When I first started with email marketing, everyone kept telling me, “Grow your list!”—but no one explained why or how to do it properly. I made a huge mistake: uploading my entire personal contact list (dating back to when I was 16!), which was definitely not okay. It wasn’t until I discovered email segmentation that I realized how crucial it is to send targeted emails, connect with the right subscribers, and ultimately transform your e-commerce business. In this post, I’ll share how email segmentation boosted my open rates, protected my sender reputation, and took my sales from zero to thriving revenue—all while keeping my workload manageable.
Pro Tip: If you need a feature-rich email platform that makes email segmentation a breeze, consider signing up for Klaviyo. It’s designed to help you reach the right people at the right time.
🎙️Listen On The Go
What we’ll cover in today’s episode:
- 00:00 The Importance of Email Segmentation
- 01:07 My Costly Mistake & the Power of Segmentation
- 02:07 Why Segmentation Matters
- 02:53 Example – Client Jenn
- 04:15 Identifying Your Key Segments
- 04:52 Gathering & Using Data
- 05:47 Crafting Relevant Messages & Automations
- 06:38 Monitoring & Optimizing Email Segments
- 06:58 Segments You Can Use Today + Personal Success Story
- 07:52 The Engaged Audience Segment
- 09:01 Unengaged & List Cleaning Segments
- 09:39 Your Action Step & Free Guide
- 10:18 Workshop Waitlist & Sign-Off
My Email Marketing Journey & Hard-Learned Lessons
When I first heard “Grow your list!” I assumed more subscribers automatically meant more sales. So I collected emails—friends, family, even old school contacts—without any strategy. Huge mistake! Uploading a random list violates privacy regulations (and is flat-out illegal). Plus, irrelevant recipients often mark emails as spam, damaging your sender reputation.
I also believed that sending consistent emails alone would magically turn into sales—some called their ESP “the cash cow” of the business. After months of zero revenue, I knew something was off. I ended up taking a course (which cost me nearly a year’s salary!), and that’s when I learned about the power of email segmentation. Suddenly, it all made sense.
Why Segmentation Matters for Your Business
Email segmentation ensures each subscriber receives content that actually aligns with their interests and behavior. Think about your own life—what you’re interested in today is likely very different from what you cared about ten years ago. For me, as a 31-year-old mom and expat, the email lists I signed up for in college are completely irrelevant now. It’s the same for your subscribers.
The truth is, 43% of people don’t bother unsubscribing from irrelevant email lists. Instead, they just mark them as junk, and every time your email goes unopened or gets marked as spam, it hurts your sender reputation. Over time, you’ll end up in the junk folders of people who do want to hear from you.
That’s why segmenting your list is so important. You only want to send emails to people who are interested and engaged.
How Email Segmentation Prevents Deliverability Issues
When you practice email segmentation, you engage primarily with your most interested subscribers. This cuts down on spam reports and boosts positive interactions, like opens and clicks. Ultimately, you end up in more inboxes and fewer junk folders.
Common Mistakes People Make with Email Segmentation
- Not Segmenting at All
Not segmenting your list is the biggest mistake. Even if you’re segmenting, only sending to your general newsletter list won’t cut it.
- Ignoring Browsing Behavior
One of the most powerful features in Klaviyo is the ability to send emails to people who’ve simply browsed your site, even if they’ve never subscribed! By creating segments with the “active on site” condition, you ensure your potential customers are seeing your products multiple times before they’re ready to buy. This helps you reach the 3, 4, or 5 touch points that often lead to a sale.
- Overlooking List Cleaning
Inactive subscribers drag down your engagement metrics. Cleaning your list each quarter keeps your account healthy.
- Relying on a Single Newsletter Segment
Even if you do segment, only sending a weekly “newsletter” to everyone won’t cut it. Different subscribers have different needs.
Think about it—whether you’re paying for Meta ads, Google ads, or investing time in creating organic content, you’re working hard (and spending money) to get people to your site. Without proper segmentation, you’re missing the opportunity to stay in front of those visitors after they leave. By segmenting effectively, you’re maximizing the investment you’ve already made.
The goal is to give your audience multiple opportunities to interact with your products, and segmentation helps you stay top-of-mind so that when they’re ready to buy, they think of you first.
Real-Life Success Story: Jenn’s Transformation
Take my client Jenn, for example. She had just over 2,000 subscribers on her main list. After we created an engaged segment for her account, we started sending emails to over 4,000 people! Her average open rate jumped from 20% to an incredible 55%, just by focusing on sending emails to people who were actually interested.
We still send to her unengaged segment occasionally, to try and win them back. These emails typically have a 25% open rate, which allows us to move those subscribers back into the engaged segment. By keeping more people engaged, Jenn’s click rates have soared, and her Klaviyo-attributed revenue has grown dramatically.
Getting Started: Segmenting Your List in Klaviyo
Here’s how you can start segmenting like a pro:
- Ensure Klaviyo and Shopify are Properly Integrated: Ensure that Shopify is sending all relevant data to Klaviyo. (To download my free Klaviyo>Shopify Integration Checklist click here)
- Create Engaged and Unengaged Segments: Use these segments to send targeted weekly campaigns. (Download my free guide with the exact settings here)
- Implement a Win-Back Flow: Re-engage inactive subscribers before cleaning your list, and then conduct a proper list cleaning to keep your account in good shape. (I will be launching a Klaviyo For Beginners Course: Start, Grow & Profit from your email list, get on the waitlist by clicking here)
How Email Segmentation Changed My Results
Email segmentation took my open rate from dismal single digits to rates as high as 14%. Even more importantly, I went from making $0 to generating over $2,800 in a single month through email marketing. Segmentation allowed me to:
Send timely, relevant campaigns that my subscribers wanted to open.
Protect my sender reputation by removing deadweight subscribers.
- Focus on nurturing loyal customers who are actually ready to buy.
Key Takeaways
- Keep only interested subscribers on your list—send them content they care about.
- Use “active on site” segments or behavior-based triggers to re-capture visitors who browse but don’t buy immediately.
- Clean your list often to safeguard your deliverability and open rates.
Conclusion & Additional Resources
Email segmentation isn’t just about boosting your numbers—it’s about creating genuine relationships with your subscribers by sending them the offers and updates they truly need. By focusing on engaged segments, re-engaging the unengaged, and harnessing Klaviyo’s powerful features, you’ll see higher open rates, happier customers, and real revenue growth.
Curious how to integrate these steps into your own store? Join my waitlist for deeper, step-by-step training on automations and flows that turn browsers into buyers.
Additional Resources:
- Quick-Start Checklist to High-Converting Pop-Ups & Welcome Flows → Get Instant Access
- 50 Tried & Tested Email Subject Lines → Get Instant Access
- Turn First-Time Buyers Into Loyal Customers → https://www.shecommercesimplified.com/blog/turn-first-time-buyers-into-loyal-customers
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions! You can email me at liezle@shecommercesimplified.com—I’d love to hear how email segmentation is transforming your business, too.
Happy emailing!
Liezle🦓
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