Segmentation is More Important Than Before April 22, 2020, | Posted by Guest

Many email marketing professionals and brands alike have found themselves foundering when it comes to how to deal with their lead generation and customer outreach efforts in this time of crisis. It’s certainly hard to know just how to handle an unprecedented global pandemic; the last pandemic of these proportions was over 100 years ago, long before the internet--much less email--even existed. Site Impact’s experts have been watching even as we continue to keep things rolling, and one thing that we’ve found is consistent across brands and industries: segmentation is more vitally important than it has ever been when it comes to communicating effectively and empathetically with prospects and existing customers alike.

Keep an eye on the news

As this situation continues to evolve, it’s important to note that the current developments in--say--New York are different from those in Idaho, which are different from those in California, which are different from those in Alabama, and so on. Even within each state, different cities and counties are feeling the effects of Covid-19 differently, and sending the same message out to all of your prospects will backfire for that reason alone, even with all other factors being equal. So our first piece of advise is to keep an eye on the news, so that you can better tailor your message to each segment you’re advertising to. Of course it is impossible for anyone to have a fully in-depth awareness of each state, much less each city within each state; but having a general idea of what’s going on in the areas you’re targeting your messages to will take you a long way towards crafting a message that will be welcomed instead of rejected--and emails that will be opened rather than deleted.

Technology is here to help

In light of the previous piece of advice, there are lots of people who need to keep an eye on current events both in the small scale and the broad scale; as a result, there is a wealth of technological solutions to the problem, including interactive maps showing outbreak updates by counties within each state, news aggregators that can be tailored to specific keywords, and other solutions that will help you to keep track of what’s going on in the places you’re marketing to, without demanding that you be on news watching detail 24/7. Put these tools to work for you! If you can pick out specific positive news in a particular place you’re marketing to, that can give you a surprising, unexpected high note to break up the otherwise somewhat manic or gloomy messages your recipients are getting from other brands. By staying on top of current events, you can create a more valuable, deeper connection with your email marketing recipients, which encourages greater engagement and therefore higher opens, clicks, and conversions. 

Right now, one of the most important tools in any email marketing professional’s toolkit is segmentation. By keeping track of what’s going on in the different geographic areas you’re marketing to, and incorporating current events (or at least an awareness of the current environment and broad situation) into your campaigns, you can reach prospects and customers on a deeper level--something that is incredibly valuable in a time like this, and leads to increased conversions at a moment in history when all of us are looking to keep the metaphorical machinery ticking. Contact Site Impact to hear more ideas for how to best deploy key strategies to make the most of your email marketing efforts no matter what’s going on in the world.