Segmenting your mailing list is one recommended practice all email marketers should adhere to. When done correctly, it could be the factor that separates a successful campaign from one that is on the road to nowhere. Segmentation is so powerful because it helps to ensure that your message gets to the right people, the consumers who are the most likely to find value in your offer. On the other hand, when executed poorly, it could backfire and generate the type of response that lowers the perception of your brand. In this article, we will take a look at what can happen when segmentation goes wrong.

Send the Wrong Message

There are dire consequences to improperly segmenting your list. One of the most significant of all is the high probability of sending out the wrong message, something that might cause subscribers to form a negative opinion about your business. Let us say you revisit your mailing list to segment it based on paying customers and prospects. As a part of your loyalty program, you decide to reward repeat customers with a special coupon for a generous percentage off one of your products. Instead of sending out mailings to your loyal customers, you mistakenly send them to some of the new prospects on your list. This puts you in a position where you are either forced to honor the offer, or take it back and explain yourself. More than likely, you want to stay true to your word, which could possibly set you back considerably in terms of profitability.

Miss Opportunities

Fumbling with segmentation could also cause you to miss out on golden opportunities. Far too often, email marketers rely on the demographics and preference data used to perform the initial segmentation of their list. While this information is certainly useful, the most effective way to predict future behavior is to base it on past behavior. Instead of just sending messages to subscribers in respect to their age and where they live, you should try targeting them based on metrics such as who click which links, what pages they visit, what they buy, and so forth. This will prevent you from sending out the wrong message to the wrong people, and help increase responsiveness in the process.

Righting the Wrongs

Should you botch segmentation for whatever reason, do not panic, because there are some things you can do to make up for it. Keep the following tips in mind, and you should be able to right those wrongs:

Come clean - If a segmentation error led to subscribers getting content they were not supposed to receive, the best thing you can do is come clean and own up to the mistake. Sure, you screwed up, but consumers appreciate honesty. Email marketing is all about building trust and showing that you are human like everyone else gives you a better chance of earning it.

Make your move - So, you messed up with segmentation. What are you doing to do about it now? Send a follow-up email that contains a counter-offer? If that offer is not going to completely rectify the problem, you may be better served just offering an apology and moving forward. We all make a mistake every now and then, but lingering on it could end up doing more harm than good.

Gary San is a best practices activist and advocate for, a leading Web and permission-based bulk email marketing service.