Segmentation & Targeting Plan for Email Promotions
- Kerri Cuthbert
- Oct 3
- 28 min read
Effective email marketing starts with smart audience segmentation. Rather than blasting the same message to everyone (and risking low engagement), dividing your subscribers into relevant groups lets you tailor content to their interests and behaviours. The payoff is huge: segmented campaigns see significantly higher open and click-through rates than one-size-fits-all emails, and a majority of marketers report better engagement and revenue when they personalise by segment. In this guide, we’ll break down a comprehensive plan to segment your audience and target each group with the right email campaigns. The result: higher ROI, less spamminess, and happier customers. ✅
1. Core Audience Segments
First, break up your master email list into a few core segments based on customer behaviour, purchase history, interests, and engagement level. This ensures each email can be crafted for the people most likely to respond. For example, a business might segment its list into groups like new subscribers, lapsed customers, category-specific buyers, etc., as visualised below:
Consider defining the following segments for your email list:
Repeat Buyers (Loyal Customers): Customers who have made 2 or more purchases. They’ve shown loyalty and are highly valuable. Treat them like VIPs – they’re ideal for campaigns featuring “new arrivals”, product launches, and exclusive previews of upcoming products. These loyal customers respond well to insider perks and early access, since they already trust your brand.
First-Time Buyers (New Customers): Those who have made exactly one purchase. Your goal here is to encourage a second purchase and turn them into repeat buyers. A common tactic is sending a follow-up “thank you” email with a special discount off their next order, or recommending items that complement their first purchase (cross-sells). This kind of first-purchase upsell email – sent shortly after their order – can significantly boost second-order rates by pairing a related product suggestion with a coupon.
Lapsed Customers (At-Risk or Dormant): Past customers who haven’t bought anything in, say, 6–12 months (the exact timeframe can vary based on your product cycle). These folks need re-engagement. They’re often receptive to messages that create urgency or offer a strong incentive to come back. For example, you might send a “We miss you – last chance to plant this season!” email with a limited-time 15% off code. Emphasising “last chance” or “final call” in the subject line can prod lapsed customers to take action, and adding a come-back discount or exclusive access offer gives them a tangible reason to return.
Browsers (Non-Buyers who showed interest): These are people on your list who have browsed or clicked products on your site/emails but never actually purchased. They’ve shown intent, and you want to convert them. A great strategy is a browse abandonment email – essentially, a friendly nudge reminding them of the product or category they looked at. Make it personal: “Still thinking about that X product? Here’s 20% off!” By referencing the exact item/category they showed interest in, you remind them of their initial desire. Offering a small discount or highlighting positive reviews of that product can also tip them over the edge. These targeted reminders can re-engage window shoppers effectively (browse abandonment emails average a 34% open rate with solid conversion rates).
Category Buyers (Interest-Based Segments): Group customers by the product categories or interests they’ve purchased or shown interest in. For example, a gardening retailer might have segments like Fruit Tree Buyers, Ornamental Plant Buyers, Hedging Plant Buyers, and Small Garden/Container Gardening Buyers. By knowing someone’s preferred category, you can send them promotions and content specific to those interests. Cross-selling between related categories works well here: if someone bought fruit trees, they might also be interested in hedging plants or pollinator-friendly flowers for their orchard area. If they bought landscaping shrubs, maybe they’d like ornamental perennials to complement the hedges. Use these category segments to recommend complementary products and collections that make sense given their past purchases (so the email feels helpful, not random salesy). For instance, “Grow your orchard: since you loved our apple trees, here’s a deal on hedgerow berry bushes!”.
High-Engagement Subscribers: These are the people consistently opening your emails and clicking links (regardless of purchase behaviour). They’re your warmest audience in terms of email engagement. You can be more aggressive in marketing to this group – they’ve indicated they enjoy your emails. Send them your main promotions first and frequently, because they’re likely to respond. They might appreciate getting early announcements or more frequent updates. Also, don’t hesitate to mix in bold, image-rich content and even more emails for these folks; inbox providers reward engagement, so emailing your engagers more often can be beneficial (without hurting your sender reputation). Tip: For high engagers, you could even create a “VIP” subset (overlap with Repeat Buyers or high spenders) to receive exclusive offers.
Low-Engagement Segment: At the other end, identify subscribers who rarely open or click your emails. (For example, those who haven’t opened anything in the last 3+ months.) This segment requires a gentler touch – if you keep blasting them with hard-sell promos, they’ll likely unsubscribe or continue to ignore you. Instead, focus on re-engaging them with “softer” content before you try to sell. For instance, you might send a friendly check-in or a valuable free resource: “Hi there! We haven’t heard from you in a while – here’s our Autumn Gardening Guide full of tips and inspiration 🌻.” The goal is to remind them why they subscribed in the first place and show that your emails provide value, not just discounts. Only after a couple of value-packed emails would you follow up with a promotional offer. This kind of nurture approach (providing useful content with no strings attached) can warm up a cold subscriber and make them more receptive to your future promos. On the flip side, if some people remain unengaged, it may be best to eventually sunset them (remove from list) to protect your deliverability – but before that, give re-engagement a shot with great content.
By defining segments like the above, you’ll ensure each email campaign is laser-targeted. Your repeat customers get treated like the fans they are, new customers feel welcomed, at-risk folks get incentives to return, and undecideds receive the encouragement they need. Segmentation also prevents you from sending irrelevant offers (e.g. pushing lawnmowers to apartment gardeners) – so subscribers are less likely to ignore or delete your emails. And as a rule, more relevance = more opens, clicks, and conversions!
2. Promo Targeting Strategy
Now that we have our segments, the next step is planning who gets which promotional emails. Every campaign you run (seasonal sale, new product launch, clearance, etc.) should be mapped to the segments that make the most sense for it. This way, each group receives promos that genuinely interest them, rather than a generic sale that might not apply. Let’s break down a targeting strategy for common types of email promos:
Sitewide Sales & Holiday Promotions (Broad Campaigns): These are your big one-size-for-all sales events – for example, a Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale, an Easter weekend promo, or a Spring Clearance event that technically applies to everything. For such major sales, send to all segments (everyone on your list) because the offer is broadly relevant and attractive. Even dormant subscribers might perk up for a big discount code or store-wide free shipping deal. Although you’re emailing “all,” you can still personalise within those emails (e.g., show product picks from categories each person has browsed) – but the key is nobody should be left out of a huge sale. This maximises reach during critical sales periods. (Do keep an eye on deliverability; if you have a very large list with many cold subscribers, you might still suppress the truly inactive to avoid spam traps. But generally, sitewide sales are go-big-or-go-home.)
Category-Specific or Themed Promotions: These are campaigns focused on a particular product category or theme. For example, “Autumn Colour Plants 20% Off” or a “Fruit Tree Week” promotion. Here you’ll target only the segments for whom that theme is relevant. That means including people who bought those categories before plus those who showed interest (browsers) in them, and perhaps some tangential groups. Let’s illustrate: suppose you’re running a promo on “Autumn Foliage Specials” (maples, oaks, colourful shrubs). The obvious segment is your Ornamental Buyers (who previously purchased ornamental trees/plants). You’d also target Small Garden Buyers if those autumn plants work in containers or small gardens, and maybe Lapsed Customers who haven’t bought in a while – a seasonal theme might rekindle their interest. Another example: a promotion on Fruit Trees. You’d email Fruit Tree Buyers (they’ll likely want more varieties) and maybe Hedging Plant Buyers too, pitching fruit trees as a great complement to hedges for an edible landscape (cross-sell opportunity!). In short, think about who is most likely to care about that promo, and only send to those segments. This increases relevance and avoids fatiguing others. (If someone only grows veggies, they might not care about fruit trees – don’t bother them with that email.)
New Arrivals & Product Launches: When you get new products or seasonal new arrivals in stock, you should certainly announce them – but not all at once to everyone. A savvy approach is a tiered rollout: send the “Just Arrived!” early-bird announcement to your best customers first. Who qualifies? Typically your Repeat Buyers and other highly engaged subscribers. These folks can get a 24- or 48-hour head start to shop new items (making them feel special). It’s essentially a “VIP early access” email: “As one of our top customers, you’re first to know about our new Spring Collection – take a look before we announce it to the rest of the list!”. After giving them that window, you can then send a broader new-arrivals email to other segments (and perhaps a slightly different angle for first-timers: e.g. “New season, new arrivals – check out what’s fresh for spring!”). By staggering your new product emails, you reward loyalty and also generate some buzz (if those VIPs make purchases or reviews, you can incorporate that social proof in the later emails). This strategy both drives repeat sales and trains customers that being loyal/engaged gets them perks.
“Last Chance” Offers & Clearance Sales: When you’re running a clearance, closeout, or any urgent last-chance sale (e.g., end of season clearance, final few units of a product, or a goodbye to a particular line), target the segments most motivated by deals and urgency. Prime candidates: Lapsed customers who haven’t bought in a long time (a strong clearance discount might win them back), and known Bargain Hunters. Bargain-hunters are those who almost always buy on sale or with a coupon – you might identify them as customers who only purchase during big promos or always use a discount code. They love a good deal. A “last chance/clearance” email with messaging like “Final Clearance – up to 50% off, only until Sunday!” will strongly resonate with these groups. The urgency (last chance) plus big savings is exactly what lapsed and deal-savvy shoppers respond to. On the flip side, you might exclude your top repeat customers from some clearance blasts if the products on clearance are irrelevant to what they buy – again, no need to send every email to everyone if it’s not a fit. But generally, clearance = target lapsed and deal-lovers, and anyone else who specifically showed interest in the clearing items.
Segment-Specific Promotions: In addition to the above, you can occasionally craft promos specifically for a segment. For example, a “Welcome Back” sale exclusively for lapsed customers (essentially a win-back campaign with a promo code just for them), or a “Loyalty Appreciation” deal only for repeat buyers (e.g., “Loyal Customer Weekend: 30% off for our VIPs”). These special targeted promos make segments feel valued. Just be careful to manage overlaps (if someone is in multiple segments, don’t accidentally give them two different discounts) and frequency (segments like lapsed shouldn’t get bombarded from all angles).
In summary, match the scope of the promotion to the right audience. Big general sale = all segments; niche promo = only the interested segments. This targeting ensures people get fewer emails that don’t apply to them. The diagram below illustrates how different campaign types might be aimed at different segments:
Segment | Best Offers | Messaging | Primary Content | Suggested Frequency | Typical CTAs |
Repeat Buyers | Early access, exclusives, loyalty perks | Grateful, VIP insider tone | New arrivals, limited drops, bundles | 1–2 promos/week + monthly content | Shop Early • See What’s New |
First‑Time Buyers | 2nd‑purchase incentive, cross‑sells | Helpful, reassuring, onboarding tips | Post‑purchase care guides + accessory recs | 1 promo/week + 1 nurture in 2 weeks | Complete Your Set • Use Your Code |
Lapsed Customers | Urgent win‑back + strong offer | Warm ‘we miss you’, clear urgency | What’s new since you left, social proof | 1 win‑back series over 2–3 weeks | Come Back • Last Chance |
Browsers / Non‑Buyers | Small incentive on viewed items | Personalised: reference browsed items | Top‑picks from category, reviews | 1–2 targeted nudges in 1–2 weeks | Resume Browsing • See Picks |
High‑Engagers | Regular promos, VIP previews | Energetic, community‑building | Seasonal guides mixed with offers | 1–2 promos/week + monthly guide | Get Early Access • Shop Now |
Low‑Engagement | Value‑first content before offers | Friendly check‑in; ask prefs | Guides, how‑tos, no‑pressure value | 1 content/month, then light promo | Read the Guide • Update Prefs |
Category Buyers | Category‑specific deals/cross‑sell | Helpful expert tone | Care guides; related category ideas | 1 targeted promo/month | See Category Deals • Explore |
By planning targeting this way, every promotional email feels hand-picked for its recipients. Subscribers are more likely to think, “Hey, this is perfect for me!” rather than “Ugh, why did they send me this?” – which means higher conversion and less list churn. You’ll also likely see better deliverability, since engagement rates per email will be higher when the audience is well-chosen.
3. Content Matching for Each Segment
Segmentation isn’t only about who gets an email – it’s also about tailoring the content and messaging to speak to that segment. Two different subscriber groups shouldn’t always get the exact same copy even if the broad offer is similar. Here are tips on matching email content to each core segment so that the tone, incentives, and calls-to-action feel spot-on for the recipient:
Repeat Buyers – Exclusive VIP Treatment: These loyal customers should feel appreciated and in-the-know. Address them warmly and reward their loyalty. For example, you might say “As one of our best customers, you’re first to know about our new arrivals” or give them an exclusive offer others don’t get. Content for this group can include early access to sales or products, sneak peeks of upcoming launches, and loyalty rewards (“collectors’ edition” items, referral bonuses, etc.). The key is to make them feel like insiders. Because they’ve bought before, you can also reference their purchase history: “Since you enjoyed the Rose Collection last spring, we thought you’d love our new rare roses coming in next week.” This level of personalisation and exclusivity deepens their brand affinity. Repeat customers also often appreciate community-oriented content – e.g., an invite to follow your social, join a VIP group, or share their experience (user-generated content). Keep the tone grateful: “Thank you for being a loyal customer – here’s something special just for you.”
First-Time Buyers – Nudge Toward a Second Purchase: A first-time buyer has signalled interest by purchasing once, but they’re not yet loyal. Your content should focus on building that relationship and prompting another purchase. A common approach is a post-purchase follow-up series. For instance, a week or two after their order, send an email checking in: “How are your new plants doing? Need tips?” followed by a gentle pitch like “Complete your garden with these recommended additions” – accompanied by a discount code for new customers. It’s almost like a welcome series but after purchase. Highlight things that add value: care guides or how-to content for the item they bought (which builds goodwill and product success) and then suggest related items. Example: if they bought a fruit tree, the follow-up email might provide a guide on planting fruit trees successfully, and then suggest accessories like fertiliser, pruning tools, or companion plants – with a small discount if they buy within a certain timeframe. Coupons for second purchase are very effective here, as they create urgency to come back while the excitement of the first purchase is still fresh. The tone should be encouraging and helpful, not just “sell, sell”. Show that you care about their success with the product, then extend an offer: “P.S. As a new member of our garden family, here’s 15% off your next order – we’d love to help you keep growing!”.
Lapsed Customers – Win-Back with Urgency & Incentives: For subscribers who haven’t bought in a long while, your content needs to rekindle interest and address the fact they’ve drifted. Often, a “We miss you” re-engagement email works well: acknowledge their past patronage and how long it’s been (“It’s been a while since your last order, and your garden must miss you!” or a light-hearted “Long time no see”). Then, give them a compelling reason to return. The two biggest tactics are urgency and incentive. For example: “Last chance to grab your gardening goodies before summer ends – and here’s a 20% off coupon just for you, valid this week only.” Using phrases like “last chance,” “limited time,” “only for you,” creates FOMO and a feeling that they shouldn’t delay. Definitely include a juicy discount or promo – and make it clear this is a special outreach because you value them. Another angle is to showcase new things they’ve missed: “While you were away, we launched 50+ new plant varieties!” – sometimes lapsed customers lose interest because they think they’ve seen it all; showing new offerings can entice them. And consider adding a line that it’s okay if they’re no longer interested (and make unsubscribe easy) – ironically, this can increase trust and the chance they give you another try. Bottom line: the content for lapsed users should scream “we want you back” and make it as easy as possible to return (with a good deal, a clear CTA, and maybe even highlighting your hassle-free return policy to remove purchase anxiety). Done right, almost half of customers who receive a win-back email will open future emails – so it’s worth the effort!
Browsers / No-Purchase Yet – Personalise and Tempt: Since these people have shown interest but not converted, tailor your content to the products or categories they browsed. This is where personalisation can really shine. For example, if a subscriber clicked on Japanese maple trees on your site last week, your email could feature that exact product: “Still thinking about Acer Palmatum (Crimson Maple)? Here’s 20% off – bring this beauty home to your garden!”. Include a nice photo of the item, a few benefit points or a glowing review quote (“Verified Buyer says: ‘The maple I got from you last year is thriving!’”), and a clear call-to-action to complete the purchase. You’re essentially creating a browse abandonment email – these have high success because the content is exactly what the person already showed interest in. If you don’t have tracking at that granular level, you can generalise by category: e.g., “Top picks in Ornamental Trees” if they were looking at ornamentals, with a selection of best-sellers from that category. It’s also effective to mention availability or scarcity: “Only a few left in stock!” or “Spring is the perfect time to plant that rose you liked – don’t miss the season!”. And of course, consider a new customer incentive here as well if they’ve never bought – sometimes that’s all they were waiting for. The tone for browsers should be enthusiastic and helpful, not pushy: “We noticed you checking out these items – just wanted to share a special offer in case you want to make them yours!”. It shows you pay attention to their interests and want to add value.
Highly Engaged Subscribers – Keep Them Hooked: This segment opens most of your emails, clicks often, and maybe is active on your site. For them, the content strategy is to keep providing what they love while maybe introducing them to more/different things (since they’ll at least read it!). They can handle a higher frequency of pure promotions because they’ve shown they don’t mind. So go ahead and send those bold promotional emails – big hero images, strong call-to-actions – for all your major campaigns to this group. They’ll likely click through to browse new deals, collections, etc. Additionally, mix in some rich content to deepen the relationship: seasonal guides, tips, stories, etc., even within promo emails. For example, an engaged gardener subscriber might get an email that leads with “🌼 Early Spring Gardening Tips 🌼” – a short list of tasks or ideas – and then segues into “By the way, check out our new spring plant arrivals.” Because they tend to read your emails, you can include more content without fear of losing them. Engaged folks are also great for feedback requests and community-building content. You might send them surveys (“Tell us what you’d like to see in our store”) or invite them to follow your social media, join webinars, etc. They are your brand advocates. So while you definitely give them first dibs on new products and sales, also give them opportunities to engage further (write a review for reward points, share their garden photos for a feature, etc.). The tone can be more familiar and enthusiastic since they know you well. Just be careful not to assume they’ll always be engaged – watch for any sign of fatigue if you increase email volume, and always keep content quality high.
Low-Engagement Segment – Warm Them with Value First: This overlaps with the earlier point about low-engagement folks in segmentation, but focusing on content: these subscribers need a different content approach because traditional promos haven’t worked on them. Here, lead with value, not offers. For instance, send an email that is pure content – no big product pushes or “Buy now” banners. It could be a blog-style email or newsletter that provides something genuinely useful or interesting. Example: “🌻 How to Prep Your Garden for Summer: 5 Tips from Our Experts”. This email might have a personal tone, maybe an intro from the founder or gardening expert, and share knowledge freely (e.g., “Remember to prune your roses by end of winter…” etc.). It can subtly mention products in context (“Using a quality mulch like our Cedar Chips can reduce weeds by 70%”) but the focus is helping the reader, not selling. By doing this once or twice, you aim to get them to actually open and read an email – resetting the engagement. If they do, your next email could be a gentle promotion, perhaps a special offer just for those who engaged with the guide (since now you have a smaller subset who did open it). Another tactic is to simply ask if they still want to hear from you (sometimes in a slightly humorous or touching way). For example: “We’ve noticed you might not be into our emails lately. That’s okay! Do you still want gardening tips and offers from us? If so, here’s a click for ‘I’m still interested’ – and we’ll even send you a $5 coupon as a thank-you. If not, you can click ‘Unsubscribe’ – no hard feelings, we only want to send emails you love.”. This kind of re-engagement campaign puts the ball in their court with no pressure to buy – often, those who do still care will appreciate the honesty and might re-opt-in actively. Overall, the content for the disengaged should rebuild trust and interest: prove that your emails = value, not just ads. Once you achieve that (even marginally), you can start weaving in the occasional promo again. If someone in this segment does respond to a piece of content or an offer, consider moving them into a higher segment (they’re warming up!).
Remember, the more your email feels like it was written “for me,” the better. Use segment names as a guide to tone: e.g., “loyal customer” emails should sound thankful and VIP-like; “lapsed customer” emails might express concern (“we miss you”) plus urgency; “browser” emails should be personalised and eager to help; “new customer” emails should be friendly, welcoming, and reassuring. If you’re using an email platform that allows dynamic content or personalisation fields, take advantage of that to insert product names, customer names, last purchase info, etc., where relevant – these touches can lift engagement significantly (people pay more attention when they see something directly related to them).
Finally, align your design and imagery with segments too: e.g., a repeat buyers’ email can show a “sneak peek” style image (like a blurred-out new product with “exclusive preview” text), whereas a lapsed customer email might show an eye-catching “We want you back” banner. Little tweaks in visuals and layout can signal different things to different audiences.
4. Timing, Frequency, and Automation Flow
Timing is everything in email marketing. Now that you’re sending more targeted content, you also need to calibrate how often and when each segment should hear from you. The goal is to stay on their radar enough to drive action, but not so much that you annoy them or get ignored. Also, certain automated emails should be running in the background for everyone. Let’s outline a sensible frequency and workflow:
Regular Campaign Cadence: A good rule of thumb for e-commerce is to send around 1 to 2 emails per week to active subscribers, but this can be split into different types. One common plan is to send one promotional email per week (with that week’s main offer or featured products), and one content-rich or softer email every two weeks. Concretely, you might do a promo every Thursday, and a gardening tips newsletter every other Tuesday. This balances value and sales. For high-engagement segments, you might send a bit more (they can handle weekly content emails, for example), whereas for low-engagement, you send less (maybe only the content newsletter until they re-engage). Keeping a consistent schedule trains your audience when to expect emails and helps you not overdo it. In general, aim for roughly 3-4 emails per month for an average subscriber as a baseline. You can dial up for engaged folks or seasonal bursts, and dial down for those needing a lighter touch. Always monitor unsubscribe or spam rates as you adjust frequency. If you see a segment’s engagement drop or complaints rise, ease off a bit for them.
Optimal Send Times: Beyond just how many per week, consider what time/day you send to each segment. Different groups might interact with emails at different times. For example, busy professionals might open emails in the morning or late at night, whereas retired hobbyists might leisure through emails on weekend afternoons. There’s evidence that mid-week mid-morning (like Tuesday 10am) often yields high open rates on average, but your audience could differ. Use your data: if you notice your repeat buyers always tend to purchase on weekends, maybe send them promos on Friday or Saturday. For engaged segments, you could experiment with off-peak times too – one study found that sending to loyal customers during off-hours (evenings or Sundays) can boost opens by 25% because there’s less competition in the inbox. The key is to A/B test send times for each segment. For instance, take your lapsed segment and send half of them a win-back email in the morning vs half in the evening – see which performs better. Do similar tests on day of week. Over time, you might find patterns (maybe your “plant mom” segment opens at night after the kids are asleep, etc.). Tailoring send times can eke out extra engagement and shows you understand your audience’s routines.
Automated Email Flows (Always-On): In addition to your scheduled weekly/monthly campaigns, there are certain triggered emails you must set up – these run automatically based on user actions or time delays, and they are critical for maximising sales and customer experience. Make sure you have the following flows in place for all relevant segments (these aren’t mutually exclusive with segments; anyone who meets the criteria should get them):
Welcome Series for New Subscribers: When someone first signs up to your email list (especially if it’s before their first purchase), send an automated sequence introducing your brand. Typically, Email #1 (sent immediately) might deliver a sign-up incentive (e.g., “Welcome! Here’s your 10% off coupon for your first order”) and set the brand tone. Email #2 (a few days later) could share top products or customer favourites. Email #3 might share educational content or a customer testimonial. This series warms up a lead and nudges them to make that first purchase. It also segments them by interest if you include, say, a click-based preference (e.g., “Shop Flowers” vs “Shop Trees” link – which tells you their interest). Every new subscriber should feel welcomed and know what to expect from your emails.
Post-Purchase Thank You & Cross-Sell: After any customer makes a purchase, especially the first one, automate a thank-you email. This is often sent a few days after order (or right after furfillment). It thanks them, provides any useful info (like shipping details or how-to guides for their product), and subtly introduces cross-sell or upsell opportunities. For first-time buyers, as discussed, you’d include maybe a discount for the next purchase. For repeat buyers, you might promote your loyalty program or referral bonuses. The tone should primarily be gratitude and service (“Your order’s on its way – here’s how to care for your new rose bush. Let us know if you need anything!”) before any selling. This email has high open rates (customers look for order confirmations and follow-ups), so it’s prime real estate to encourage future actions.
Abandoned Cart Emails: If your system allows tracking abandoned shopping carts (where a logged-in customer or someone who entered their email in checkout leaves without completing purchase), set up a triggered email for that. These are gold for recovering otherwise lost sales. Content is straightforward: “You left something in your cart!” and show the items with a big “Complete Purchase” button. Often, a series of 2–3 cart emails works best: e.g., one 1 hour after abandonment, one 24 hours later (maybe with a gentle reminder or a bit of urgency “Items are selling out fast”), and one 3 days later with possibly a small discount or free shipping offer if they still haven’t bought. Since cart-abandoners clearly intended to buy, even a modest incentive here can close the sale. Cart recovery emails routinely generate some of the highest conversion rates of any automated flow – definitely implement this if possible.
Browse Abandonment Emails: Similar to cart, but even if they didn’t add to cart – if a known contact browsed a product page (or a category page) and left, you can trigger an email as discussed in the Browsers segment above. It’s a bit softer than a cart email (since commitment was lower), but a single email saying “Saw you checking out our rose collection – here are a few you might love!” can re-engage them. This works best if you have the tech setup to capture email from site browsing (usually via cookies or if they clicked from a prior email). Not every small business has this, but if you do, it’s worth automating. Even one automated browse reminder can nudge a casual browser toward purchase, and it saves you having to manually target them later.
Review or Feedback Request: After a purchase, especially after some time has passed for the customer to use the product, automate an email asking for a review or feedback. For example, 2 weeks or 1 month post-purchase, “How are your plants doing? We’d love to get your feedback or see a photo! Leave a review and let us know 🙂.” This not only gathers valuable reviews (social proof for you) but also re-engages the customer. Sometimes, customers who review then go on to make another purchase (since they’re back on your site). If you have a loyalty or rewards program, you can tie this in (e.g., “Review your product to earn 50 reward points!”). It shows customers you care about their experience beyond just the sale.
Replenishment or Follow-up (if applicable): If you sell any consumable or seasonal products (fertiliser, seeds, seasonal bulbs) that would logically need repurchase, set a timed email to remind them. E.g., “It’s been 3 months since you bought our organic fertiliser – your plants might be hungry again! Here’s 10% off a refill.” Or “Spring planting season is here – stock up on fresh seeds.” This is segmenting by past purchase and timing.
Win-Back Drip for Lapsed: We covered lapsed in content, but you can also automate a sequence: e.g., if no purchases in 6 months, trigger a series (Email 1: “we miss you” with maybe just content, Email 2: an offer, Email 3: last reminder or a “we’ll update your preferences if we don’t hear back”). This can run in the background to catch lapsed folks without you manually pulling lists each time.
Putting these flows in place means much of your email marketing runs on autopilot, responding instantly to customer behaviours. These automated emails often get higher engagement because they’re timely and relevant by nature (for instance, abandoned cart emails can achieve conversion rates above 10% easily, way more than a typical newsletter). They essentially complement your segmented campaigns: while your main calendar emails keep everyone engaged generally, the automated ones hit individuals with the right message at the right moment.
In terms of overall frequency, combining campaigns and automations: a very engaged person might end up getting, say, one promo a week, one content email every two weeks, plus a few triggered emails in that month (if they performed actions like purchase or browse). That could total ~6-8 emails in a month for them, which is fine if each one is useful. A less engaged or new person might just get the welcome series and one newsletter, etc. Monitor the overlaps – ensure you’re not unintentionally sending, e.g., a lapsed win-back promo to someone who just got a welcome series. Good email platforms have safeguards or suppressions you can set (like “if user is in welcome series, don’t send regular promos yet”). Planning flows and campaigns holistically will avoid any segment getting too many hits at once.
Lastly, always keep an eye on metrics by segment for frequency. You might find, for example, that your high-engagement segment can even sustain 2 promos per week without issue (maybe they love deals). Or that your low-engagers barely tolerate one email a month. Use open/click and unsubscribe rates by segment as your guide to fine-tune. Finding the right frequency is an ongoing experiment – but the rough plan above is a solid starting point that balances promotion and value.
5. Testing & Continuous Refinement
Segmentation and targeted content will boost your email performance – but to truly optimise, you can’t “set it and forget it.” Testing and refining your approach is key to long-term success. Here’s how to continuously improve your segmented email campaigns:
A/B Test Your Subject Lines and Content (Per Segment): Different segments may respond to different styles. For example, you might test a curiosity-based subject line vs. a direct offer subject line for the same campaign on a segment. With loyal repeat customers, maybe a straightforward subject like “New Plants Just For You – Early Access inside” works best, but with lapsed customers, an emotive one like “We Miss You! A Special Offer Awaits 🌸” might win. Or maybe the other way around! The point is to experiment and see what each group clicks with. Do the same with email content: you could try two versions of an email – one with a big product collage image, another with a personal letter-style text – and see which gets more clicks or conversions from, say, first-time buyers. Over time, you’ll gather learnings (e.g., “Segment A likes emoji in subject, Segment B doesn’t” or “Lapsed folks responded 20% more to subject line containing ‘15% off’ vs just ‘We miss you’.”). Apply those insights to future emails. A/B testing one element at a time (subject, headline, CTA button text, etc.) will steadily polish your effectiveness.
Optimise Send Times and Days (By Segment): As noted earlier, test different send times for segments to find what yields the highest engagement. Maybe send your engaged segment emails at a different time than your lapsed segment and compare results. Also consider testing frequency in a controlled way: for instance, take a small portion of your engaged list and try sending them 2 content emails a week instead of one to see if engagement holds up or drops. Use the data to adjust your strategy. If one segment’s open rate jumps when you email them on Sunday evening, incorporate that. Modern email tools even let you automate sending at the subscriber’s local time or when they’re most active (if you have that data). The goal is to meet your subscribers when and where they’re most likely to interact. Studies have shown that optimising send time can lift open rates significantly – some cite improvements up to 30% with tailored timing. So it’s worth doing.
Monitor Segment-Wise Metrics and Iterate: After each campaign or on a monthly basis, review the performance by segment. Look at open rates, click-through rates, conversion/purchase rates, and unsubscribe/spam rates for each major segment. This will tell you if a certain group is getting fatigued or if your content is hitting the mark. For example, you might find your repeat buyers segment had a 30% open rate on a new arrivals email (great!) but only a 5% on a clearance email – perhaps they weren’t interested in clearance stuff or that product category. That insight might lead you to exclude them from similar clearance emails or craft a different angle next time for that group. Or you might see lapsed customers aren’t clicking through even with big discounts – maybe you need to try a different incentive or adjust your definition of “lapsed” to catch them sooner. Treat each segment like its own audience and analyse accordingly. Also, pay attention to overlap: if someone is in multiple segments (it happens), how are they responding? If your email platform lets you build cohorts like “people who opened 3+ emails this month” vs “zero opens”, that’s useful to track the health of your engagement segments.
Prune and Refresh Segments as Needed: Segmentation is not static. Customers evolve – a first-time buyer becomes a repeat buyer; an engaged subscriber can go cold over time; someone might shift interests (perhaps they moved from a big garden to an apartment, changing what they buy). Periodically refresh your segment definitions and lists. Make sure people move between segments when appropriate (many email systems do this automatically if it’s based on data like purchase count or last purchase date). Also, consider adding new segments if you spot a trend. For example, you might notice a subset of customers that only buy premium products (high-end segment) vs bargain segment – that could be a new segmentation angle for content (“premium customers” get more elegant, luxe email tone, whereas bargain hunters get the loud sales). Or segment by geographic climate (send different planting guides to customers in cold vs warm regions). Don’t be afraid to tweak your segmentation model as your business and subscribers grow. Just ensure your email lists are updated to reflect those changes.
Keep Content Fresh and Formats Interesting: Even with segmentation, if you send the exact same style of email every time, people may get bored over the long run. Test out different email formats and keep things interesting. For instance, occasionally use a GIF or short video clip in emails for the engaged segment (to showcase a 360° view of a new product). Try a plaintext, personal-looking email from the founder for a win-back – sometimes those feel more authentic and can re-engage lapsed users. A/B test those against your normal template. Continually gather what works best for each segment.
Collect Feedback Directly: Occasionally, ask your audience for feedback about your emails. A quick survey link like “How are we doing? What emails would you like to see more of?” can give qualitative insights. You might find your engaged folks want even more detailed newsletters, or that some customers really want a particular type of promotion. Use this to refine your strategy – after all, segmentation is about serving your subscribers better, so hearing from them is gold.
By constantly testing and learning, you’ll fine-tune your segmentation strategy into a well-oiled machine. The effort is worth it: highly targeted, optimised emails can dramatically outperform generic ones. For example, one source found that segmented emails drove **14% higher opens and 101% higher clicks compared to non-segmented blasts – and that’s before all the refinements you’ll layer on. Plus, as you iterate, you’ll keep discovering new ways to delight your audience.
Why This Plan Works ✅
Implementing this segmentation and targeting plan means each of your subscribers feels like you understand them. You’ll avoid wasting emails on people who don’t care about a given promotion, and instead send them content they’ll find interesting or useful. Over time, this builds trust – subscribers see that your emails are worth opening because they consistently deliver relevant value (be it a great deal on something they want, or a handy tip they can use).
Meanwhile, your email ROI should climb. With better targeting, you’ll likely see higher conversion rates: sending 1,000 emails to the right people can easily outperform sending 10,000 to a random list. And by mixing in informational content and not just promos, you foster goodwill and keep engagement up (so that when a promo does hit the inbox, it’s welcomed). Companies that excel at segmentation and personalisation generate a significant portion of their revenue from these practices – because it’s a form of customer-centric marketing.
To recap, you’ll be running a cohesive email program where:
Loyal customers get treated like VIPs (driving repeat sales and advocacy),
New and one-time buyers feel guided and incentivised to stick around (improving retention),
Lapsed folks are reactivated with smart win-back tactics (recovering otherwise lost customers),
Interested prospects are converted with timely nudges,
Engaged readers are continuously marketed to without burnout,
Less engaged readers are nurtured or filtered out respectfully.
Each campaign you send will have a clearly defined target audience and purpose, rather than the old spray-and-pray approach. And each audience segment will have its own tailored pipeline of content and offers over the weeks – a more personalised journey.
By following this plan, you’re essentially maximising the relevance of every email. It might take a little more setup and planning upfront (and perhaps a visual flowchart or calendar to map it all out for your team’s reference), but once it’s in motion, you should see the benefits in your metrics and customer feedback.
Now the question is: are you ready to dig into your email list and start segmenting? With the steps and examples outlined above – and perhaps a handy diagram or flow chart on hand – you have a blueprint to make your email campaigns more targeted, efficient, and successful. Happy emailing, and may your next promo be your best yet! 📧🚀