Playbooks
Growth Playbooks
Smart Segmentation Strategy
13 min
overview stop blasting everyone with everything gabriel from https //www sweatpals com/host/overthetopxp 's segmentation approach maintains list health, increases open rates, and drives higher conversion by only messaging people about events they actually care about the core principle "people only want to see what they care about how do i know they care? they tell me " — gabriel from https //www sweatpals com/host/overthetopxp every signup, waitlist registration, and ticket purchase is someone telling you what interests them use that information to segment ruthlessly when to use this play you host multiple event types or locations you're seeing high unsubscribe rates your open rates are declining you want better conversion without more marketing spend the problem with blast marketing gabriel's experience at https //www sweatpals com/host/overthetopxp 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 sweatpals segmentation setup use waitlists as interest signals when someone joins a waitlist for "san jose blend," they've told you they care about the blend concept specifically the san jose location specifically in sweatpals, create your https //help sweatpals com/71 email and sms campaigns and select audience "waitlist signups for \[event name] " these people get first access with exclusive pricing segment by event attendance 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 leverage geographic tags sweatpals captures location data during signup https //help sweatpals com/71 email and sms campaigns#audience targeting 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 event type segmentation gabriel at https //www sweatpals com/host/overthetopxp 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 "blend attendees" for the next blend "tahoe ski trip waitlist" for ski related updates "fitness event attendees" for workout focused events advanced targeting with questionnaires collect strategic data during ticket purchase, gabriel at https //www sweatpals com/host/overthetopxp asks questions like "do you plan to ski in the next 6 months?" (for ski trip targeting) "what's your preferred workout style?" (for fitness event segmentation) "which neighborhood are you based in?" (for location specific targeting) this data lives in sweatpals and becomes ammunition for future segmentation build sponsor ready segments when pitching rivian (electric vehicle brand), gabriel at https //www sweatpals com/host/overthetopxp could target members who answered "considering electric vehicle" in questionnaires attendees of sustainability focused events high income demographic from sweatpals data 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 " campaign execution strategy the tiered announcement approach gabriel's rollout for new events at https //www sweatpals com/host/overthetopxp day 1 waitlist/vip early access audience people who specifically requested this event offer aggressive early bird ($20 vs $35 regular) message "you asked for it—here's your exclusive first access" day 3 past similar event attendees audience attended previous blend events offer standard early bird ($25) message "you loved it last time—we're doing it again" day 5 general community audience full email list offer regular pricing ($35) message "final spots available—\[x] already registered" 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) location specific campaigns when gabriel at https //www sweatpals com/host/overthetopxp hosts events in multiple cities, he creates separate campaigns "oakland blend next week" → only oakland area members "san jose blend selling fast" → only san jose area members "tahoe ski weekend" → members who've attended travel events result higher relevance, lower unsubscribes, better conversion membership segmentation member vs non member messaging gabriel's members at https //www sweatpals com/host/overthetopxp get free admission to recurring events his campaigns differ to members subject your next free event the blend returns as a member, you're already in—just rsvp 📅 \[date & time] 📍 \[location] see you there (your wallet stays closed) to non members subject the blend returns early bird $20 tickets on sale now $20 early bird, $35 ga or join membership ($30/month) and get this + all future blends free this prevents member confusion ("why am i being asked to buy tickets?") while creating upgrade opportunities for non members real results before segmentation blasted 5,000 people per event open rate 15% unsubscribes high conversion 2% after segmentation messaged 400 targeted people per event open rate 40%+ unsubscribes minimal conversion 25% gabriel's san jose example 300 waitlist signups → targeted campaign → 90 tickets sold in 3 hours = 30% conversion rate common mistakes don't create too many segments initially —start with location and event type don't assume someone who attended once wants everything you offer—let them tell you through their actions don't forget to segment members separately or they'll get confused seeing ticket prices for events they get free your action plan 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 https //www sweatpals com/host/overthetopxp sends just as many campaigns as before, but they're targeted, relevant, and convert at 10× the rate
