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6 Ways to segment your app audience to increase engagement

Subharun Mukherjee 18+ years of experience leading product strategy, Go-To-Market (GTM), new market entry, value-based sales, analyst relations, and customer experience programs. Expertise in Financial Services, eCommerce, on-demand services, and the SaaS industry.
6 Ways to segment your app audience to increase engagement

The days of creating generic messages for every customer are over. These days, customers expect personalized marketing efforts that provide relevant information – and that applies to the messages you create in your company’s app too.
To create personalized messages for app users, you have to break your audience into specific segments.
Why segmentation matters to app engagement
Segmenting app users results in higher engagement, conversion rates and revenue. Consider these statistics based on segmentation:

  • A segmented, personalized push notification gets 800% more opens, according to data presented by Econsultancy.
  • Segmented and targeted emails generate 58 percent of all revenue, according to the Direct Marketing Association.
  • Facebook ads that target a custom audience based on purchase behavior and browsing history generate conversion rates that are 3.87 times higher, according to data presented by MarketingLand.

Here are 6 ways you can segment your audience
Now that you realize the value of communicating with your users through segmented messages, you’re probably wondering how to group users into specific segments. Here’s a look at six ways to break up your app audience:
1. Geographic Location
One of the easiest ways to segment app users is by geographic location. App users in San Diego, California have their own segment, just like those in New York City.
By segmenting users by location, you can send more specific messages. For instance, you could invite customers in New York City to a grand opening of your store via a push notification, or offer a special deal to only customers in San Diego.
Check out this example of a message segmented by location:
Geographic Segmentation
2. Customer Actions
You can segment your customers by the actions they take. For instance, when customers download your app, put them into a ‘new customer’ segment so you can tailor messages to that group. Send in-app notifications that show users how to navigate your app, or send a text message with a special welcome offer to encourage them to use your app.
The customer action can be anything you want. For instance, you can segment customers by the purchases they make, the level they clear on a game, or the products they add to a cart.
Customer Action Segmentation
3. Customer In-actions
When customers don’t complete a desired action, put them into a segment of their own and create messages to get them to follow through. For instance, if a customer showed interest in an event but didn’t sign up you, can segment these users and send them reminder messages via SMS or push notifications to RSVP for the event.
You can use this premise on any “inaction,” like adding items to a cart but not buying them, starting a level on a game but not completing it, or starting a project but leaving it untouched for more than a week.
Here’s a great example of a message sent to customers based on their inactions:
Customer Inaction Segmentation
4. Buying Behaviors
You can segment your users based on their buying behaviors too. Break customers down by how frequently they buy from you, by the products they purchase, or by the amount of money they spend on a monthly basis.
To segment app users based on their buying behaviors you’ll have to collect data and maintain customer profiles so you can easily separate customers by their profile attributes.
You can even use special features to segment users into a specific group as soon as they meet your defined criteria. For instance, as soon as a user spends $100 on in-app purchases they’ll be moved into a special ‘loyal customer’ segment. You can also segment users in real-time and track their activity.
Here’s a great example of a live user segment. Once the customer spent a certain amount of money, he or she is instantly invited via email to a VIP sale that is live only for a limited amount of time:
Buying Behaviour Segmentation
5. Frequency of App Use
Consider breaking your audience up by frequency of use. For instance, create three different segments each with varying levels of app activity. Customers that launch your app the most frequently are one segment; those that use your app on an occasional basis are another, and those that seldomly use your app are in the third segment.
Now you can create and send notifications and email messages that make sense for each group. You can reward your loyal app users with a coupon for an in-app purchase, or tell occasional app users about a great new feature to entice them to use your app more.
Here’s an example of how a segmented message can be sent to a customer based on their app use:
Frequency Segmentation
6. Based on a Timeline
You can also create segments based on time. Create a segment for users who downloaded your app in the last month, or users that made a purchase in the last two days. Every segment is created with a certain amount of time in mind. These segments will vary for each business, but by setting a timeframe on each segment you’ll keep users engaged.
Here’s how you can send messages to users who have made only one purchase 30 days ago and prompt them to come back and make a second purchase.
Segmentation by time
CleverTap can help you segment and monitor app users to create more effective, targeted messages that result in higher app use and engagement, which could drastically improve your bottom line. See how CleverTap can help your company.
By segmenting app users and creating targeted messages for each group you can increase engagement. App users are more likely to read a push notification or email from your company if they know that you send relatable information on a consistent basis. By sending relevant messages, you’ll build a level of trust with customers that will help you maintain and elevate engagement in the future.

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Last updated on December 11, 2024