The Easy Way to Slice and Dice

Even a small company can benefit from email messages tailored to a recipient's specific wants and needs. "Using segmentation," says Michael Clark in an article at MarketingProfs, "customers only get notified of new products, specials, and offers based on past buying patterns, knowledge of the customer and what they've clicked on in previous e-newsletters."  Examples include:

• A liquor merchant that invites wine drinkers to tastings, while promoting 12-pack specials to beer lovers during football season.
• A sporting goods store that sends email offers based on a knowledge of which customers ski and which play tennis.

There are a number of ways to slice and dice tasty segments to better serve your customers:

• Collect information at the first touch point. When a prospect or customer subscribes to your email list, offer a menu of special interests and ask them to check any that apply.
• Use online surveys to request additional non-critical data. Says Clark, "[Y]ou can create new lists or add to existing ones based on how respondents answered your questions."
• Make good use of tracking reports. Paying attention to which recipients click on which links can help fine-tune your segments.

The Po!nt: Cater to their range of tastes. "Creating different email messages for different groups is a bit more work on your part," says Clark, "but it's worth the extra effort when an email message hits your customer's sweet spot."

Source: MarketingProfs. Click to read the article.

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