Email Marketing Segmentation: Stop Getting Cute!

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Hey it’s Max from The Inbox Newsletter.

After auditing hundred’s of brands Klaviyo accounts, here’s one mistake I see brands make time and time again. And it’s a very costly one.

Today, I’m talking about having too many useless email segments.

Here's what happens: A brand learns about segmentation for the first time and then builds 15 different segments because "the right message to the right person at the right time" sounds like genius marketing.

Six months later, their email revenue is flat, and they can't figure out why.

Let me show you the math that explains everything.

The Math Nobody Wants to Hear

Say you have 100,000 engaged subscribers.

Option A: You send 4 campaigns per week to your 60-day engaged list. That's 400,000 email sends per week.

Option B: You get fancy. You create 4 segments of ~20,000 people each. You send 4 "personalized" campaigns to each segment. And you get better conversion rates and engagement on your emails! However, you sent only 80,000 email sends… and you made way less money than Option A.

And here's the part that really stings: the "personalized" version doesn’t always outperform the simple version by enough to justify the extra work.

When you fracture your list into tiny segments, you're starving yourself of the data you need to actually improve.

The "Mass First, Target Second" Framework

Here's how we actually approach segmentation for clients generating $10M+ annually:

Step 1: Establish your mass-engaged baseline

Your primary sending list is your 60-day engaged segment. That's it. This is everyone who has opened or clicked an email in the past 60 days.

You send 3-4 campaigns per week to this list. Every week. No exceptions.

This is your foundation. This is where 80%+ of your campaign revenue comes from.

Step 2: Add targeted sends ON TOP (not instead of)

Once your baseline is locked in, you can layer in 1-2 targeted sends per week to specific segments. These are bonus sends, not replacements.

The key segments worth targeting:

• High-Potential Purchasers — People who've viewed products, added to cart, or started checkout in the last 30 days but haven't bought. They're warm. They just need a nudge.

• VIP Customers — Your repeat buyers (5+ orders). These people love you. Give them early access, exclusive offers, or just a thank you.

• Product/Category Interest — People who've browsed a specific collection. When you drop new products in that category or run a sale, hit this segment with a targeted send.

• Winback Potential — Customers who bought 90-150 days ago but have gone quiet. Worth a monthly re-engagement send.

That's it. Four targeted segments maximum on top of your mass engaged sends.

Step 3: One targeted campaign per week maximum

I don't care how many segments you have. You get one targeted send per week on top of your regular campaigns. Maybe two during BFCM or a major launch.

If you're spending more time on targeted sends than your core campaigns, your priorities are backwards.

How to Segment Properly

Let me break down exactly how to build these in Klaviyo:

60-Day Engaged (Your Primary Sending List)

Definition:

• Someone can receive email marketing

• Someone has opened email at least once in the last 60 days OR clicked email at least once in the last 60 days

Start here. If your open rates are strong (25%+), you can expand to 90-day engaged. If you're seeing deliverability issues, tighten to 30-day.

High-Potential Purchasers

Definition:

• Someone can receive email marketing

• Someone has placed order 0 times in the past 30 days

• AND at least one of: viewed product, added to cart, or started checkout in the past 30 days

These people have shown interest in your products. Send them 1-2 extra emails per month.

VIP Customers

Definition:

• Someone can receive email marketing

• Someone has placed order at least 5 times over all time

Your best customers. Worth an exclusive send once a month, maybe a dedicated VIP flow when they hit the threshold.

Suppress List (Stop Emailing These People)

Definition:

• Someone has opened email zero times in the last 180 days

• OR someone has bounced at least once over all time

• OR someone has marked email as spam

Review monthly and suppress these profiles. This will save you money on your Klaviyo bill and protect your deliverability.

How to Know If You're Over-Segmenting

Run this audit on your account:

1. Count your active segments. If you have more than 10, you're probably over-complicating things.

2. Check your campaign history. Are you sending to segments smaller than 10,000 people regularly? That's a red flag unless you have a very small list.

3. Calculate your workload. How many hours per week do you spend on segmentation strategy vs. actually creating campaigns? If it's more than 20%, simplify.

4. Look at your revenue attribution. What percentage of your email revenue comes from campaigns to your full engaged list vs. targeted segments? For most brands, it should be 80/20.

5. Ask yourself honestly: Could you maintain this system if you 3x'd your email volume? If the answer is no, it's too complex.

Implement these segments and the health of your email list will improve. If you run a 7-9 figure ecom brand and want a Klaviyo audit from a team of professional email marketers, book a call here.

If you’re serious about turning email into a predictable revenue channel this year, my mentorship program I launched last week is almost full.

This is our 90-day mentorship where you get direct strategy, daily support, and real accountability directly from my team… not another course you never finish.

If you’ve been on the fence, now’s the time. Applications are open, but spots won’t be for long.

👉 Learn More »

Email Inspiration Of The Day

Brand: Brez

Email Design: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vZloGomItRqQZTWi1CSf3k3LE3MvzTV0/view?usp=sharing


Notes: Great year in recap email from Brez. It allows the customer to feel apart of the journey and highlights the brands growth.

Template of The Day

If you want access to a bank of 134 mix and match templates like this equating to over 5,000+ possible email designs, click here » 

Reply to this email if you have any questions or further content you want covered.

Cheers,

Max | Well Copy Email & SMS Marketing
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