Take a good look at who's actually sitting on your email list. You've built up a pile of wildly different customers over the years, and right now they're probably all getting the exact same email from you.
That's the problem. Different customers have different problems, so one generic message can't really speak to any of them. This post is about fixing that, sending email that actually fits the person reading it.
Start by grouping like customers together
Email list segmentation sounds fancy, but at its core, it's simple: group similar customers together so you can send each group a message that actually fits.
Think about how different your customers really are:
- an e-commerce warehouse
- a procurement agent at a government agency
- a warehouse safety officer
Your marketing should speak to your customer's problem. Each of these customers has a completely different problem, so you really need three different messages, not one generic email blasted to everybody.
Segmentation in a perfect world
In Julie-topia (a world where Julie gets everything she wants), you would have a clean CRM database that tags every customer by type. All the marine customers would have a marine tag, the agriculture contacts would have an Ag tag (ha, I'm a poet), and so on.
Once your customers are grouped by industry, you send each group a message built for them. A safety-focused email to a safety officer will always beat a generic message to everyone.
You're reading a targeted message right now
Don't believe me? Look at where you landed. There are hundreds of marketing blogs out there, but you're reading one written specifically for forklift dealerships. That's not an accident. It's built for you, it speaks to your problems, and the tips come from what I've actually seen work for dealers just like you.
That's segmentation doing its job.
Here's the catch. We don't live in Julie-topia. Most forklift dealership databases aren't tagged by industry at all. So what's a girl like me going to do?
I figured out one way anybody can segment, starting today.
Segment by domain extension
Make a list of your .gov email addresses, and you've got a list of your government customers. Pull your .edu addresses, and you've got your schools. No tagging project required.
Then write one message for that group, send it, and see how it lands:
➡ .edu customers: offer your branded forklift wraps.
➡ .gov customers: offer a forklift inspection that keeps their fleet compliant.
➡ Find your state government's domain extension and let them know you're a state-approved rental vendor.
There you have it. A quick win. Anyone can do this right now and send email that actually fits the customer reading it.
Taking it to the next level
The bigger dealers will have someone dedicated to managing data, tagging every contact by type. It's a longer play that takes work up front and pays off later. Picture it: beverage companies get emails about electric walkie pallet jacks, marine customers get emails about forklifts with wet-disc brakes, and so on down the line. Every customer hears about the thing that's actually for them.
Start with the domain-extension trick this week. Build toward the tagged database when you're ready.
