The Only 3 Email Segments You Actually Need

Last week I found myself on Facebook after almost years of not touching it. 

I was hunting for workout equipment on Marketplace, but that algorithm is a tricky SOB.

Before I knew it, I was swiping through reels from an MMA gym in Peru where I used to train.

Seeing those videos reminded me of a crazy story.

Six years ago when I was living in Arequipa, Peru with my wife, I trained at this gym for almost a year straight.

Every morning I’d wake up at 7am, walk down the street, step on the mats, and proceed to get rag-dolled for two hours straight.

It was one the best morning routines I’ve ever had. 10/10 would recommend.

Welp, after months of yanking my head out of one too many guillotine chokes I developed cauliflower ear. 

My coach looked at it and said, "You need drain that , then compress it for a few days. If you don't, it stays like that forever.”

Simple enough, right?

My wife took me to one of the free clinics nearby. 

The doctor takes one look at my swollen ear and immediately declares it's infected…

…and I need to take antibiotics. 

His stupidity left me speechless.

We had to argue with him to get him to drain my ear

Finally, he agreed.

He drained my ear then sent me on my way. No compression. Nothing.

The ear filled right back up that afternoon.

And you know who ended up fixing it? 

My mother in law. 

She went to the pharmacy, bought a syringe, and drained my ear at her kitchen table.

Then she wrapped it up the right way. A few days later it was fully healed.

The "expert" doctor prescribed a solution to a problem he didn't understand.

In the medical world, that’s called malpractice. 

In marketing, they call it "best practices."

I see this constantly with email marketing on social media, especially when it comes to segmentation.

A bunch of experts will tell you to slice your list into 15 segments so you can personalize every campaign to match the audience.

But here’s what they leave out:

If you have a lean team or doing email by yourself, complex segmentation will not work.

Can you imagine creating 7 different campaigns multiple times a week? EVERY week??

It ain’t gonna happen.

That’s why for campaigns I only use three main segments 90% of the time:

1. Engaged Segment (180 Days)

This is your active, engaged email list. I send most emails to this group.

If I notice open and click rates going down over time I'll tighten it to 90 days to maintain deliverability.

For big sales or launches, I might open it up to 365 days to scoop up some extra sales.

2. Win Back Segment

This is for past customers who have not bought in a while and have not opened emails recently. And have already passed through our Win back automation.

I like to use this segment sparingly for sales and promos when there is a strong chance we can bring them back.

They have bought before, so if they see your name in their inbox, there is still a shot they will click, and buy.

3. Recently Ordered Segment

I use this as an exclusion segment for campaigns.

If someone just placed an order, especially their first, I do not want them getting hit with a bunch of irrelevant campaigns.

They are already getting order updates and shipping emails. Adding more just clutters the inbox.

Instead, I want them in a clean post purchase flow with tips, education, and helpful links.

Let them focus on what they just bought, not a random campaign that does not apply.

(Read: how to write the perfect post purchase automation)

Do I sometimes build more advanced segments?

Sure, but only for very specific use cases.

When it comes to segmentation simplicity is the key 

Don’t make it harder for yourself than it has to be.

If you're tired of handling all the campaign segmentation and campaign planning by yourself click the link below to see if we’re a good fit.

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