Imagine receiving a promotion about finding the perfect blue polo shirt. It would be a great sell if you’ve been searching for a blue polo shirt but not such a delight if you’ve actually been searching for jeans and have no intention to buy polo shirts. You just don’t fit this shopper segment.
As a store owner, sending such messages to your shopper is (mostly) a miss. You can’t throw every type of promotion at the wall and see what sticks (and sells). Such a vague web push strategy is sure to show low click-through rates and even make subscribers opt-out of your updates. This is why, as your subscriber list grows bigger, shopper segmentation is the first step you need to take to ensure you don’t lose out on your shoppers’ attention and make them come back to your store.
Why Should You Segment Your Audience and Tailor Your Promotions?
Most stores only send promotions based on which products they want to sell more. But this doesn’t always work out since your subscriber list is a mix of shoppers, each with different needs and objectives. For instance, a new subscriber that subscribed within the last 10 days will have different expectations from your store as compared to a returning customer who shops from you frequently. This is why sending the same promotions to every subscriber on your list may not give you the returns you expect.
Instead, strategize your promotions based on who your audience is. You sell more when you understand your shoppers and cater to their needs by sending them a promotion that answers to what they are looking for. Segmenting your shoppers has even proved to be more impactful. According to Campaign Monitor, segmented campaigns can lead to a 760% increase in revenue.
So, how can you use the different segments available to you to tailor your promotions for your subscribers? This involves 3 steps:
- Identify the shopper segments you want to target and convert
- Send relevant promotions to the segment for increased clicks and purchases
- Analyze results from these segmented promotions and refine your strategy.
In this blog, we’re diving into the first 2 steps. We’re looking at 6 of our favorite subscriber segments that every merchant needs to set up as well as promotion ideas to help you convert subscribers into customers. You can access the full list of segments on our helpdesk.
6 Popular Subscriber Segments That You Must Use
1. Send your ever-relevant push notifications to all subscribers
It goes without saying that your product launches and sales must be promoted across your subscriber list. Pick up one of the 13 types of push notification campaigns that you can send to increase sales in your store.
2. Convert anonymous subscribers
80% of your web push subscribers are visitors who haven’t purchased yet. If your general product and sale promotion haven’t turned them into a customer yet, it’s time to put some more pressure on them with a promotion crafted exclusively for them. This segment is already available on the PushOwl dashboard, making it easy for you to convert them.
Hack: Let these subscribers know about any rewards you have in store when purchasing or signing up as a customer. This can be a loyalty program that rewards visitors with points when they sign up or a first-time purchase offer that gives a discount or free shipping to the shopper.
3. Impress new subscribers
Leverage the attention of your new subscribers by keeping them engaged with your store during the first few weeks for their subscription. You can send them a fun push notification to make them laugh or even a fact about your store. Bonus points if you can create a gamified landing page that brings them back to the store.
Hack: Set up custom segments that allow you to target subscribers who subscribed within the last 30 days. This way, you can use this dynamic segment to send your new subscribers a ‘welcoming’ web push promotion every 30 days.
4. Location-relevant promotions
Have a pop-up kiosk in your city? A web push notification sent to subscribers living in the same city or even region is sure to bring more footfall to your pop-up. Using a location segment is even more effective for online stores that are taking their presence offline, either with brick-and-mortar stores or by getting space within large department stores. Set up custom location segments to quickly let people in the specific region know where they can pick up or try out your store’s products in their area.
Hack: If you are a store owner with products in offline retail spaces, set up custom location segments for each of the regions. This way, if your products are on sale in any of these retail locations, you can quickly send a promotion to the relevant shopper segment.
Another way to maximize location segments is by amplifying location-based promotions you are running on your online store. Providing free shipping for just US shoppers? Let this shopper segment know about the unmissable offer.
5. Reel in customers who haven’t purchased for a while.
We all have the habit of purchasing from a store once and not returning again, even when we loved the product. This is either because their newsletter never gets beyond our spam filters or because the store just isn’t offering a good enough discount to bring you back. The same goes for customers in your store who haven’t purchased for a few months.
Hack: Set up a custom segment targeting subscribers who haven’t purchased for more than 2 months. Bring them back to your store by sending a web push that asks for a review or you can be upfront— give these shoppers free shipping across your store or promote your new product.
If your store sells high-value items you may not be able to bring them back to your store for another purchase. Instead, you can cross-sell to these shoppers by promoting your accessories.
6. Send promotions based on which collection your shopper bought from
If your subscribers have already bought from your shirts collection, you can send them promotions to buy complementary items, like pants or skirts. Collection based segments allow you to smartly target subscribers by what they bought to let you easily send them a promotion about a product or collection that compliments their purchase.
Hack: Think of which products your customer base shops the most and request for custom segments accordingly. For instance, if you’re a fashion store, set up a segment for ‘dress’ shoppers and send them targeted promotions to purchase footwear that matches their dress. Or, if you own a vape store, you can send promotions nudging shoppers to buy vape liquids.
This article was originally published by our friends at PushOwl.
