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Segment the Database
To effectively create a segmented database, marketers must gather consistent information from every customer or member that signs up to receive email communications. This way, the database fields remain the same, which allows marketers to notice trends and track results across multiple campaigns. This, in turn, gives marketers the tools they need to create more relevant email messages.
Segmenting the database through subscriber attributes will give the marketer a very clear understanding of each individual subscriber. Instead of grouping subscribers through one attribute that they have in common, marketers can manipulate the database to build groups based on many different attributes that match the targeted email campaign. Not only does this reassure that the marketer is reaching the correct subscribers for each campaign, it also helps the marketer reach subscribers that might have been left out of a list that was previously compiled.
The more details and customer attributes a marketer can capture in the segmented database, the more relevant the emails will be to the customers as the information directly reflects their interests and purchase habits. To get a clear understanding of customer behavior, marketers should track items such as open, read, click through, and conversion rates and purchase history in the segmented database along with the preferences. Doing so will give marketers valuable customer-centric knowledge and will help them know and understand each customer’s individual habits.
To build even greater segmented customer profiles, marketers may integrate a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool or web analytics with their email marketing software. CRM will provide sales forecasting tools so marketers may target subscribers with accuracy and tailor the email campaign accordingly. Web analytics will give marketers detailed information on subscribers’ website viewing habits. For example, a subscriber may click through the email campaign to arrive at the landing page, and from there, he or she may click through to the company’s website. While it is important for companies to know which subscribers are viewing their sites, they can use web analytics to find out which pages the subscriber visited, which links were utilized, and what information was downloaded. Knowing this information prior to sending an email campaign will boost campaign performance as the emails contain information that is more pertinent to the subscribers.
