We all know how important it is to classify subscribers correctly in email marketing software. It allows the targeting of emails and the elimination of waste of the offer. It also reduces the risk of unsubscribes as emails would not be sent to those who have little or no interest in them.

However, classification is not just a case of broad brush strokes. If we look at the simple one of purchase history we can see what else we could get from it.

You might well classify you subscribers by how much they have spent with you over a set period, a number of months perhaps. Those who have reached the total of, say, £500 are sent one type of email, those under that figure get another. All very sensible. 

Such customers can be subdivided further for better targeting. For instance, the products they have bought might well bring more detail to the subject. Customer A might have bought 30 items at £12 so differs from Customer B who has bought just two items for a total of £512.

You can see that each customer will need a different approach. Although you should try increasing frequency occasionally, keep pestering Customer B and they might well go elsewhere.

The products they buy are another useful subdivision. In the case of Customer A, price might well be the overriding consideration while for Customer B it is quality.

The next email to Customer A will include an offer which Customer B would find less than attractive. Or, indeed, a bit too attractive as they might wander from premium products to those where profit is harder to come by.

Other specifics will influence what emails you send. How recent is something which can determine how you target a customer. Someone who has just bought an item that they are pleased with could well be more receptive to a subsequent offer that arrives just as they are congratulating themselves on a shrewd purchase.

It is impossible to go too far in subcategorising customers in your email marketing software. You can always merge categories if the offer demands it. The only way to have the choice is to define them in the first instance.