Simply Sophisticated Segmentation: BlueHornet Smart Lists™

By Rachel Anderson

BlueHornet Account Development Manager

Some days, spending long hours loooking at a computer screen wreaks havoc on my eyes. When those days occur, I swap out my contact lenses for eyeglasses to give my eyes a break. Since I don't normally wear my glasses, I inevitably get comments about how smart they make me look, which I take as a compliment!

My clients have days when they need a break, too. They look to their BlueHornet database to do some of the heavy lifting for them when it comes to segmentation and sending messages, while they get compliments for looking so smart. Fortunately, BlueHornet has built the tools to allow you to do just that. Curious? Put on your reading glasses and get ready to feel "smarter."

BlueHornet Smart Lists

Smart Lists™ were the brainchild (no pun intended) of the BlueHornet Account Development team. We frequently faced the challenge of needing the eMS system to create list segments on the fly--a way for our clients to set their own segmentation and targeting rules in advance, which would be met automatically for every message they sent. The idea became a reality when the development team created what was initially called "auto list segmentation," and we know today as Smart Lists.

Music to a Marketer's Ears

Smart Lists allow you to define business rules that dictate how your overall population of subscribers can be automatically segmented. Think of a Smart List as a saved search query.  Building on Meaghan's iPod® metaphor from last month, Smart Lists function as though you are adding a Mozart piece to your iTunes^® music library. Rather than asking you to manually add it to the "Classical" playlist, iTunes automatically associates Mozart with the Classical genre and categorizes it accordingly.

Here's an example in the eMS system:  Say you are a retailer performing a simple search query for all subscribers who made a purchase in the last 30 days (you are storing purchase data in custom fields). This search can be saved as a Smart List and used again and again:

• Every day the system will run a query for subscribers who match the criteria.  
• As subscribers match the criteria, they are automatically added to the Smart List.
• When they no longer match the criteria, they are automatically removed from the Smart List.

Anything you can search on in eMS – domains, recency/frequency data, group associations, custom field data, etc. – can be saved as a Smart List.  As long as the eMS system can receive the data and you can query it, a Smart List can be born.

How does this help me, you ask? Smart Lists greatly simplify highly sophisticated segmentation.

Pair Smart Lists with Recurring Message Functionality
Pairing Smart Lists with our Recurring Message engine gives you the ability to create and trigger messages based on auto-segmented lists without your manual intervention.  

Example #1:
Software trialware programs frequently send a stream of triggered messages encouraging trialware participants to convert to paying customers. A Smart List queries trialware start dates held in custom fields to pull lists of people who began their trial 1, 7, 14 and 28 days in the past. Upon each of these milestones, a recurring message is sent to notify subscribers that their 30-day trial is ending and encourage them to purchase the software. 

Example #2:
A cosmetics company uses Smart Lists to query their database for people who placed a first time order exactly one day in the past. They send a welcome letter to thank them for trying their product, and a subsequent stream of messages at varying intervals with application tips, add-on products, and refill notifications.

Use Smart Lists with Dynamic Content
You can use Smart Lists to simplify Dynamic Content creation and management. For those of you not familiar with it, Dynamic Content messaging is a highly effective targeting strategy that allows you to send unique message content to specific segments of your subscriber database without creating multiple messages. Dynamic Content allows you to build content "modules" that fit into a single static template. The system queries the attributes of your subscriber segments to determine which piece of content it will display upon sending.

Example #1:
Say you are a retailer, and you want to send different content to your male subscribers and female subscribers. Creating an overall look and feel for your template, you're ready to drop in content that is specific to each subscriber's gender. Smart Lists (or groups) in your system are defining whether a subscriber is male or female. The Dynamic Fields library allows you to create "modules" of content applicable to each gender. For the men, you drop in an image and a link to 30% off sport coats. For the women, you drop in an image and a link to 25% off cashmere sweaters. In your overall template, a dynamic tag is placed. Upon sending, this tag gets replaced with the content applicable for each subscriber based on their defined Smart List/group settings. And you only hit send one time.

Example #2:
Click here to see a helpful visual example of Dynamic Content.

In a world where your messages must fight for attention in an increasingly crowded inbox, targeting subscribers based on their preferences and behaviors increases relevance and readership of your emails. Rely on Smart Lists to make intelligent segmentation easier. Look forward to increased ROI, a better brand reputation, and deeper trust from your subscribers. Now don't you look smart!