When Email Segmentation Becomes Unmanageable

This £57M brand tried to be data-driven with their welcome journey. Sadly, they ended up data-drowned. Here’s what happens when you take segmentation too far… JOURNEY DESCRIPTION: The users who sign up for email marketing are split like this: 1️⃣ Customers vs. Non-Customers 2️⃣ Customers further divided into: - 2a) New Subscription Customers (who signed up, and purchased a subscription after signing up) - 2b) Existing Subscription Customers (who had purchased before, but just signed up for email) - 2c) One-Time New Customers (who signed up, and placed at least one order since starting the flow) - 2d) Existing Customers (placed an order at least once, prior to starting the flow) 3️⃣ Non-Customers split by sign-up source (Popup, Footer, etc.) This setup gives granularity, allowing you to measure each subsegment's behavior and tailor messaging accordingly. Except… this is busywork disguised as strategy. Despite all these micro-segments, the messaging barely changed. The same welcome email, just delivered through an over-engineered funnel. "But you have better visibility on how these micro segments perform." So what? For example, popup sign-ups engage more than footer sign-ups. Does that mean you should shut off the footer? Next, you’re slicing traffic so much that A/B testing becomes tough. Your sample sizes shrink, your results take forever to reach significance, and in the end… you don’t learn anything actionable. Congratulations, you just made analysis impossible while optimizing for absolutely nothing. The best strategists don’t ask, ‘Can we do this?’ They ask, ‘Should we?’ Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. 🤝

Here is how I turned around a 7-figure email program by simply counting how many emails we sent. Well, it wasn't that easy... but almost. The program had been declining for a few months, and the entire team was stumped. We were doing everything right. The design was impeccable, the landing pages were optimized, emails were meticulously segmented... But we missed a crucial point: segmenting is meant for personalization, NOT for sending fewer emails. The total email deliveries had dropped to almost half due to over-segmentation. Meaning we segmented out half our active subs. The worst part? The emails weren't even personalized to these hyper-segmented groups! The fix: we began broadening the segments and sending more emails, and like magic, email revenue surged to record levels. We were missing the forest for the trees. Since then, I've always kept a close eye on my count metrics alongside my efficiency metrics. After all, you can't generate email revenue if you're not sending emails.

Segmentation in email marketing is good... ... but over-segmentation? Not so much in my opinion 💡 One of the most common pitfalls in email marketing is the belief that more segmentation always equals better results. It’s a mindset rooted in classic marketing theory, but in practice, it often leads to diminished total commercial output. Here’s why: ✔️ Segmenting increases engagement rates (like click rates) because you’re targeting more precisely. ❌ But it also skyrockets production time. More segments = more newsletters to create. ❌ And often, over-segmentation means you’re reaching fewer people - missing out on potential customers who might have engaged with a broader message. Take this example: You’re launching a new product in a specific category. If you’re over-segmenting, you might only send this to people who’ve already bought from that category. But what about the customers who haven’t bought yet but are interested? Over-segmentation risks leaving them out entirely. The result? You spend more time producing content, only to limit your total impact. The key is finding the sweet spot - where segmentation boosts engagement without eating up your time or narrowing your audience too much. I’ve seen many companies fall into the over-segmentation trap because “segmentation is good” feels like an absolute truth. But good marketing is about balance, not extremes.

When I First Started Working with 8-Figure Brands, I found 90% had these 5 red flags in their email marketing strategies: 1. Over-segmentation killing revenue Most brands were slicing their list into tiny segments, drastically reducing impressions and potential sales. I've seen brands create 15+ different segments for campaigns based on minor differences. When we simplified to 3-4 core segments, their email revenue increased by 30% on average. 2. No zero party data collection Brands were guessing what their customers wanted instead of asking them directly. Their popups only collected email addresses with no context about customer needs. We implemented zero party data collection asking about preferences and primary concerns. This doubled welcome flow conversion from 9% to 18% for one skincare brand. 3. Focusing on vanity metrics Teams were obsessing over open rates, click rates, and attributed revenue percentage. They celebrated 40% open rates while ignoring that sign-up to conversion was only 7%. We shifted their focus to metrics that actually drive business growth. Now they track how many email subscribers become paying customers within 7 days. 4. Neglecting the first 72 hours Our data shows 90%+ of welcome flow purchases happen within 48 hours of signup. Yet brands were creating 10+ email welcome sequences spread over 30 days. We redesigned welcome flows to send 2-3 targeted emails in the first 72 hours. This simple change increased new paying customers by 7-9% across multiple brands. 5. Discounting to the wrong segments Brands were offering the same discounts to everyone - including customers who had already purchased multiple times. This was destroying margins and conditioning loyal customers to expect discounts. We implemented segment-specific offers, reserving deeper discounts for prospects only. By offering product education and exclusive early access to repeat customers instead of discounts, we increased profit per order by $9-15. The biggest lesson? Stop focusing on email as an isolated channel. Start thinking about how it fits into your overall retention strategy. Since 2019, we've generated $100M+ for our clients by fixing these exact issues. PS What email marketing red flags have you spotted in your business?

Over segmentation can starve your best campaigns. Let me explain. You’ve got 100,000 subscribers. Feels good. But by the time you filter for: • Only people who clicked in the last 30 days • AND bought in the last 90 • AND viewed Product X but didn’t buy.. Now you're emailing 1,432 people. You’re trying to be smart. But your best content? It never sees the light of day. Here’s a better move: 1. Look at your highest earning flows and campaigns (based on revenue per send) 2. Pull out the big idea, the thing that actually made it work 3. Repackage it for a bigger (yes, messier) audience 4. Track what matters: net revenue vs unsubscribes Turns out, a solid email sent to 30,000 semi-interested people can crush a genius one sent to 1,000 perfect people. Segmentation is powerful but only when it doesn’t kill your reach. Remember email marketing is a numbers game and you have to find the balance of size and message.