Send the right email to the right people
Sending the same email to everyone is the fastest way to get ignored. Splitting your list into a few simple groups means every email feels like it was written for the person reading it. Here’s how to do it without a marketing team.
Henny Maltby25 years in marketing · Growth Hub Premier Partner!Sound familiar? You send a newsletter, a handful open it, and nobody buys.
Email segmentation just means splitting your list into groups so you can send each group something that matters to them.
A new enquiry wants different things from a customer who’s bought from you five times. Someone in Stroud cares about your open day. Someone in Manchester doesn’t. When everyone gets the same email, most of it misses.
You don’t need dozens of groups or fancy software. Three or four sensible groups, and a clear idea of what each one needs to hear, will make a real difference to how many people open, click and buy.
The more an email feels written for me, the more likely I am to act on it.
Free AI prompt
This prompt looks at your business and your list, splits it into the groups worth having and writes the first email for each one. It also writes a win back email for the people who’ve gone quiet. Pop your name and email in to get the full prompt.
Copy it into ChatGPT or Claude and fill in the gaps. In about ten minutes you’ll have emails ready to send that are far more likely to turn readers into bookings and sales.
Act as an experienced email marketer for small UK businesses.
My business: [what you do and where]
Who is on my list: [enquiries, customers, past customers, event sign ups]
Suggest three or four simple groups I should split my email list into, based on what I have told you. Here is what I already know about the people on my list: [what your sign up form asks, what you know from orders or bookings, which email tool you use]
My main goal for the next three months is: [more repeat bookings, more sales, more people at an event]
For each group:
1. Explain who is in it and how I can tag them in my email tool.
2. Tell me what they most want to hear from me.
3. Write a short first email for them with a subject line and one clear next step.
Then suggest one question I could add to my sign up form to make this easier, and a short win back email for people who have not opened anything in three months. Use plain, friendly English and ask me questions if anything is unclear.
Easy places to start
Pick the one that fits your business best. You can always add another later.
Why it matters
When an email is clearly meant for you, you read it. When it isn’t, you delete it or unsubscribe. That’s the whole reason segmentation works.
It also stops you wearing out your list. If you only send offers to the people who are interested, everyone else stays happy to hear from you for longer.
And it saves you time. Once your groups and welcome emails are set up, a lot of your email marketing runs on its own while you get on with the work.
If your email tool connects to your CRM, your groups can even update themselves as people enquire, buy or go quiet. I use Pipedrive as my CRM and connect it to Claude, which makes it easy to ask who should get which email.
Want your emails to bring in work?
Learn to write emails people look forward to, with AI doing the heavy lifting, so your list brings in enquiries and sales every month. The AI Marketing Academy opens on 14 November.
How to set it up
This works in all the popular email tools, such as Mailchimp and MailerLite, and in the email tools built into many CRMs.
Want help writing the emails for each group? My Turn Your Email List Into Customers course shows you how to write emails people actually act on, with AI doing most of the work.
The honest picture
Most small businesses overthink this. A few groups you actually use beat a clever system you never touch.
A quick word on the rules: in the UK you usually need people’s permission to send them marketing emails, and they must always be able to unsubscribe easily. The ICO’s guide to email marketing explains it in plain English. Segmenting doesn’t change any of that, so keep your sign up wording clear.
Side by side
Fewer people, more relevant, more sales.
The AI Marketing Academy
Build an AI marketing team that works for your business. You teach it, your agents do the work, and you stay in control.
Splitting your list is the first step. The next is writing emails each group looks forward to and acts on. The course that covers it is Turn Your Email List Into Customers.
It’s real marketing, powered by AI, and it opens on 14 November.
Your questions answered
The questions I’m asked most about splitting an email list.
It means splitting your email list into smaller groups based on things like where people are in buying, what they’re interested in, where they live or what they’ve bought, so each group gets emails that suit them.
Start with three or four you can actually write for, such as new enquiries, customers and past customers. You can add more once those are working.
Use tags in your email tool and add one question to your sign up form, such as what people are most interested in. Most tools, including Mailchimp, MailerLite and Brevo, can then tag people automatically.
Yes. When people get emails that match what they care about, they’re more likely to open, click and buy, and less likely to unsubscribe. It also stops you wearing out the rest of your list with offers they don’t want.
Want to talk it through first?
My private 1:1 marketing sessions are worth £150 an hour, and your first hour is free. We’ll look at your email list and what to send to whom.
Pink Elephant AI Marketing Academy
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