{"id":41775,"date":"2025-06-17T10:32:53","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T14:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/?p=41775"},"modified":"2025-06-23T12:44:51","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T16:44:51","slug":"combining-segmentation-and-personalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/combining-segmentation-and-personalization","title":{"rendered":"Segmentation and Personalization: A Unified Path to Better Brand Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<div id=\"simple-text-block-block_f493b6f42c5ccea40b111288309c926d\" class=\"block-simple-text-block alignfull \" style=\"background-color:\">\n  <div class=\"container\">\n  \t<div class=\"row\">\n  \t\t<div class=\"col\">\n  \t\t\t<div class=\"copy\">\n  \t\t\t\t<table style=\"background-color: #f2f3f6;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"block-1\" style=\"padding: 20px;\">\n<h3>Key takeaways \u2728<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Email segmentation and personalization are both ways to make email marketing more relevant for your subscribers, but the way they work is a little different.<\/li>\n<li>Using email segmentation and personalization together can boost engagement, which sends positive signals to ISPs that\u2014in turn\u2014boost deliverability in the long run.<\/li>\n<li><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.validity.com\/blog\/manage-email-lists\/\">Email list hygiene<\/a> and <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-marketing-personalization-using-data\">personalization data<\/a> management are foundational for segmentation and personalization that your customers (and stakeholders) love.<\/li>\n<li>With <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/email-personalization\">email personalization tools<\/a> and deliverability insights, you can build better segments, personalize content at scale, and keep an eye on metrics like inbox placement and engagement<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Inboxes are noisy places. It\u2019d be grand if your subscribers only had eyes for your messages, but in reality, you\u2019re competing with work emails, personal updates, and that promo code they\u2019ve been waiting months for. Landing in the inbox and standing out are getting harder than ever.<\/p>\n<p>The way to boost email engagement is to send better messages that build stronger relationships. That means less fluff and more substance. Less \u2018one-size-fits-all\u2019 and more \u2018that\u2019s so me.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>To get there, you need email segmentation and personalization working together.<\/p>\n<h3>Table of contents<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#segmentation-personalization\">Email segmentation vs email personalization<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#combining\">The power of combining segmentation and personalization<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#separate\">Why we can\u2019t treat segmentation and personalization separately anymore<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#flywheel\">The engagement\u2013deliverability flywheel<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#unite\">How to unite segmentation and personalization<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#winning\">How brands are winning with segmentation and personalization today<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#monitor-success\">Metrics to help monitor success: from opens to inbox placement<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#practice\">Putting segmentation and personalization into practice<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"segmentation-personalization\">Email segmentation vs. email personalization<\/h2>\n<p>Segmentation and personalization in email marketing are two paths to the same destination: more relevant emails. The way each of these email moves works is different, though.<\/p>\n<h3>What is email segmentation?<\/h3>\n<p><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/what-is-email-segmentation\">Email segmentation<\/a> sorts your customers into groups based on traits they have in common. With segmentation driving relevant content, email marketing ROI can yield <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/landing-page\/state-of-email-2025\">$50 for every dollar spent<\/a>. In fact, companies that see higher ROI from email marketing (36:1 to 50:1) are most likely to have between 25% and 50% of their marketing team dedicated to email\u2014and you can bet they\u2019re segmenting all of their sends.<\/p>\n<p>By tailoring messages to customer segments, you increase engagement and directly boost sales, as subscribers are more likely to act on content that reflects their interests.<\/p>\n<p>Example <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.validity.com\/blog\/email-segmentation-simplified\/\">email segmentation groups<\/a> include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Customer lifecycle<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Demographics<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Location<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Industry<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Interests<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Habits<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Pain points<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Device<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-117943 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/05_SegmentationStrategie-1024x537.jpeg\" alt=\"Pie chart from Litmus' State of Email report showing the most effective segmentation strategies: interest-based 26%, engagement-based 19%, lifecycle stage 18%, demographic 15%, behavior based 14%, geographic 8%\" width=\"1024\" height=\"537\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/05_SegmentationStrategie-1024x537.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/05_SegmentationStrategie-300x157.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/05_SegmentationStrategie-768x403.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/05_SegmentationStrategie.jpeg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n<h3>What is email personalization?<\/h3>\n<p><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/personalized-email\">Email personalization<\/a> uses subscriber data and dynamic content to create highly relevant, individualized email experiences. It goes beyond basic tactics like inserting a recipient\u2019s name into the subject line or body text. Instead, true email personalization tailors the entire email content, including images, product recommendations, time of send, and offers, based on a recipient\u2019s preferences, behaviors, and characteristics.<\/p>\n<p>Example email personalization criteria include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Site behavior<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Purchase history<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Shopping preferences<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Location<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-117919 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/03_PersonalizationStrategie-1024x599.jpeg\" alt=\"Pie chart from Litmus' State of Email report showing which personalization strategies marketers find most effective: segmentation (most), dynamic content, personalized subject lines, location-based personalization, and behavior-based triggers (least).\" width=\"1024\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/03_PersonalizationStrategie-1024x599.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/03_PersonalizationStrategie-300x176.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/03_PersonalizationStrategie-768x450.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/03_PersonalizationStrategie.jpeg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n<table class=\"table table-striped\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th><\/th>\n<th>Email Segmentation<\/th>\n<th>Email Personalization<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>What it is<\/th>\n<td>Grouping customers based on shared traits and behaviors<\/td>\n<td>Tailoring messages to individual recipients based on their unique data<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Examples<\/th>\n<td>Customer lifecycle<br \/>\nDemographics<br \/>\nIndustry<br \/>\nDevice<\/td>\n<td>Purchase history<br \/>\nSite activity<br \/>\nPreferences<br \/>\nLocation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Email example<\/th>\n<td>A welcome sequence or reactivation email<\/td>\n<td>Abandoned cart email or personalized sale promo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>When to use it<\/th>\n<td>When you have a broad sense of customer groups or buying stages<\/td>\n<td>When you want to turn customer data into hyper-relevant content they\u2019ll engage with<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Why we love it<\/th>\n<td>Great for efficiently delivering relevant content to well-defined audience segments with tools that are standard for most email sending tools.<\/td>\n<td>Ideal for boosting engagement with tailored, one-to-one experiences your subscribers expect. (But it\u2019s harder to scale without the right tools in place.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"combining\">The power of combining segmentation and personalization in email marketing<\/h2>\n<p>Segmentation and email personalization are useful on their own, but you get the best results when you use them together.<\/p>\n<p>Segmentation without personalization is too broad. Yes, using email segmentation is better than not. These days, though, segmentation is a bit of an entry requirement for a solid email program.\u00a0 You can\u2019t rely solely on it to build connections with your audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"quote my-5 col-12 blue-quote\" >\n\t\n\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center\">\n\t<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-9\">&#8220;<em>If the point of email is to help create and foster a relationship with your subscribers, there\u2019s no way to do that without including email personalization. An email without personalization is like limiting a conversation to small talk \u2013 \u2018how\u2019s the weather? How about them (local sports team)?\u2019 This is fine and dandy if you\u2019re not that invested in the conversation, but if someone is in the middle of experiencing a hurricane or doesn\u2019t like sports, you\u2019ve stuck your foot in your mouth and made it harder to build a relationship with them.<\/em>&#8220;<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-3 text-center\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/carin-slater.jpeg\" alt=\"Carin Slater\" width=\"125\" height=\"125\" class=\"mt-3 mt-lg-0\">\t<p><strong>Carin Slater<\/strong>\t<br><span class=\"quote-title\">Senior Technical Producer at Stitch<\/span><\/p>\t<a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/carinslater\/\" target=\"blank\"><i class=\"fa-brands fa-linkedin\"><\/i><\/a>\t<\/div>\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>Personalization without segmentation is too fragmented. Dynamic content tools let you send different versions without creating a ton of designs, but it\u2019ll be hard to wrangle your ideas if you open yourself up to too many personalization possibilities. Plotting <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/how-to-personalize-throughout-the-email-customer-journey\">email personalization and the customer journey<\/a> alongside each other keeps everything organized.<\/p>\n<p>Segmentation and personalization working together is just right. Segmenting your target audience keeps your ideas and campaigns organized, and then personalization gives email campaigns the extra zing to really stand out.<\/p>\n<p>When you use email segmentation and personalization together, you strike a balance between individuality at scale. For example, <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/customers\/bulk-powders\">Bulk Powders<\/a> used <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/how-litmus-uses-litmus-personalize\">Litmus Personalize<\/a> to collect health goals from more than 20,000 customers and used that information to curate unique journeys for their diverse audience spanning 12 countries.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"separate\">Why we can\u2019t treat segmentation and personalization separately anymore<\/h2>\n<p>We\u2019ll look at examples of companies benefiting from combining email segmentation and personalization later on, but there are also larger trends to be aware of.<\/p>\n<h3>Basic personalization or segmentation doesn\u2019t cut it anymore<\/h3>\n<p>The <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/we-need-to-talk-about-personalization-evolution-trends\">evolution of personalization<\/a> has been decades in the making, and we\u2019re way past plugging in a merge tag and calling it a day. There\u2019s a whole new world of personalization trends to try, like dynamic and real-time content, that can differentiate your message in a busy inbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"quote my-5 col-12 blue-quote\" >\n\t\n\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center\">\n\t<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-9\">&#8220;<em>Research has shown that emails that are personalized with just the first name and it\u2019s not continued into the body of the email are actually as likely to hurt email performance as it is to help it. People have seen this trick. So most consumers see this as a big disconnect when they encounter it on one level and then dig down deeper, and it seems like it\u2019s just content for everybody. They don\u2019t like that. They feel tricked.<\/em>&#8220;<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-3 text-center\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/chad-white-1.jpg\" alt=\"Chad S. White\" width=\"125\" height=\"125\" class=\"mt-3 mt-lg-0\">\t<p><strong>Chad S. White<\/strong>\t<br><span class=\"quote-title\">Head of Research at Oracle<\/span><\/p>\t<a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/chadswhite\/\" target=\"blank\"><i class=\"fa-brands fa-linkedin\"><\/i><\/a>\t<\/div>\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h3>Spam placement is on the rise (and AI might play a role)<\/h3>\n<p>Validity\u2019s <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.validity.com\/resource-center\/2025-email-deliverability-benchmark-report\/\">Deliverability Benchmark Report<\/a> found that global spam placement rates almost doubled from Q1-Q4 2024. Plus, AI-generated summaries of emails might inaccurately reflect the content and lead to reduced engagement and increased spam complaint activity. That means you need to do everything you can to strengthen connections with subscribers and boost engagement rates to support deliverability.<\/p>\n<h3>Email volume keeps increasing<\/h3>\n<p>Overall <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/we-need-to-talk-about-personalization-evolution-trends\">email volume<\/a> in 2024 was up 13% compared to 2020 and is expected to grow another 13% by 2026. Catchy headlines can help, but understanding what users want and need, how they\u2019d like to be engaged with, and then delivering that makes the real difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"quote my-5 col-12 blue-quote\" >\n\t\n\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center\">\n\t<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-9\">&#8220;<em>We need to talk about personalization. Email is both at an all-time high in volume and in return on investment. The roller coaster of the past few years has grown our dependence on email in more ways than we could have ever imagined.<\/em>&#8220;<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-3 text-center\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/cynthia-price-08022024.png\" alt=\"Cynthia Price\" width=\"125\" height=\"125\" class=\"mt-3 mt-lg-0\">\t<p><strong>Cynthia Price<\/strong>\t<br><span class=\"quote-title\">SVP of Marketing at Validity<\/span><\/p>\t<a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/cynthiahprice\/\" target=\"blank\"><i class=\"fa-brands fa-linkedin\"><\/i><\/a>\t<\/div>\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2 id=\"flywheel\">The engagement\u2013deliverability flywheel<\/h2>\n<p>Anyone who&#8217;s ever tried to calculate marketing attribution knows that marketing doesn\u2019t happen in a vacuum\u2014it\u2019s more of an ecosystem with sometimes unexpected links.<\/p>\n<p>One link you might be overlooking is the impact of email engagement on deliverability and how segmentation and personalization in email play a part.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how. Combining segmentation and personalization leads to better audience engagement, which sends positive signals to ISPs. Then, your positive sender reputation keeps you out of the spam folder, meaning more people see your message. Using <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.validity.com\/everest\/\">Validity Everest<\/a> helps you monitor and improve your inbox placement.<\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s more! When you maximize who sees and engages with your wonderful emails, you learn more about your customers to use for future personalization.<\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-117945 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Engagement\u2013deliverability-flywheel-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"engagement\u2013deliverability flywheel\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Engagement\u2013deliverability-flywheel-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Engagement\u2013deliverability-flywheel-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Engagement\u2013deliverability-flywheel-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Engagement\u2013deliverability-flywheel-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Engagement\u2013deliverability-flywheel.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"container pt-3 pb-5 px-1\">\n<div class=\"row blog-cta-blue rounded-5 p-4\">\n<div class=\"mx-auto col-12\">\n<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 text-center\">\n<p class=\"bold fs-4\">Unlock 2025 Inbox Benchmarks Now<\/p>\n<p>Download Validity\u2019s 2025 Email Deliverability Benchmark Report and learn how your inbox placement compares before your next send.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"button-blue download\"><a class=\"text-white text-decoration-none\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.validity.com\/resource-center\/2025-email-deliverability-benchmark-report\/\">Get the report<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"d-none\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/State-of-Innovations-Banner.png.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\" \/><\/picture> <picture><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/State-of-Innovations-Banner.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"221\" height=\"175\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"unite\">How to unite segmentation and personalization<\/h2>\n<p>You want to create emails that people love, but sometimes, it feels like herding cats. <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/landing-page\/state-of-email-2025\">Litmus\u2019 State of Email Report 2025<\/a> found that the top personalization challenges are developing personalized content efficiently (17%), collecting and analyzing the data needed for personalization (16%), and measuring the impact of personalization on email performance (15%).<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how to step through a plan and tools to make your best emails yet.<\/p>\n<h3>Step 1: Focus on a goal<\/h3>\n<p>Overhauling your email program takes time, and it\u2019s best to do it in smaller, focused sprints. Start with an end goal in mind, like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Shortening the time between first subscribing and making a purchase<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Reducing unsubscribes<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Increasing repeat purchases<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Driving more clicks to your website<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Winning back cold subscribers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Step 2: Build smart customer segments<\/h3>\n<p>Next, think about the data you have (or need) to create segments based on your goal. For example, you could target recent shoppers for repeat purchases or people in a particular industry for an upcoming webinar promo.<\/p>\n<p>Customer data is split into three categories:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Zero-party data is explicitly given to you by your audience, either through surveys or <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-poll-in-email\">email polls<\/a> or purchase data. Anytime you\u2019re asking your subscribers a question and they answer it, it\u2019s zero-party data.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">First-party data is the individual-level data collected from your audience, like browsing data from your website, shopping history, or social media engagement.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Second-party data is purchased from another company\u2014basically, someone else\u2019s first-party data. Second-party data gives you context and scale, helping you understand consumer trends, analyze the competitive landscape, or conduct research.<\/p>\n<h3>Step 3: Layer rules in Litmus Personalize<\/h3>\n<p>Your email really starts to shine when you add in personalized elements with Litmus Personalize. If we consider the previous example of driving repeat purchases for recent customers, you could use <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/new-in-litmus-rule-based-images-add-to-calendar-custom-fonts\">rule-based images<\/a> to showcase products your customers are most interested in in a quick 4-step process:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Simply set your conditions, parameters, and merge tags.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Upload a custom image and click-through URL for each<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Define your fallback experience (what your audience will see if they don\u2019t fit into the segments defined above)<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Easily preview your images and then copy and paste your HTML into your email!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>See Litmus Personalize in action:<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"border: 0;\" title=\"Walnut embedded demo\" src=\"https:\/\/app.teamwalnut.com\/player\/?demoId=cae9c435-baff-4d47-b436-e6aaf4489b83&amp;showGuide=true&amp;showGuidesToolbar=true&amp;showHotspots=true&amp;source=app\" name=\"walnut_iframe\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500px\" frameborder=\"none\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-forms allow-downloads allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Step 4: Test before you send<\/h3>\n<p>You\u2019ve come too far to send a broken link now. Using <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/email-testing?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">Litmus pre-send testing<\/a> lets you preview rendering, check for broken links, and validate personalization rules and spam risk before you hit send.<\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-99674 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Previews-Litmus.png\" alt=\"Email previews in Litmus\" width=\"1024\" height=\"804\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Previews-Litmus.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Previews-Litmus-300x236.png 300w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Previews-Litmus-768x603.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n<h3>Step 5: Measure and iterate<\/h3>\n<p>After you send you get to learn what worked and what didn\u2019t. Litmus Email Analytics gives you engagement data while Validity Everest gives you intel to create campaigns that convert.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"winning\">How brands are winning with segmentation and personalization today<\/h2>\n<p>Who doesn\u2019t love a little <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/best-places-for-email-inspiration-and-examples\">email inspiration<\/a>? Here\u2019s how brands and consultants combine email personalization and segmentation.<\/p>\n<h3>ByLaurenJean increased email click-through rates 53% with Litmus<\/h3>\n<p>Lauren Jean, an Email Specialist and Owner of ByLaurenJean, used Litmus Personalize to A\/B test adding live polls to a client\u2019s emails. The live poll email variation had a 5<a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/customers\/by-lauren-jean\">3% higher click<\/a><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/customers\/by-lauren-jean\">-through rate<\/a> than the email without the poll. The data gathered through the polls could then be used to segment and personalize future campaigns.<\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-80787 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/lauren-jean-1-828x1024.jpg\" alt=\"lauren jean email screenshot\" width=\"828\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/lauren-jean-1-828x1024.jpg 828w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/lauren-jean-1-243x300.jpg 243w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/lauren-jean-1-768x950.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/lauren-jean-1.jpg 954w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 828px) 100vw, 828px\" \/>\n<p>\u201cWe were excited to add live polls to our email strategy because we wanted to see what content resonated best to gain information for future campaigns and segmentation,\u201d says Lauren Jean, Email Specialist and Owner of ByLaurenJean.<\/p>\n<h3>Kate Spade automated personalized new arrival emails for a 50% increase in conversion rate<\/h3>\n<p>Kate Spade has new arrivals all the time, and sharing them with customers in a timely manner matters. However, manually managing email personalization isn\u2019t feasible with a small team. So, the Kate Spade team first used email engagement to split customers into segments based on interests, like handbags vs. jewelry. Then, they use automated product feeds to personalize emails with fresh items. The result is a <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/customers\/kate-spade\">50% increase in conversion rates<\/a>, a 36% jump in CTR, and a 174% increase in revenue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have new products arriving all the time and our new arrivals emails are key to our CRM strategy. We needed a smart way to manage new in and move from a one-size-fits-all email. We\u2019re a small team so we needed automation to help us achieve our personalization goal, we simply couldn\u2019t build a version of the email for every product category. We\u2019re now listening to what our customers would like from us and using Kickdynamic to show them what they want,\u201d says Chloe Temple, Ecommerce Marketing Director (Europe)<\/p>\n<h3>Puma automated email image personalization to drive a 35% average order value increase<\/h3>\n<p>Adding a first name to a subject line doesn\u2019t stand out as much as it used to. But a first name inside an image? That\u2019s new. Puma promoted customized jerseys by showing customers exactly what they\u2019d get\u2013their last name featured on the back of a jersey using last name data from its CRM. The result was a 360% increase in click-through rate, and a 35% increase in average order value.<\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-117954 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Pum.jpeg\" alt=\"Puma brand email with sports jerseys with custom names on the back\" width=\"724\" height=\"648\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Pum.jpeg 724w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Pum-300x269.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 724px) 100vw, 724px\" \/>\n\n<div class=\"container pt-3 pb-5\">\n\t<div class=\"row blog-cta-blue rounded-5 p-4\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col-12 mx-auto\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-lg-6 col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t<p class=\"bold fs-4\">Learn from the best<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Your favorite brands use Litmus to deliver flawless email experiences. Discover the ROI your emails can achieve with Litmus.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"button-blue arrow\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/customers\" class=\"text-white text-decoration-none\">Explore Case Studies<\/a><\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-6-->\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-6 d-none d-lg-block\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/blog-cta-12172024.svg\" width=\"208\" height=\"171\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-6-->\n\t\t\t<\/div> <!--row-->\n\t\t<\/div><!--col-12-->\n\t<\/div><!--row-->\n<\/div><!--container-->\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n<h2 id=\"monitor-success\">Metrics to help monitor success: from opens to inbox placement<\/h2>\n<table class=\"table table-striped\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Workflow function<\/th>\n<th>Tool<\/th>\n<th>Key metrics<\/th>\n<th>Baseline (pre-implementation)<\/th>\n<th>Target (post-implementation)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Email list cleanup<\/td>\n<td>Validity BriteVerify<\/td>\n<td>Bounce rate, invalid addresses<\/td>\n<td>Bounce rate: 5\u201310%<br \/>\nHard Bounces: &gt;2%<\/td>\n<td>Bounce rate: &lt;2%<br \/>\nHard bounces: &lt;0.5%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Email content QA<\/td>\n<td>Litmus: Pre-send testing<\/td>\n<td>Rendering issues, broken links, accessibility<\/td>\n<td>1\u20133 rendering issues\/campaign<\/td>\n<td>0 rendering issues; full accessibility coverage<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Inbox placement and reputation monitoring<\/td>\n<td>Validity Everest<\/td>\n<td>Inbox placement rate, sender score<\/td>\n<td>Inbox placement: 80\u201385%<br \/>\nSender score: ~65\u201370<\/td>\n<td>Inbox placement: 95%+<br \/>\nSender score: 90+<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Design optimization<\/td>\n<td>Litmus Email analytics<\/td>\n<td>Read time, scroll depth, email client usage<\/td>\n<td>Read time: &lt;8s<br \/>\nScroll depth: low<\/td>\n<td>Read time: &gt;12s<br \/>\nScroll depth: increased engagement<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Benchmarking and competitive analysis<\/td>\n<td>Validity MailCharts<\/td>\n<td>Campaign frequency, time of send<\/td>\n<td>Limited or anecdotal benchmarking<\/td>\n<td>Regular insights from competitors, improved timing\/tactics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Post-send performance review<\/td>\n<td>Litmus Email analytics<\/td>\n<td>Open rate, click-to-open rate (CTOR), engagement<\/td>\n<td>Open rate: ~20%<br \/>\nCTOR: 10\u201312%<\/td>\n<td>Open rate: 25\u201330%<br \/>\nCTOR: 15\u201318%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2 id=\"practice\">Putting segmentation and personalization into practice<\/h2>\n<p>Theories and ideas are fun, but nothing beats the thrill of seeing your segmentation and personalization work actually pay off. Here\u2019s what to do next to keep learning and put what you\u2019ve seen into practice:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-checked=\"false\" aria-level=\"1\">Audit your emails. Your goal is to pick a starting spot. You can choose the old campaign that needs a refresh, an important email that\u2019s underperforming, or one that already has your creative ideas flowing. Benchmark its performance so you can compare the change.<\/li>\n<li aria-checked=\"false\" aria-level=\"1\">Assess your data. Assess your data. What customer data do you already collect? Where does it live? What could you use that you&#8217;re not tapping into yet? You can start testing faster and easier if you lean on data you have on standby, and a little <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-personalization101-preparation\">email personalization planning<\/a> goes a long way.<\/li>\n<li aria-checked=\"false\" aria-level=\"1\">Use interactive elements to gather new data. <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/how-litmus-uses-live-polls\">Live polls<\/a> and <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/how-to-use-email-scratch-offs\">scratch-offs<\/a> are fun ways for subscribers to interact with messages and send you signals about their interests and preferences.<\/li>\n<li aria-checked=\"false\" aria-level=\"1\">Bookmark more inspo. Explore case studies from<a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/customers\"> Litmus customers<\/a>, check out these <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/how-to-create-inspiring-personalized-emails\">inspiring personalized emails<\/a>, or review <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-personalization-best-practices-the-ultimate-checklist-for-email-marketers\">email personalization best practices<\/a>. We also have <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/email-templates\">free email templates<\/a> if you want design and development help.<\/li>\n<li aria-checked=\"false\" aria-level=\"1\">Run a mini test<span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">. Use Litmus Personalize to build your new message and then test how they perform. Here\u2019s an <\/span><a style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/ab-testing-foundation\">A\/B testing refresher<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> in case you need help planning.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Whether you&#8217;re aiming for better clicks, conversions, or customer connections, the best results come from actually trying things out. Start small, learn as you go, and let each test bring you closer to the kind of personalization in email marketing that truly delivers.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"container pt-3 pb-5 px-1\">\n\t<div class=\"row blog-cta-green rounded-5 p-4\">\n\t\t<div class=\"mx-auto col-12\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-lg-6 col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t<p class=\"bold fs-4\">Stand out in crowded inboxes<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Create 1:1 experiences at scale with Litmus Personalize. Use live polls, countdown timers, and more to captivate subscribers. \n<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"button-blue arrow\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/email-personalization\" class=\"text-white text-decoration-none\">Book a demo<\/a><\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-6-->\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-6 d-none d-lg-block\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/blog-cta-email-guardian-07292024.svg\" width=\"210\" height=\"180\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-6-->\n\t\t\t<\/div> <!--row-->\n\t\t<\/div><!--col-12-->\n\t<\/div><!--row-->\n<\/div><!--container-->\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n  \t\t\t<\/div>\n  \t\t<\/div>\n  \t<\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Combine segmentation with personalization to lift engagement, inbox placement, and brand experience. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":41786,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[152,206,10253,681,10247,381,10248],"blog_category":[53],"class_list":["post-41775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-call-to-action","tag-dynamic-content","tag-email-automation","tag-email-client-market-share","tag-performance-metrics","tag-personalization","tag-segmentation","blog_category-tips-resources"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - 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