4 ways to segment your contacts for better follow ups

The more you know about each of your contacts—their interests, hobbies, and preferences—the easier it is to personalize your messages. And the more targeted you can be with a message, the better the chance that it'll be read. Segmenting helps us do just that, by enabling us to send different types of content based on various criteria.

Segmentation allows you to target people with specific messages based on their behavior or other characteristics.

Segmentation allows you to target your contacts with specific messages based on their behavior or other characteristics. It can help you increase your conversion rates, build trust with your audience, and create a more personal experience for customers.

• Segmentation helps you send more relevant messages
• Segmentation can increase your conversion rates

With that in mind, here are 4 characteristics of your prospects, customers, or clients that you can identify for segmentation:

🛒 1) What they've already purchased, or the products/services they've expressed interest in.

One of the best ways to segment your contacts is by what they've already purchased, or the products or services they have previously expressed interest in. You can send them coupons or discounts on things they've bought in the past, as well as information about related products and upcoming events.

For example, let's say a customer just bought a pair of pants from you. Instead of just sending them an email with a coupon code, perhaps you could send more relevant offers: "We have another pair of pants in your size!" Or if someone has shown interest in one item but hasn't made a purchase yet: "Did any other items catch your eye? We have new styles coming out next week!"

💡 Example segments or groups:

• Interest: Service A
• Interest: Service B
• Bought: Product A
• Bought: Product B

📞 2) Where this lead/customer came from or how they heard about you.

Separating our your contacts based on where they came from, or how they heard about you is an easy way to effectively segment them. If they heard about your service through email, social media, or a cold call, make a reference to it!

For example, if a new lead went to your Facebook page or joined your Facebook group, send them a quick note: "Just saw that you've joined my group -- we have lots of great discussions all the time, and if you have questions, I'm an email away!"

More importantly, if someone came in through a referral, it always helps to mention their referrer by name as well when you follow up with them. This helps build a sense of camaraderie and lets them know they aren't just a nameless stranger to you!

Finally, segmenting your contacts based on source will also help you find out where all your best leads are coming from and focus most on those channels instead of spending time on others.

💡 Example segments or groups:

• Website Lead
• Facebook Lead
• Emailed in
• Cold call Lead
• Referral

🌐 3) Where they are currently located.

Another simple way to segment your contacts in order to better personalize your follow-ups would be to group them up based on their geographic region. Sorting your contacts out based on where they are located lets you send out or make follow-ups that refer to location-specific events, news, or occurrences.

For example, whenever I talk to someone from Missouri, USA, I'm always making sure I mention the Cardinals (St. Louis' baseball team) just to add a little personal touch to our conversation. This region-specific reference gives you common ground with your contacts and helps them feel more comfortable working with you.

Additionally, having groups of contacts segmented out by location also gives you a nice tidy list of people to visit whenever you're in the area! If you work closely with your clients and you're visiting their hometown, it helps to buy them a cup of coffee in person to further deepen your relationships with them.

💡 Example segments or groups:

• Midwest Region
• Northeast Region
• International Customers
• Melbourne Clients

⌛ 4) The length of time they've been a customer of yours.

A customer who's been with you for a long time is more likely to be loyal than one who has just started. You can use this to your advantage by sending special offers, or reminding them of your services when appropriate. A simple way to do this is by sending a celebratory "customer anniversary" note every 12 months. It can be as easy as saying:

"It's been 3 years since you first purchased a pair of earrings from me! Thanks for being such a great customer."

Celebrating your longtime customers is one thing, but keeping track of your brand new customers is valuable as well. This segment of new customers allows you to see exactly who might need more attention, and more follow-ups to help "activate" them into being lifelong customers.

💡 Example segments or groups:

• 0-12 Months
• 1-4 years
• 5-10 years
• 10+ years

One final thought...

Segmentation is a tool that enables you to craft more personalized messages to your contacts, be it over email, over the phone, or in person. At the end of the day, the other half of the battle is making sure you match the right message to the correct segment. You're the expert in your business -- consider what you want to tell your audience as you consider who your audiences are!

Using Less Annoying CRM? Our groups tool is a wonderful way to create these segments in your CRM account.