field and you mapped it to an E-goi field with the same name, just go to the segmentation window, click on "All fields", head down to "Extra fields" and select "City". Then simply type in your desired city name, click "Apply" and save your segment.
2) You can do this for every city you want to create a segment for. Great for deal-of-the-day sites, which are often based on the subscribers' location!
3) This segmentation method also works for any other field you create in your E-goi list.
Reward your biggest fans
In addition to fields, E-goi allows you to segment by stats as well! This is a terrific way to reward people who click through and share your mailings.
1) Just go to "What do you want to search for?", click on "All fields", head down to "Statistics", select "Clickthroughs", choose "greater or equal than", type in "1" and keep "all campaigns" selected. Then hit "Apply".
2) This will have E-goi fetch all contacts who clicked through any of your mailings once or more. Want to add those who shared them on Facebook as well? No problem, just hit "Add another condition" right next to the criteria you set for referrals and a second criteria line will come up. Click "All fields", head down to "Statistics", select "Social shares", choose "greater or equal than", type in "1", select "Facebook" and leave "all campaigns" selected. Make sure you change "And" to "Or" and then hit "Apply".
3) E-goi will now go and get those contacts who either clicked through or shared your mailings. Simply save that segment and use it later on to send these people a special gift celebrating their awesomeness!
Segment contacs who didn't open any email
The more unresponsive people you have in your mailing list, the more your deliverability is hampered, so it's always a good idea to section these contacts off after you mail them a few times.
1) Just go to "What do you want to search for?", click on "All fields", head down to "Statistics", select "Email opens", choose "equal", type in "0" and keep "all campaigns" selected. Then hit "Apply".
2) E-goi will pull up all contacts who didn't open any of your emails. Save this segment and use it to send these people a win-back campaign! Those who still remain unresponsive can then be removed from your list to keep it squeaky-clean.
Send an SMS to contacts who didn't open your email
If the database you imported into E-goi includes the contacts' mobile numbers in addition to their email addresses, you can have E-goi send an SMS just to those people who don't open your email.
1) Send your email campaign and wait 24 hours. Then go to "What do you want to search for?", click on "All fields", head down to "Statistics", select "Email opens", choose "equal", type in "0" and pick the campaign you sent. Then hit "Apply".
2) E-goi will display all contacts who didn't open that specific email. Save this segment and use it to text them a 160-character version of your email. They'll be much more likely to read it and you'll save on your SMS costs (no need to text your whole list)!
Encourage buys from contacts who left products in their cart
1) If you've got an online shop, E-goi's Track & Engage can pinpoint who left their cart with unpurchased items so you can win these people back with, say, a discount offer. You may even single out abandoned carts over a specific amount only!
Tagging contacts
Tags are the easiest way to quickly slice and dice your contact list in E-goi. Need to single out a high-value customer? Just tag it with, say, "VIP"! Want to mail an exclusive deal to a handful of contacts in your list? Tag them with the promotion title and off you go! It's that simple.
1) You can:
- Tag a single contact (simply edit the contact, go to "Tags", type in the words you'd like to tag the contact with and save your changes).
- Tag multiple contacts at the same time (just tick them in the contact listing, hit "Actions" at the bottom of the page, add your tags and apply your changes). You can also load up a segment and tag all contacts in it in much the same way - or even tag your whole contact list.
- Auto-tag all sign-ups in a specific form or survey (just go to the form's options and enter what you want subscribers to be automatically tagged with).
- Auto-tag contacts on import (simply bring up the import settings while uploading your database file and drop in your tags).
- Auto-tag contacts anywhere along a follow-up series (this one's a doozy; use the "Tag contact" action while setting up your triggered sequence workflow).
2) To send a campaign to contacts you've tagged, just go to the segment option when deploying your campaign, choose your desired tag and send out the campaign!
Manage tags
1) Go to the "Lists" menu, head to the mailing list containing the tags you want to modify and click on "Contacts".
2) You'll be taken to a page displaying all contacts in that list. Head over to the left-hand "Tags" panel and click the gear-shaped icon.
3) You'll now be able to create, delete or rename tags - and even change their colour. Keep in mind this will reflect across the whole list! For example, if you rename a tag, the new name will be applied to every contact tagged with it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know the ID of a segment?
If you're using our API, you may need to get a segment ID. Just head over to the "Contacts" menu, hit "Options" of the list containing the segment and then click "Segments".
Can I apply multiple conditions when creating a segment?
Yes, you can add multiple conditions/filters when creating a segment to further refine your target audience.
Are segments automatically updated when new contacts are added?
Yes, any new contact that meets the segment's criteria will be automatically included in it.
Can I send campaigns specifically to tags?
Yes, when sending out a campaign, you can choose to send it to contacts with specific tags.