YoMany new email marketers wonder what the difference is between audiences, tags, groups, and segments. All four are Mailchimp segmentation tools for audience organization. However, each tool is slightly different and is best suited to unique applications. Here’s a basic breakdown of all Mailchimp segmentation options.
Audiences are Your Largest Bucket
In Mailchimp, an audience is the largest organizational bucket. For most organizations, only one audience is needed. This audience includes all your email and SMS contacts.
In some instances, more than one audience may be used. This is only recommended if there is little to no overlap between each audience lists. For example, a school using Mailchimp may have one audience for teachers and a second audience for students.
There are 2 main reasons why we recommend a single-audience strategy for most organizations:
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- Avoid Double-Billing: If the same email address is on 3 lists, they will count 3 times towards your total contact. Over time, this can inflate your monthly Mailchimp bill.
- Simplify Subscription Management: Because subscribers cannot tell how many audiences they’re in, using multiple lists can complicate the opt-in and opt-out process. For example, if John is receiving emails from 3 audiences and wants to unsubscribe from all emails, they will have to unsubscribe 3 times. Contacts may be confused why they are still receiving emails after unsubscribing once, and could even report your emails as spam.
If you have overlapping audiences, consider consolidating all audiences into one list. You can use tags, groups, or segments to keep sending the same targeted emails as you did before consolidation.
Mailchimp Tags are Labels for Your Contacts
Tags are Mailchimp’s simplest segmentation tool. You can add tags automatically through imports, integrations, signup forms, and automated journeys. You can also assign tags to contacts manually from the audience page.
When you add a tag to a subscriber, Mailchimp attaches it to the contact’s records like a label. Then, you can send targeted campaigns to all contacts who have that label attached.
Tags can also be used to trigger automations, or as a simple way to store & organize data about your contacts.
Some example uses for tags include:
- Manually tagging all contacts who attended an event
- Tagging any contacts who purchased a particular type of product
- Automatically tagging subscribers that sign up through a particular form
Need help creating your tags? Try a strategy call with one of our email experts.
Create Categories with Mailchimp Groups
Similar to tags, Mailchimp groups can identify your contacts based on their interests or characteristics. However, groups organize contacts into categories, while tags have no hierarchical organization.
It can be helpful to visualize groups as a multiple choice question: the group category is the “question” subscribers answer by selecting one (or more) of your group options. Visible groups allow contacts to opt into the kinds of emails that interest them. However, groups can also be hidden and used internally to organize an audience into general categories. At Pure Firefly, we often use groups during audience consolidation projects. Contact us to learn more!
One example of a hidden group would be a category for “State Employees” with the groups: State Representative, Senator, and Staffer.
Segments are Filters: They Change with Your Audience
A Mailchimp segment is a filter composed of a series of logical statements. When you set up a segment from your All Contacts page, segment page, or campaign builder, you choose the characteristics the filter should search for. Then, Mailchimp continuously updates your saved segment with any audience members who match these characteristics.
These characteristics may include any of the following elements:
- Information about your contacts: Name, email, location, etc.
- What contacts have done: Campaign activity, e-commerce purchases, etc.
- Groups and Tags
Compared to groups and tags, segments are “stretchy.” They adjust with your audience. For example, a segment with the conditions: “Campaign activity > Has opened > All of the last 5 campaigns” will continuously change as different contacts open your emails. The segment may contain 100 contacts, and then drop to 80 if you have deliverability issues on newer campaigns.
Mailchimp’s segment builder is updated frequently, so keep an eye out for new segmentation options or set up a call with one of our email specialists to step up your segmentation game.
Pure Firefly Can Help You Set Up Effective Segmentation
If all of Mailchimp’s segmentation options make your head spin, don’t worry! Pro Partners like Pure Firefly can help you set up segments, tags, and groups to maximize your potential engagement. Schedule a quick training call for one-time segmentation concerns. For more extensive projects, contact us any time.
Check out our Mailchimp audit to ensure your segmentation options are used to their highest potential.
