Customer Segmentation Overview

Contact lists are the simplest yet most diverse way to organize your customers. To get started building a list, you must first filter your contacts for the customers you want to include. [Learn how to filter customers based on specific information.]

Using ShippingEasy's prebuilt segments from the available filters is a great way to get started segmenting your contacts. This allows you to filter for specific segments of customers based on email engagement and purchase history.

Once you have filtered your contacts, you can [create a list] based on the customer segment you would like to target. One example of a strong customer segment comes from their geographic information.

Geographical Segmentation:

This is an easily identifiable subset of customers that are sorted according to where are they located. This includes:

Emails that contain personally-specific information are more likely to be read and followed with action.

Geographical segmenting can help you boost sales by:

The use of tags in ShippingEasy allows you to mark customers based on a variety of criteria. Those tags can then be combined with contacts lists to create a useful customer segment. [Learn how to tag customers.]

One effective segment that utilizes tags is customer behavior.

Customer Behavior Segmentation:

Understanding buying behavior is powerful knowledge that can be identified by paying attention to customers' actions.

Behaviors to pay attention to:

Once behaviors have been identified, use customer tags that make them easy to find when making a list. A list created with tagged customers can be used in campaigns triggered to be sent by the specific event or time frame.

For example, You notice that a segment of customers typically make purchases in the morning every time they buy so you create a tag titled "AM Shopper".

Once you've tagged these customers, you can filter for these tagged customers to send emails alerting them to new products, sales, or offers at their preferred shopping time. This helps buyers more easily find their next purchase and allows them to make that purchase at a time that is convenient.

An approach to customer segmentation that builds on both the contact list and the use of tags is the inclusion of an email survey. While ShippingEasy does not have a built-in survey tool, services such as SurveyMonkey allow you to create a quick survey that can be linked to any campaign. Learn how to create an [Automated] and Regular campaign with ShippingEasy.

Surveys can help you know definitively who your customers are and where their interests lie. This enables you to make better connections between them and your products. Incentivizing the survey with offers such as "Answer 5 questions for free shipping!" can help boost customer engagement.

Two segments that perform well with surveys are Demographic and Psychographic.

Demographic Segmentation:

This is one of the primary groups of segmentation that sellers think of when beginning to group their customers. This data includes:

For example, Your survey could ask questions that determine their gender and marital status. Then use tags to make notes of these survey results.

Psychographic Segmentation:

Companies that showcase their values can benefit from understanding the psychology of their customers as it gives them a chance to create a stronger alignment.

A few suggestions for psychographic segmentation are:

Doing a little more work to get to know your customer establishes a two-way relationship built on trust and loyalty. It can give you insight into how your brand is affecting customers and where you can boost visibility.

For example, The survey example above could also include questions about the customers' family, such as the number of children or the gender of their spouse.

To understand the usefulness of these examples, say you sell clothing. Knowing more about these demographics and psychographics allows you to make [product recommendations] that fit their needs. In the case of the examples, a single woman may have different habits than a married woman or mother, who might also be buying for her spouse or children.

As you can see, the ways in which customer segmentation can improve and strengthen your business are numerous. By keeping your data organized, making meaningful contact, and staying open to feedback, segmentation can take the guesswork out of the more elusive questions about your customers. Having a well-known customer base will reflect positively in all the work that you do!