Technology has brought about immense change in the lives of American consumers. Today, eight-in-ten U.S. adults access the Internet and seven-in-ten use email and surf the web. Fully nine-in-ten adults have at least one mobile device and four-in-ten send text messages. While Americans wholeheartedly embrace new technology and adopt it quickly, others take a longer time to adjust before integrating new technology into their lives.

A new technology segmentation system developed by Experian Simmons uncovers four distinct groups of consumers to help marketers be more relevant in their targeting efforts and messaging.

• Wizards: “Technology is life”
• Journeymen: “Technology is an important part of my life”
• Apprentices: “Technology is changing my life”
• Novices: “Technology has a limited impact on my life”

As seen in the chart below, Journeymen are the most receptive to hearing about products/services via email and are increasing the amount of time they spend shopping and surfing the Internet. In terms of mobile advertising, Wizards are the best segment to target. They are interested in receiving mobile advertisements and are the most likely to purchase products they see advertised on their cell phones. Click here for more results from the study.

As any seasoned email marketer knows, there are almost an unlimited amount of ways to segment email marketing subscriber data. In the third and final installment of this three-part overview, Jordan Lane provides a summary of some common email segmentation sources, tips, and best practices.

Part III – Segment by acquisition channel

One of the most effective yet often overlooked methods is segmentation by acquisition channel. From my experience working with clients across various industries, I have found that customers acquired through different channels tend to have different behavioral characteristics. Here are some thoughts to consider:

• Email subscribers acquired through co-registration pages will usually respond or convert differently than organically acquired email subscribers.
• Subscribers who have been acquired in-store have already indicated that they are at least somewhat likely to purchase both at a local POS and online. Take the ZIP of the store into account and be sure to coordinate your multi-channel marketing efforts to maximize customer value.
• New email registrations acquired via mail-in forms and call centers may indicate that the customer is looking to shift from print to online shopping. You may consider a “go paperless” email offer to these customers that builds a positive, eco-friendly reputation for your brand – not to mention saving you print costs along the way.

With any segmentation program it is important to take a step back and realize that there is a real person on the other end of each email address. Every time you create an email, ask yourself whether your email content is addressing the specific needs of your audience. Email segmentation is not a one-size-fits-all discipline, but with a little tweaking here and there, you can find the right method for targeting your customer base.

As any seasoned email marketer knows, there are almost an unlimited amount of ways to segment email marketing subscriber data. In the second installment of this three-part overview, Jordan Lane provides a summary of some common email segmentation sources, tips, and best practices.

Part II – Demographic segmentation

Gender, age, ethnicity, interests, education level, occupation, location, marital status, number of children, and income are all examples of demographic attributes that can be used to effectively segment your email subscribers. Depending on the nature of your business and industry, you can combine such attributes to create highly targeted audiences that really zero-in on your best customers. So why would you target females with your email marketing messages when your best customers are more specifically hispanic females aged 45-60 with a college degree and adult-aged children?

The reason why many fail to use sophisticated demographic segmentation is because they have difficulty gathering all the demographic information they desire from the initial registration page. As a general rule, the more information you require at sign-up, the likelier a prospect will abandon the registration process or provide false information.

To help email marketers gather the info they need for sophisticated demographic information, I’ve compiled a list of techniques to improve the data collection process:

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As any seasoned email marketer knows, there are almost an unlimited amount of ways to segment email marketing subscriber data. In this three-part overview, Jordan Lane provides a summary of some common email segmentation sources, tips, and best practices.

Part I – Behavioral segmentation

Behavioral segmentation relies exclusively on subscriber actions, and does not take into account gender, location, age, or other demographic factors. Behavioral segmentation data is based 100% on email activity and can be customized based on a marketer’s needs and how they define certain types of customers. Because this type of segmentation is usually easy to start and update, behavioral slicing represents an easy win for most email marketers.

Here are some common behavioral categorizations that email marketers use to chop up their master subscriber list:

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Sending email based on web analytics data is a topic we’ve already covered on this site in some detail. As most email marketers know by now, web analytics data can be used in abandoned shopping cart campaigns (ReMarketing), browser behavior campaigns, and other targeted campaigns. But to me, the most important aspect of these campaigns is how the data is being used and what the net effect is on the subscriber base.

Here’s my real-life example that illustrates the issues surrounding web analytics/email integration:

I am a frequent shopper of the online retailer Amazon.com, where I have purchased books, electronics, and baby items exclusively. Last week, however, I received an extremely targeted and somewhat perplexing email promoting Amazon.com’s variety of gourmet and specialty meat selections. Wild Boar 10 Rib Rack anyone?, asked the email. The first line of the message was “As someone who has shown an interest in gourmet meat…”

What? Gourmet meat? Me? From Amazon.com? Huh?

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