Ecommerce Segmentation Secrets to Accelerate Store Sales

We all know personalization and segmentation are key components of ecommerce success. 

In fact, 80% of companies that use segmentation report increased sales.

Why? 

Segmentation has a ton of benefits but at the end of the day, a good segmentation strategy leads to more effective marketing, a better customer experience, and stronger attribution.

To help you better understand the current ecommerce landscape and improve your marketing performance, we brought in experts from ATTN Agency, Hawke Media, and Perill Agency to share their tips on intelligent audience segmentation.

Let’s dive into what they had to say.

TL;DR Key Takeaways

• Build a unified customer view with first-party data to enable hyper-relevant targeting.
• Segment audiences based on granular factors like purchase behavior, engagement, and interests.
• Dynamically customize content, offers, and messaging for each micro-segment.
• Connect your full martech stack for a cohesive, personalized experience across touchpoints.
• Leverage quizzes and self-reported data to enrich customer profiles and personalization.

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1. Build a Holistic Customer View with First-Party Data

As third-party cookies phase out, capturing and activating first-party data has emerged as the new gold standard for ecommerce success. 

After all, the foundation of advanced segmentation lies in building a unified, holistic view of your customers. 

To achieve this, you’ll need to:

• Leverage tools like the Customers.ai Website Visitor Identification platform to identify anonymous site visitors and capture their browsing behavior.

• Enrich customer profiles with demographic data, interests, purchase history, and real-time behavioral signals.

• Sync this unified customer view across your marketing platforms for a consistent experience.

With a 360-degree customer view enabled by first-party data, brands can deliver hyper-relevant targeting and personalized experiences that drive conversions and foster loyalty like never before.

2. Create High-Value Audience Segments

Once you have a comprehensive customer view, it’s time to slice your audience into granular segments based on factors like purchase behavior, engagement levels, and interests for maximum impact.

As Nate Tower, President at Perill points out, it’s important to move beyond the standard segments and remember that all segments aren’t the same.

High-Impact Segments to Consider:

• Frequent purchasers (target for loyalty programs and upsells)
• Lapsed frequent buyers (winback campaigns and incentives)
• One-time buyers (encourage repeat purchases with tailored messaging)
• Non-buyers (test incentives and nurturing flows for first purchase)
• Full-price buyers (avoid discounting, focus on value messaging)
• Promo-code buyers (ensure deals and promotions in messaging)
• High lifetime value/profit margin customers (prioritize engagement and retention)

Segments to Remove from Daily Emails:

Just like it’s important to focus on specific segments, Amber Doughty, Senior Director, Lifecycle Marketing Hawke Media notes it’s also important to NOT  focus on specific segments. 

Here are a few segments to keep out of your daily messaging:

• Bounced at least 2x
• Purchased Last 3-5 days
• Email cadence preference
• Customers with an open support ticket 
• B2B/wholesale accounts

3. Test Offers and Messaging Per Segment

It’s important to remember that testing is your friend and you want to make sure you are testing frequency, messaging, and offers within your various segments. 

This means:

• Customize offers, creative, and messaging cadence for each micro-segment.
• Continuously test and optimize to find the sweet spots (bigger discounts don’t always drive more sales).
• Use control groups to validate your winning strategies and measure incremental impact.

4. Connect the Full Marketing Stack

As Andrew Buckley, Partner at ATTN Agency tells us, customers are everywhere and it’s our job to get in front of them. 

This means creating a cohesive experience across touchpoints through a unified tech stack. 

• Connect data flows for personalized touchpoints across email, SMS, ads, and more.
• Retarget engaged site visitors, suppress existing buyers from prospecting flows.
• Cross-pollinate between platforms for a seamless customer journey.

Remember, effective segmentation isn’t restricted to Email and SMS. You can use your existing customers and data for:

1. Retargeting Non-Converters
2. Exclusive Offers to Brand Advocates
3. Prospecting Lookalike Audiences
4. Exclusions at Every Level

At the end of the day, customers want a seamless experience and with this, you can give it to them.

Start Building Your Advanced Segmentation Strategy

Becoming customer-obsessed and mastering segmentation is non-negotiable for ecommerce brands. 

Leverage first-party data to build a unified customer view, slice audiences into granular segments, dynamically customize content and offers, connect your full marketing stack, and use quizzes to self-enrich profiles. 

By implementing these advanced segmentation strategies, you can boost sales, foster loyalty, and deliver exceptional customer experiences that set you apart from the competition.

Time to get started!

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Important Next Steps

• See what targeted outbound marketing is all about. Capture and engage your first 500 website visitor leads with Customers.ai X-Ray website visitor identification for free.
• Talk and learn about sales outreach automation with other growth enthusiasts. Join Customers.ai Island, our Facebook group of 40K marketers and entrepreneurs who are ready to support you.
• Advance your marketing performance with Sales Outreach School, a free tutorial and training area for sales pros and marketers.