List Management Tools let you segment your email list database the way you want

Rather than mass emailing everyone in your email database, there are probably times when you just want to reach out to a target group – your preferred customers perhaps, or maybe those who live in a specific zip code. This is referred to as “segmentation”, and it’s a great way to ensure your message is truly relevant.

pbSmart™ Connections segmentation tools allow you to slice and dice your subscribers’ list any way you can imagine. You can group subscribers and create a targeted email marketing campaign based on any of their demographic information or whatever date criteria you choose.

The importance of lists for target email marketing

One of your key segmentation tools is your lists tool. For example, if you wanted to send two different offers to two different groups of customers, you’d create a unique, targeted email list for each. Your subscribers aren’t able to see which list they’re on, nor are they able to add or remove themselves from the list.

Create dynamic segments with filters

Another primary tool is the filters tool. Filters can also used to target customers within your contact list. Unlike lists, filter counts change as subscriber data changes.

Filters are created by specifying one or more parameters (e.g., male, lives in a specific zip code, became a subscriber in the last 2 weeks, etc.). Just combine your parameters with ‘AND’ or ‘OR’ conjunctions to target very specific subscriber segments.

Here’s a simple example of how you can use filters: Say you want to create a targeted email marketing campaign segmenting your database by gender, directed to all of your male subscribers. This falls into what we call “Conditional Filter Parameters”.

  • First, go to your ‘Contacts’ tab, click on ‘Filters’. Then click on ‘Create Filter’ button.
  • Next, click on ‘Add Text Conditions.’ A box will appear called ‘Conditional Parameters: Text Fields.’
  • Select ‘Database Column’ and choose your ‘Gender’ database column.
  • For your ‘Operator’ you can choose ‘Equals,’ ‘Not Equals,’ ‘Begins with,’ ‘Ends with,’ and many more. For this example, we would choose ‘Equals’ and our ‘Value’ would be ‘Male.’
Now, if you wanted to send your targeted email marketing message to the newer subscribers in this segment, you’d need to add a Parameter Group 2.
  • Select the conjunction ‘AND’ or ‘OR’ on the left side under the Parameter Group 1 box. Keep the Parameter Group 1 filter for ‘Males.’
  • Add the conjunction ‘AND.’ Then under Parameter Group 2 use the ‘Add Date Condition’ link.
  • Select ‘Date Added’ in your ‘Database Column.’ ‘Operator’ would be ‘Days Before Today.’ For the ‘Value’ we would specify ’14.’ Press ‘Submit’ to enter our Parameter.
Now you will see that our Filter results have changed. If you collect birthday data on your subscribers, you can use a similar process to create email campaigns targeting subscribers with upcoming birthdays to send them a special message.

For more information on targeted email marketing, watch our email list segmentation video.