Behavioural Segmentation: The Key to Smarter Email Marketing
Not all customers are created equal—so why treat them like they are?
Have you ever wondered why some of your emails hit the mark while others fall flat? It’s not always about the copy or design, but instead, sending the right message to the right people at the right time.
That’s where behavioural segmentation comes in. Grouping your audience based on what they actually do, not just who they are, helps you speak to them on a more personal level.
It can mean the difference between a generic broadcast and an email that makes the reader think, “Wow, they really get me.”
In this blog, we’ll look into how behavioural segmentation works, why it’s a must-have for your email strategy and the specific KPIs it can improve. We’ll also break down the different types of behavioural segmentation so you can start segmenting like a pro.
Why segmenting by behaviour matters
Your marketing approach should always go beyond the surface level and focus on what truly drives customer decisions. While demographic data might tell you who someone is, behavioural segmentation reveals what they care about and how they interact with your brand. This allows you to send emails that feel less like marketing and more like conversations.
A study found that segmented campaigns have a 14.32% higher open rate than non-segmented campaigns and generate 58% of revenue for brands that use them correctly. In fact, 51% of marketers say that segmentation is the most effective personalisation tactic in their arsenal.
Offering exclusive offers to repeat buyers doesn’t just drive immediate action. It encourages long-term loyalty by showing customers you value them. The result? Less churn, more engagement, and healthy relationships with your shoppers.
KPIs that benefit from behavioural segmentation
Behavioural segmentation directly impacts the metrics that matter most.
The study not only found open rates to improve with segmentation but also click-through rates to soar by 100.95%, bounces to be 4.65% lower, unsubscribes to drop by 9.37% and unique opens to be more than 12% higher in campaigns with activity-based segmentation compared to non-segmented campaigns (that’s even 2% higher than demographic segmentation).
HubSpot also found conversions to see a boost from sending the right content at the perfect moment, with personalised CTAs based on customer behaviour converting 202% better than generic ones.
And when 72% of customers only engage with personalised messaging, it’s clear meaningful interactions are vital for building long-term loyalty and increasing your all important retention metrics.
Understanding customer timelines and preferences for better segmentation
To truly optimise your email marketing, you can view your customer base as a long timeline, with each segment representing a distinct piece of that timeline. Think of your customers as constantly moving forward, from one stage to the next, progressing through the awareness, consideration and decision phases, or from recent engagement to inactivity.
Take the conversion funnel, for example. Customers move from being aware of your brand (e.g. subscribing via a pop-up) to considering a purchase (e.g. adding items to their cart or viewing products) and finally, placing an order (converting). Each of these moments represents different segments within a timeline. Identify where a customer falls in that journey and you can send relevant messages that align with their stage. A segment like "has subscribed in the past 10 days but hasn’t taken further action" would fall into the awareness stage, while a customer who has "added items to the cart and viewed multiple products" is in the consideration stage.
Timelines aren’t limited to the customer journey stages either. Engagement is a key timeline in itself. Customer engagement history tells you how often and how recently they’ve interacted with your brand, which can help in deciding how often to contact them and with what type of content.
Customer value is a whole other dimension to consider. Identify VIPs or high-spending customers and send them gifts with purchases or rewards for reaching loyalty tiers. You can also look at the other end of the spectrum and target discount seekers with price-slash offers relevant to their purchasing habits to increase conversions.
The beauty of segmentation is that it works across various dimensions of your customer profiles. Product affinity segmentation lets you identify customers who regularly buy the same category of items or those who are trying new products over time. All of these factors allow you to send emails that speak to their individual preferences.
Speaking of preferences, it's critical to capitalise on the data you already have. The more data points you can collect and enrich, the better the customer picture you create.
Integrating a product recommendation quiz into your emails, made simple when you use tools like Octane AI to help you, adds a new layer to a customer’s profile, helping you better understand their likes and desires. Or, something as straightforward as creating segments based on customers' birthdays (like zodiac segments) provides a personal touch.
Types of Behavioural Segmentation
You can segment for many different groups along various customer timelines. From purchase patterns to browsing habits, here’s a breakdown of the most effective and how to use them:
1. One-time buyer to brand advocate
Segment based on how often, how recently, or what types of products your customers buy.
Example: Send a loyalty reward email to frequent buyers or recommend complementary products to those who recently made a purchase. Check out Peach & Lily’s email encouraging subscribers to join their loyalty program and receive bonus points to encourage sign-ups.
Action step: Take your segments even further and define past purchasers by niche groups like “most frequent shoppers," "recent shoppers," “potential high spenders”, “former frequent shoppers” and "lapsed buyers".
Tip: If your social media followers can see the tangible benefits of your email content, they’ll be far more likely to take that next step. Keep promoting and providing clear value, and you’ll see that list steadily grow.
Image source: Milled
2. Passive viewer to fully engaged
Look at email opens, clicks, or time spent on your website.
Example: If customers regularly click on sale notifications, send them early access to discounts and sale events.
Action step: Set up dynamic segments for “highly engaged” vs “inactive” users and tailor your messaging accordingly (of course, inactive subscribers should be removed from your list).
3. Curious browser to buyer
Track pages visited, products viewed, or abandoned carts to predict interests.
Example: Send a cart abandonment email along the lines of “You forgot something” or recommend similar items when your shoppers stop browsing specific categories.
Action step: Use retargeting tools, like Klaviyo, to automate follow-ups based on browsing history.
Image source: Milled
4. Stage in the customer journey
Caters to where the customer is in their relationship with your brand and their shopping experience.
Example: Welcome new customers with a discount code, reward loyal shoppers with exclusive perks, or win back at-risk customers with special offers.
Action step: Map out your customer journey and assign segments like “new,” “loyal,” or “at-risk” for personalised flows.
5. Preferences to precision
Use data from quizzes, surveys, or on-site interactions to understand individual tastes.
Example: If a customer chooses “minimalist designs” in a style quiz, show them products that match.
Action step: Add preference collection points during sign-up or checkout to fuel future campaigns.
Start small and expand as you gather more behavioural data. Each segmentation type allows you to deliver hyper-personalised content that will resonate.
Image source: Bambu Earth
This skincare brand put together a 3-minute quiz on their website, with a few questions to learn about their customer’s unique skin concerns. At the end of the quiz, they will send a recommended custom routine and give 20% off as a trial offer.
How to implement behavioural segmentation
Turning behavioural segmentation into action is easier with the right tools and a clear plan. Let’s walk through how to set this up using a VIP segment as our example.
Define the criteria: Start by defining the criteria for your segment. For example, you could create a VIP group for customers who have spent 2x the average order value (AOV) or have made more than three purchases in the last 365 days. This data can be automatically pulled from your web store, making it easy to track and always available.
Choose your players: Platforms like Klaviyo simplify tracking customer behaviours such as browsing patterns, purchase history, and email engagement, making it easier to create and manage segments.
Create dynamic segments: Once your criteria are set, you can create a dynamic segment for VIPs that updates automatically as customers meet or fall below these criteria. This ensures your VIP list stays current without manual intervention.
Automate campaigns: Now you can set up an automated flow to target these customers. The flow could trigger a special email, first thanking them for their loyalty, then offering a gift with purchase (GWP) using a code with their next order or other perks.
Test and refine: Experiment by lowering the bar for VIP status, such as reducing the spend threshold or number of orders required to become a VIP. This allows you to balance overall traffic and conversions with how easy or hard it is to achieve VIP status. Monitor KPIs like open rates and conversions, and tweak segments or messaging to boost performance.
Final Thoughts
By focusing on what your customers do rather than who they are, you can create marketing that feels personal, relevant, and timely. Behavioural segmentation is about shifting your mindset to a data-driven approach. Instead of pouring effort into countless campaigns, prioritise creating personalized flows triggered by customer behaviour.
From boosting open rates to improving long-term retention, it unlocks measurable growth and deeper connections. Start small, pick one or two behaviours to track, set up dynamic segments, and test flows to see what resonates.
Segmentation isn’t just a strategy anymore; it’s the gold standard. By getting more creative with how you segment your audience, you’re not just targeting—you’re building relationships.
“It’s really interesting for me…”—and that’s exactly how your customers should feel.
Need help refining your email or SMS strategy? Get in touch.
