If you use Mailchimp, you know what a valuable tool it can be for warming, converting, and retaining leads. When you first get started with Mailchimp, you master the basics of adding contacts and creating email campaigns. However, the power of Mailchimp is in its ability to help you target specific messages to specific audiences for maximum impact. Let’s talk about how to use Mailchimp lists, groups, and segments so you can get the most from your email campaigns.
You will see that Mailchimp has a few different types of classifications for contacts: Lists, Groups, and Segments. At first glance, this distinction can be confusing. Each of these three plays a specific role. You will maximize every Mailchimp campaign if you use Lists, Groups, and Segments correctly.
You will maximize every #Mailchimp campaign if you use Lists, Groups, and Segments correctly. Share on XHere’s how I like to think of the difference between lists, groups, and segments: Your lists represent different categories of your business, your groups represent different target markets within each list, and your segments represent different behaviors of the people within your groups or lists.
It might help to read that last sentence again. It’s pivotal to understanding the relationship. Now, let’s break it down a bit further:
Lists
Lists are different categories of your business. For my Melissa Forziat Events and Marketing account, I might have a list of contacts from the event management side of my business and also a list of contacts from the marketing consulting side of my business. These two audiences are separate in their needs, pain points, and the type of information I would give them.
Although there could be contacts who need to appear on multiple lists, you want to be careful about duplication. The duplication counts in your subscriber total. For those on the Forever Free plan, this might be okay except that it will start to bring you closer to your limit of 2000 subscribers. For those on a paid plan, you may end up paying extra.
From the standpoint of your audience, if someone unsubscribes from one list, the default is for them to remain on any additional lists they were subscribed for. If they don’t realize they are on multiple lists, they might not be happy the next time they see another email from you!
Of course, having a list for an entire side of your business – such as the marketing consulting side for me – is a massive bucket to pour your contacts into. It is a good starting point, but you can nurture your contacts more effectively if you start utilizing groups and segments to target your communications.
Groups
Within any given list, you might have different target markets. In Mailchimp, Groups represent different target markets within your list. For example, my marketing consulting list might have a group for clients, people who attended a live presentation or webinar, people who downloaded an eBook or bought a marketing guide from my website. Since I do a lot of live presentations, I might even want to get more specific, such as grouping people by country, state, or presentation.
In #Mailchimp, Groups represent different target markets within your List. #smb #marketing Share on XAll of these people might receive my weekly Marketing Tip of the Week email, but there could be specialized information relevant to each group that I may want to share. Creating groups makes it easier to do that.
You can create a group at any time. You can add an individual to the group directly from their profile. You can do a batch update from your list, selecting multiple people and adding them to the group. Or you can import a list of new contacts and identify them as part of the group during the importing process.
If you have a sign-up form coming from your website, social media, or somewhere else, you even have the option of adding code to your form that will add those contacts straight to the right group.
Of course, within one of your groups, people have different behaviors. Some may be more engaged, some may buy things from you. You might want to be able to identify individuals who are taking specific actions. That is where Segments come in.
Segments
Within any given group or list, individuals will have different behavior. Segments are how you identify the people who are taking specific behaviors, such as certain types of interaction with your campaigns.
Segments are how you identify the people who are taking specific behaviors. #mailchimp #smb Share on XYou are only able to segment based on information that Mailchimp collects. Mailchimp is not designed to be a CRM, so this is not the place to try to populate all the detail about your contacts. Mailchimp does collect information about location, language, etc. – although that information does not always appear accurate.
Segments could be auto-updated or static. An auto-updated segment is one where people can move in and out of the segment depending on whether they qualify for it. For example, you might create an auto-updated segment of contacts with five-star ratings – your most engaged users. This means if a four-star contact starts to become more engaged and turns to a five-star contact, they will get added to the list automatically. If a five-star becomes less active and drops to a four-star, they will drop out of that segment.
A static segment is a segment whose population will not change. And these ones are a little trickier, because you cannot add an individual to a static segment after the fact. You need to capture the whole audience in your batch update.
This may sound complicated, but if you do the work, you can reap the rewards with targeted email campaigns. This means that you can now easily separate the messages you send to different types of audiences. Tailoring your messages will signal to your contacts that you are truly addressing their needs. Good use of Mailchimp lists, groups, and segments is bound to be more impactful for you over time.
Hopefully this helps clear up the distinction between Mailchimp lists, groups, and segments. Now you can go into your account and experiment with putting your contacts into this structure. Any questions? Comment below!