One reason my Emails get opened more than yours.

I use a really simple way that helps me make my email newsletters more effective. It’s called segmentation.

What is segmentation?
Not all your customers are interested in the same things you offer. What appeals to one person may not matter at all to another. Segmentation is the act of dividing lists of people by their interests into different groups.
Some of your customers may be interested in the upcoming four course wine dinner and others may be into the $1 sliders on monday. By grouping them into two separate lists, you’ve “segmented” them. Segmented lists allow you to send emails to the people that will find them interesting, useful, a perfect fit for them. Without segmentation, you are sending messages to many people that are not interested.

What does this do for you?
By sending your customers emails that speak to them individually, you’ll not only increase your open, click-through, and response rates. But you will communicate with them on a personal, more meaningful level. This leads to stronger, more productive relationships.

Problem: You have a huge list already without segmentation or a way of knowing who likes what.

My Solution: When I create an email campaign, I speak to all the segments at once, in different sections of the email. I then create a link that says: To learn more about this upcoming wine dinner, click here. When the guest clicks the link they are taken to a page on the restaurant’s website that says: “ Your interest has been recorded, thank you, and you will hear from us soon.”

My email provider allows me to take all the clicks and create a new list with them; I would name it ‘Wine Dinner’ and then save it forever. That way the next time I can just email those people a detailed all wine list email first, and mention it in passing in a more general one.

We do this for our clients at GuestFeed, it’s a tool we love to use. What do you think?


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15 responses to “One reason my Emails get opened more than yours.”

  1. Steve Anderson Avatar

    GREAT article! Definitely a tool that I will use to break out my fan base once my show really starts to take off. I love the idea of prompting fans to certain areas, it certainly makes it easier to categorize. I appreciate the great advice, and I read your articles often.

  2. John V. Tremblay Avatar

    Thanks, Spiro, loved the article. This advice applies to any industry, of course, not just restaurants. It’s all about giving the people what they want. Great format you have – to segment out the audience within one email and then track clicks. You could also include a quick survey on surveymonkey.com (free) and ask all readers what they like. Segmentation allows you to fine-tune your business and break-down the mass into manageable audiences. Looking forward to checking out your restaurant soon. Cheers, John

  3. […] 3) Segment your list. Then speak to specific interest groups within it, to achieve higher effectiveness. What people do on your site, and the links they click in emails, can help you do this. For more on segmentation see my post “Why My Emails Get Opened More Than Yours.” […]

  4. Leah Moulden Avatar

    Great advice – simple but effective

    1. Spiro Pappadopoulos Avatar

      Let me know what you run into when you try it, positive and negative…

  5. Layne Avatar
    Layne

    Smart idea, Spiro. Really smart. Would love to hear more examples of how you can push the creative envelope with these list segments.

    1. Spiro Pappadopoulos Avatar

      Thanks, I will write a post about that soon. Promise!

  6. Contacto Hotelero Avatar
    Contacto Hotelero

    We would love to try it out! Contacto Hotelero

  7. […] An informative email newsletter which is sent to a segmented list according to recorded click through data from your own campaigns. Your email newsletter should not […]