Campaigns: Smart Segmentation Strategy

Stop blasting everyone with everything. Gabriel from Over the Top's segmentation approach maintains list health, increases open rates, and drives higher conversion by only messaging people about events they actually care about.

"People only want to see what they care about. How do I know they care? They tell me." — Gabriel from Over the Top

Every signup, waitlist registration, and ticket purchase is someone telling you what interests them. Use that information to segment ruthlessly.

Gabriel's experience at Over the Top: When he blasted 5,000 people about every event, 4,500 wondered "why am I looking at this?" and eventually unsubscribed. Now he messages 400 targeted people who've shown interest in that specific event type or location, achieving higher open rates, better conversion, and protecting list health.

When someone joins a waitlist for "San Jose Blend," they've told you they care about:

In Sweatpals, create your Email and SMS campaigns and select audience: "Waitlist signups for [Event Name]." These people get first access with exclusive pricing.

Target past attendees when announcing the next iteration: "Oakland Blend attendees" get messaged about the next Oakland date. They've already experienced it and are most likely to return.

Don't message San Francisco attendees about Oakland events unless they're within 20 minutes—respect that location matters.

Sweatpals captures location data during signup. Target your Audience when expanding: message Bay Area members about new local events, but don't spam LA members about San Francisco dates unless it's a flagship event worth traveling for.

Gabriel at Over the Top hosts multiple event types: The Blend (coffee & R&B), fitness events, dinner series, and ski trips. Someone who attends fitness events might not care about the dinner series.

Create campaigns targeting:

During ticket purchase, Gabriel at Over the Top asks questions like:

This data lives in Sweatpals and becomes ammunition for future segmentation.

When pitching Rivian (electric vehicle brand), Gabriel at Over the Top could target:

This makes partnerships more valuable—you're not just offering "our audience," you're offering "our environmentally-conscious, high-income audience in the Bay Area."

Gabriel's rollout for new events at Over the Top:

Day 1: Waitlist/VIP early access

Day 3: Past similar event attendees

Day 5: General community

This approach maximizes revenue (early committed attendees get the best price), rewards loyalty (past attendees get preference), and protects list health (casual subscribers see fewer messages).

When Gabriel at Over the Top hosts events in multiple cities, he creates separate campaigns:

Result: Higher relevance, lower unsubscribes, better conversion.

Gabriel's members at Over the Top get free admission to recurring events. His campaigns differ:

To members:

To non-members:

This prevents member confusion ("Why am I being asked to buy tickets?") while creating upgrade opportunities for non-members.

Before segmentation:

After segmentation:

Gabriel's San Jose example: 300 waitlist signups → targeted campaign → 90 tickets sold in 3 hours = 30% conversion rate.

Week 1: Review your last 5 campaigns—were they targeted or blasted? Identify opportunities for segmentation.

Week 2: Set up waitlists for upcoming events to capture interest signals. Add 1–2 strategic questions to ticket questionnaires.

Week 3: Create your first segmented campaign in Sweatpals targeting past attendees of similar events.

Week 4: Compare open rates and conversion against previous blast campaigns. Refine segments based on results.

Smart segmentation isn't about sending fewer emails—it's about sending the right emails to the right people. Gabriel at Over the Top sends just as many campaigns as before, but they're targeted, relevant, and convert at 10× the rate.