7 Ways to Segment Your Email List in ConvertKit Using Tags

A highly engaged email list is a well-segmented email list.

ConvertKit is a subscriber-centric platform that allows you to easily organize your one list of subscribers through the use of tags and segments. This gives you greater control over your email list, advanced organization, and most likely better engagement with your subscribers. All of this is because you are able to segment your email list in ConvertKit.

In my last article, I shared five advantages to using tags and segments in your email marketing. (If you missed the article, you can read it here: 5 Advantages of Using Tags to Organize Your Email Marketing).

Before we dive into some of the ways that you can segment your email list in ConvertKit, let’s recap on what a tag and segment are.

​Tags

Tags are a way to organize or group your subscribers based on an interest, purchase, behaviour, etc. You can think of tags as a way to label your subscriber based on a specific type of criteria.

Segments

Segments are a way to further organize and group your tags. Think of segments as a folder filled with certain tags that are defined by certain criteria.

For example, you may have a list of product or service-based tags. (One tag for each product or service you offer.) Subscribers who have these tags are students who have purchased that product or are current clients receiving that service. Once you have those tags set up, you can create a segment for Products or Services called Current Clients that includes the specific tags within that one segment.

Today, I would like to go a little further and share seven ways that you can segment your email list to make it work better for you. By segmenting your email list in these ways (and other ways that work strategically for you and your business) you will create a more personable experience for your subscribers. You will also begin to understand your subscribers better and encourage higher conversion rates because you are targeting your emails based on the interests and behaviours of your subscribers.

Here are seven ways to segment your email list in ConvertKit:

1. The source of your subscriber’s sign up How did your subscriber join your email list? Did they sign up for one of your free lead magnets? When you create a tag for each of your lead magnets, it allows you to set up automation sequences that will take your new subscriber through specific email sequences related to that specific lead magnet. When you know the original type of content that attracted your subscriber to you, you will know what kind of content they like and may want to receive more of.

2. Products or services they have purchased You will want to create a specific tag for each product and/or service that people can purchase from you. If you are selling digital products directly through ConvertKit Commerce, the automation is taken care of when you set up the product. However, if you use a third-party platform, such as Kajabi for your online courses, it is beneficial to have a tag specific to each product or course. You can add your customer to that tag when they make a purchase (all set up through automation of course!).

This type of tag allows you to exclude any subscribers with a specific product or service tag from future promotional emails about that product. Those subscribers don’t need to receive emails that continue to pitch that product to them, especially if you happen to be sharing a big sale!

Or, you may have a specific email that you would like to send to all the subscribers who have purchased a specific product. Maybe there is an update to that product, or you have a new product or service that they may benefit from.

3. Add subscribers to a newsletter-based tag You don’t want to overload new subscribers on your email list with a lot of emails. This applies especially to your general newsletter email if subscribers are in the process of receiving one of your nurture sequences. By having a newsletter-based tag, you can set up your automation within ConvertKit to add this specific newsletter tag once they have completed the email nurture sequence. Now, if you do use this newsletter-based tag, you need to make sure that you send your general newsletter only to the subscribers who have this tag.

4. Registrants for an event or webinar When you are hosting an event or webinar that people need to sign up for, it is important to tag those attendees so that you know how many people are registered. This also helps you send pertinent emails specifically to those people. You can send reminder emails, or if you have a handout sheet or workbook for them to fill in during the webinar, you can send it out in an email prior to the event—exclusively to those who have registered. Using this tag also allows you to exclude those who have already registered for future promotional emails regarding the same event. If someone has already registered, they don’t want to receive additional emails getting them to sign up.

5. Exclude subscribers from email sequences they have already received This can be an important segmentation if you have one welcome series or a similar nurture series for more than one lead magnet. If someone has already received your welcome series, you don’t want to send them back through that email series if they sign up for one of your other lead magnets. You can exclude these subscribers from receiving the email series again and send them an alternative email that just delivers the lead magnet they signed up for.

6. Exclude subscribers who are no longer interested When you are sending a series of emails to promote a product or service during a launch or sale, it is a good idea to offer an opt-out option for your subscribers. This gives your subscribers the option to say that they are not interested in receiving these particular promotional emails but will still receive your general newsletter. Within the emails in ConvertKit, this is often set up as a trigger link rule. When they click on the link, they get tagged with a DNS (do not send) tag. The client is then sent to a standalone thank you page, confirming that they will no longer receive any of these promotional emails.

7. Conduct surveys for research purposes Tags can be a great way to collect information on your subscribers through a survey, especially if you want to identify an area of interest. If you offer products or surveys on different topics, you can use a survey to identify which topic your subscribers are interested in. This allows you to send customized emails based on the varying interests and topics you teach about.

There are many ways that you can use tags and segments with your email list to learn more about your subscribers. Rather than being overwhelmed with all of these ideas, I recommend starting small. Choose one or two ways to implement segments with your own list and get comfortable with those before adding in additional segment changes.

Remember, the success of your email list comes from a well-organized and segmented list! If you are still unsure of how to implement tags and segments into your email marketing, book a quick teatime chat with Natashia to see how we can best support you.