The Power of Email Marketing Segmentation: Strategies for 2025

Before diving into email marketing strategies, it’s essential to define email segmentation and its purpose. Email marketing segmentation is the process of dividing an email subscriber list into smaller, targeted groups based on shared characteristics. This allows email marketing agencies and businesses to send personalized, relevant content, improving engagement, open rates, click-through rates, and conversions.

But let’s be honest, while segmentation offers impressive numbers, the real goal is to create personalized, human-like interactions rather than just data-driven campaigns. Behind every subscriber is a real person with specific needs and interests. Understanding and addressing those needs—not just numbers—is what truly drives success.

In one of our recent articles, we highlighted essential email marketing services that will increase eCommerce revenue in 2025, and segmentation is a foundational element of any successful email marketing campaign.

Types of Email Segmentation

There are several key types of segmentation used in business email marketing:

1. Demographic Segmentation

This segmentation groups subscribers based on personal characteristics such as:

• Age – Helps tailor email content, language, and offers based on generational preferences.
• Gender – Useful for for fashion, beauty, and wellness brands where preferences often differ.
• Occupation & Role – Categorizing customers as students, professionals, or retirees allows for personalized messaging.
• Household Information – If relevant, segment based on family size, pet ownership, or marital status.

2. Behavioral Segmentation

This type of segmentation is based on how subscribers interact with your brand, including:

• Email Engagement – Open rates, click-through rates, and past email interactions.
• Website Behavior – Tracking product views, abandoned carts, and time spent on pages.
• Subscription Source – Differentiating organic subscribers from those acquired through paid ads.

3. Psychographic Segmentation

Instead of focusing on actions, psychographic segmentation looks at values, attitudes, and interests:

• Hobbies & Interests – Sending emails based on what customers actively engage with.
• Brand Affinity – Some customers prefer sustainability, while others are tech enthusiasts.
• Lifestyle Preferences – Vegan, fitness-focused, budget-conscious, or high-end luxury consumers.

4. Geographic Segmentation

• Country & Region – Essential for international brands where cultural preferences and regulations differ.
• City & Zip Code – Used for local offers, store events, and climate-based promotions.
• Language Preferences – Ensuring email content is localized for multilingual audiences.

5. Transactional Segmentation

This focuses on a customer’s purchase history and shopping behavior:

• Purchase Frequency – Identify one-time buyers vs. repeat customers.
• Average Order Value (AOV) – Adjust email content and offers based on spending habits.
• Discount Sensitivity – Differentiate between full-price buyers and those who respond best to sales.

Advanced Email Segmentation Strategies

Beyond the basic segmentation types, our experience with email marketing has shown that these additional categories can be incredibly effective:

6. Lifecycle Segmentation

Segmenting based on where customers are in their journey helps improve retention:

• New Subscribers (Welcome Flow) – Introduce them to your brand gradually.
• Repeat Customers – Offer loyalty rewards and VIP perks.
• Churn Risk (Inactive for 90+ Days) – Trigger re-engagement automation.
• VIP Customers – Reward high spenders with exclusive deals.

7. Personal Information-Based Segmentation

Using first-party data collected from quizzes, surveys, and pop-ups, you can:

• Send birthday or anniversary emails.
• Recommend products based on previous survey answers.
• Deliver highly personalized recommendations based on managed preferences.

8. Deliverability Segmentation

As I’ve highlighted before, ensuring email deliverability and sender reputation is crucial, which is why segmentation should consider:

• Highly Engaged Subscribers – Those who frequently open and click emails.
• Low Engagement Contacts – Subscribers who need a different approach or reactivation strategy.
• Hard Bounces & Unsubscribers – Keeping your email list clean improves performance.

Pro Tip:

To maximize the success of email marketing services, ensure that you:

• Collect relevant data through sign-up forms, surveys, and interactive quizzes.
• Enable tracking for key email marketing metrics.
• Properly store and utilize collected data in your email marketing solutions.

Case Study: Pet Industry Email Segmentation

One of our clients in the pet industry leveraged email marketing automation for businesses by collecting detailed pet data through quizzes. Our email marketing consultant team helped structure data collection for pet age, gender, breed, weight, and more (up to 7 pets per subscriber). Using HubSpot and Klaviyo, integrated via Make.com, we built automated email flows based on pet profiles, leading to higher customer engagement and repeat purchases.

Basic Email Segmentation Strategies (With Examples)

Personally, I would recommend ensureing that you have fundamental segmentation in place, before implementing complex email marketing strategies.

Before starting, I would love to share a case that highlights the importance of a proper basic set-up.

Case Study: How Issues in the Basic Set-Up Can Impact the Results

One of our clients, with a contact list of almost 1.5 million subscribers, faced significant challenges in driving revenue and maintaining email deliverability despite regular communication and a strong marketing plan.
While investigating their Klaviyo account, our technical specialists identified several issues with the segment conditions, flow filters, and the overall logic of their setup. These misconfigurations were the primary cause of the challenges they were facing.

We suggested creating a completely new segmentation strategy, starting with the basics using all available data, and progressing to more advanced segments tailored to specific campaign goals.

Such an approach allowed us to manage campaigns segments and create a strategic approach in advance, knowing the content and the goals of the future campaigns.
Please, see how the segmentation calendar might look like:

Additionally, we conducted a thorough review of their email marketing funnel and automation flows. The analysis took us almost two weeks due to the unique nature of the brand, which required careful consideration of various factors.

As a result, we added additional filters, made necessary changes, and optimized the segmentation to ensure the brand had a strong foundation for growth.

After implementation, we saw a significant improvement in deliverability, raising the score from 60 to 85 (a notable achievement considering the sending volume), and a 7% increase in revenue.

This case highlights the importance of a proper segmentation setup for driving success in email marketing.

That’s a tiny example of what segment conditions should look like. If you need a customized email marketing solutions audit or consultation, IMPRO email marketing agency is happy to assist.

• Purchasers Segment (Klaviyo-powered)

• Non-Purchasers Segment

Useful information: These basic email marketing Klaviyo segmentation rules will help you to build proper segments.

Effective Email Segmentation Strategies and Results

Now, let’s explore high-performing segmentation strategies and the results they can generate.

1. Re-Engagement Campaigns

Segment inactive subscribers (90+ days of no engagement) and launch re-engagement campaigns.

Case Study: Black Friday Email Marketing for Skincare Brand For a skincare brand, we created email templates and an automated email flow targeting inactive subscribers. The campaign reactivated 3,487 contacts without harming email deliverability—a significant win.

For more insights on email marketing deliverability, check our latest guide.

2. VIP Customer Segmentation & Personalized Engagement

• Thank You Email Campaigns – Express appreciation for loyal customers.
• Exclusive Offers – Special deals for VIP customers based on spending behavior.

3. Targeted Support Communication

• If a support inquiry has been resolved, send a follow-up email to ensure a great experience.

4. Interest-Based Email Campaigns

• Concert Tickets Example: If tickets for Taylor Swift go on sale, target female subscribers more heavily.
• Stand-Up Comedy Events: Send location-based emails for events, depending on where these will be held.

5. AOV-Based Offers

• Tailor offers based on customer average order value (AOV).

6. Product Usage & Instruction Updates

• If there’s an update to a product’s usage instructions, notify customers who previously purchased it.

7. Brand Awareness Surveys

• Create different survey versions for highly engaged and less engaged subscribers to get their opinions and understanding of how your brand should optimize positioning.

8. Subscription Source Segmentation

• If a contact subscribed via ads and immediately purchased, limit their early engagement to avoid fatigue.
• If a contact is currently in a Welcome Flow, allow them time to explore the brand before overwhelming them with campaigns.

The Power of Email Segmentation

Segmentation in email marketing and overall digital marketing helps businesses achieve higher engagement, increased revenue, and better deliverability. When applied correctly (I would like to highlight this point again), segmentation ensures tailored, data-driven email marketing that resonates with subscribers.

Additional Resources for Email Segmentation Best Practices

For more in-depth segmentation insights, check out these expert guides:

1. GetResponse – Advanced segmentation tactics.
2. Klaviyo – AI-driven segmentation for eCommerce.
3. Omnisend – Data-driven segmentation best practices.

Conclusion

Email segmentation is one of the most powerful tools in modern email marketing. It enhances personalization, user experience, and deliverability, ultimately driving higher conversions and business growth.