9. Email list segmentation & how to nurture different customer types

EPISODE 9 OF WHAT WOULD THEY DO? THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE PODCAST FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

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In this episode, I answer a listener question about how to nurture different types of buyers—one-on-one service clients vs. digital product/course buyers—through email marketing and clever email segmentation.

“I wonder if you can help me come up with the best strategy to support people based on the prong of my business they fall under: 1:1 support or digital products and courses. How would you handle nurturing them via email so they’re ready to buy eventually?”

Thankfully, having multiple offers and audiences doesn’t mean you need to make your email strategy overly complex. Instead, leverage smart segmentation and strategic nurture sequences to serve the right offer to the right person at the right time.

If you want to stop sending generic emails to your whole list and start building trust, personalizing your messaging, and increasing conversions, this episode will give you the actionable strategies to refine your email marketing approach for a multitude of different offers and audiences.

What we cover:

The Key Differences Between One-on-One Clients and Digital Product Buyers – Why their needs, expectations, and decision-making processes are completely different.

How to Segment Your Email List Based on Buyer Type – The best ways to categorize subscribers from the moment they join your list.

How to Create the Right Nurture Sequences for Each Type of Buyer – What to send one-on-one clients vs. DIY buyers to move them closer to a purchase.

How to Use Trigger Links and Email Behavior to Personalize the Journey – How subscriber actions can dictate which offers and content they receive.

How to Keep Your Segments Up to Date as Subscribers Evolve – Why a one-time tag isn’t enough and how to track shifting interests over time.

Soundbites:

“If you are still sending mass emails to anyone on your list, you’re really missing out on so many sales, so many opportunities to delight your subscribers and long-term loyalty where people can’t wait to open your emails, can’t wait to hear from you because they know it is super relevant and you are speaking directly to them.”

“Don’t get lazy. Don’t forget the trigger links. Don’t forget looking at your data. You need to be across how long it takes someone to purchase the first time to the second time on average. You need to know how many touch points it takes between those purchases. Fall in love with your data. Be super curious and be creative when it comes to how you can close the messaging gap and how you can find those little detours and shortcuts through your customer journey to get people what they need faster.”

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Episode Transcript:

Hey, hey, and welcome to yet another episode of What Would They Do? If you are new to the podcast, welcome, welcome. If you have listened to our first, can you believe it, nine episodes, then thank you so much for sticking around, for tuning in, and for trusting me with bite-sized weekly tips to see you take action today.

In this episode, I am answering an anonymous listener question which goes like this. I wonder if you can help me come up with the best strategy to support people based on the prong of my business they fall under. One-on-one support or digital products and courses. How would you handle nurturing them via email so they’re ready to buy from me eventually?

So having multiple ways people can work with you or buy from you doesn’t make things harder. It just means you have to be more strategic about how you approach your email marketing and how you use data to be very specific with how you serve them via email. And what we’re going to do in this episode today is give you some

smart and clever ways and approaches to use segmentation and very specific nurture sequences to help you prime those new subscribers, the newest people on your list with relevant value adding content that serves them ultimately the right offer at the right time. So in 2025, can you believe it? Mind blown. And beyond

Really, if you are still sending mass emails to anyone on your list, you’re really missing out on so many sales, so many opportunities to really delight your subscribers and yeah, long-term loyalty where people can’t wait to open your emails, can’t wait to hear from you because they know it is super relevant and you are speaking directly to them.

So email marketing platforms, I have mentioned before, use Drip, but you know, Kit, Active Campaigns, all the main ones are making it so easy for us to be amazing marketers and really create a super bespoke customer journey and highly bespoke brand touch points with every single subscriber. They’re giving us access to all the data, all the insights, all the behavior relevant goodness.

that we as email marketers need to step up and create those bespoke pathways. Before we dive into some tips, some strategies, some approaches that I use in my business, let’s have a look at some general differences between the two buyer types. So one-on-one clients and digital product slash course buyers, right? So one-on-one service

clients usually are looking for that high touch experience, something that makes it super easy for them to reach their goals, right? Whether that’s launching their new website, whether that is launching their new sales funnel, whether that is new branding for their business. People are wanting something that is specific to them, that is delivered by an expert and that gets them the results they’re looking for.

So what they need to hear pretty much from when they enter your world, your universe, your email list is clear messaging that speaks to, know, that justifies the higher investment that comes with working with you one-on-one, in a one-on-one capacity. so things that can do that are case studies. So where you’re sharing results from your one-on-one client projects.

transformation stories. So where, you know, your clients are recording little videos and talking about where they were before working with you, what it’s meant for their business and how amazing you are basically. But also very important, they’re looking for personal connection points and personal touch points with you to help them gradually build up that trust in you as the expert who is going to support them.

When it comes to digital product buyers and course buyers, really what they’re after is quick wins, right? They want a resource, a toolkit, a template that is going to get them results quickly with their own time as an investment, right?

So ultimately with that comes a lower level commitment to your products. And that then shifts the type of content, type of information, type of emails they need to receive from you. So those emails are heavily focused on the features, also the outcomes and the how-to guidance. So really telling them that there’s step-by-step processes they can follow to get the desired outcome.

And your emails to this particular audience really need to focus on affordability. So DIY customers usually don’t have the money to hire you one-on-one. So they need something that’s budget friendly while still getting them those quick wins. You also need to talk to the element of flexibility. So making it super easy for them to do it in their own time and space and fit it around their existing schedule. Right. And

You need to talk to the level of ease that comes with it. While there is no, usually no high ticket, you know, customer experience that comes with it, no one-on-one support, you still need to highlight that even if they’re not tech savvy, even if they don’t have all the tech tools, even if they don’t have VA support, they can pull it off in a matter of, you know, hours, days, depending on your product, and make it happen in their own space and time with your guidance. Right?

So what that tells us on a customer experience level is that you need to start with your customer. So you need to have a deep understanding of their mindset, of the goals they’re working towards, and also of the type of content and messages that they need to receive along the way. And the problem is that if you treat all your email subscribers the same,

If you’re sending them all the same content, hoping they’re going to cherry pick from the many, emails you’re sending them and work out where they fit in, you know, what the next step might be. Those people are going to drop off. If you send your subscribers the wrong message at the wrong time, they will tune out and even worse, they will unsubscribe because it’s just so unreal.

irrelevant to where they are on their business journey. So irrelevant to their mindset. And it just shows that you haven’t taken the time to get to know them and nurture them in a way that’s very specific to their current problems and to the goals that they’re working towards. So ways to get around that and hopefully keep them on your list and turn them into paying customers is really using a system that

gets to know them intimately as soon as they enter your email list. So your entry point really determines the path you’re sending them on. Yeah, through your offer suite, through your brand, you’re really letting them send you the right signals so you can then in return send them the right messaging. And a great indication of their, you know,

their interests, their goals is how they enter your list. So really make sure you have specific lead magnets for your various office. So offer separate lead magnets for your service-based clients, for your DIY clients, if you have a membership, for example. So have a look at the various prongs as this listener so nicely worded it.

really have a look at all your prongs and work out a very specific, very relevant lead magnet. So an excuse for people to get onto your list that you can then take as an indication of the direction you want to send them into. So as an example in my business, for DIY customers, so people interested in my courses, resources, people who want to improve their customer experience and copy themselves,

I have a freebie called 10 strategic survey questions to help people get to know their audience on their own terms in a DIY capacity rather than hiring me to do that for them one-on-one. And for my DIY customers, I have a private case study for my one-on-one customers. I have a private case study podcast where people can listen to 10 case studies from one-on-one clients where they talk them through

our project, where they were before working with me, what that’s meant for their business, the results they’ve seen. And it just really primes my listeners and my subscribers who are interested in potentially hiring me in a one-on-one capacity to be ready to do that because they’re trusting in my expertise. They’re trusting in the results I can potentially get them. And they’re having incredible

reliability and ease when it comes to the way I deliver my services because it clearly works. clearly gets my clients results and they want some of that for their own businesses. You can also use a quiz for example as a lead magnet. It lends itself really well to get to know your customers beyond one segment. So beyond only knowing that they’re one-on-one clients and

DIY clients, you could go even deeper and find out, you know, what industry they’re in, whether they have staff, you could ask questions or find out questions that are relevant for your specific one-on-one offers, for example. So if one of your one-on-one offers lends itself to freelancers working by themselves and the other one is geared towards supporting.

small scale agencies, you want to work out where that particular subscriber fits in. So you can then send them relevant offers. So have a look at a quiz, for example, where you ask strategic questions to dive even deeper and then add more tags against your subscriber to make that messaging and the offer even more specific. You can also, once people are on your list, obviously use trigger links.

to segment subscribers based on the behavior they’re showing when you are sending them those nurture emails and you’re onboarding them onto your list. So trigger links, if you haven’t listened to my previous email episodes, simply are links with superpowers. So people clicking on trigger links indicates to your email platform that they are interested, for example, in your one-on-one offer.

that they are telling you, you know, they have a membership, they’re considering launching a membership, whatever that looks like. So you can basically program the link to send signals to your email platform and really create a complete picture of your subscriber. So in my instance here, for example, so if someone downloads my 10 survey questions freebie,

I guide them towards the next logical save pace course, which is my audience success formula. If someone subscribes to the private case study podcast, I send them high touch service related content and also personalized touch points. So this is all automated in the onboarding sequence. But it is very different content that is designed to build.

one-on-one connection with me to prime them to really consider me as someone to support them on their business journey. Then let’s have a look. If you wanted some guidance around those first few emails after people download your freebie, just as a guide to give you an idea of what I would include for one-on-one clients and potential digital product of course buyers. So,

Again, let’s look at the different mindset here. So one-on-one clients need content and emails that really build trust and authority. As I mentioned before, they need to have complete and utter confidence in your abilities, in your offers, and they want to really see you as someone who is at the cutting edge of your industry.

Right, so some of the things you could dish up in those first few emails as you welcome them to your list and to your universe is really messaging around why your service exists or your services, your one-on-one offers. Why are you serving people in this capacity? What are the outcomes and why are you so passionate about it? He can also dish up.

case studies and testimonials, which are so important for that trust factor and to help people see what’s possible for them. You can also touch on your process. So give people complete confidence in, you know, that high touch experience that you are super strategic with how you serve clients. making it easy for them. It’s not complex. All it takes for them is, you know, these little steps and

seven days later, they’ve got everything they need. So really touch on that element of ease and that high, high touch experience that they’re expecting from working with you. And then you want to also gently invite them to book a call with you or take that first step towards a one-on-one relationship with you. When it comes to your digital product buyers and course buyers, we’re really wanting to build confidence in your courses and in the

content and in the format, but also excitement. So we established before that digital product buyers, course buyers, they’re after a quick win. They’ve made up their mind that there’s a problem in their business. They don’t have the money to outsource. They need a very specific solution to get them a step closer to those results, whether that’s a mini win, a template. They really want to feel that excitement that you and your resource

are what they’ve been looking for. You can get them that quick win and they want to make it happen. So things you could send this particular audience type at the beginning of their journey with you is small tips. So again, to build confidence in your expertise, you want to give them mini wins that they’re looking for on their journey with you that they potentially haven’t even considered. You can highlight how your

course solves their problems. again, touch on the inclusions and how they are relevant for solving their problems and getting them that win thereafter. You can include sneak peeks, for example, so behind the scenes snippets looks into your learning platform into the course portal to show them just how easy it is that there’s everything they need, every template, every swipe file. And if you want to capture

cash in on that early excitement. You can even send them a limited time bonus offer where if they join within the next, I don’t know, seven days, 14 days, work out what that sweet spot is for you. But you can add in a special incentive that if they join now, you know, you’re throwing in a 15 minute mini call with you, a little audit of

what they produce, et cetera. So something that’s super enticing and makes this particular offer even more irresistible. And it’s tempting to treat people the same no matter what happens after, right? So if someone downloads your DIY freebies, in my instance, the 10 survey question freebie, chances are that if they have been on my list,

for two years and they downloaded this particular freebie two years ago, they’re not in the same headspace, they’re not in the same position as they were two years ago. So someone who you tagged as DIY two years ago likely has shifted closer to that outsourcing mindset by now. Same, you know, if you have a membership. So if someone indicated they were curious about your membership,

If that was two years ago, they never joined your membership. They might be more qualified to become one-on-one clients nowadays. So that’s where automated behavior driven triggers in your email marketing are so important. So in your regular emails to your list, give people the opportunity to in inverted commas, update their preferences, simply by engaging with certain content, certain links in your email. And that then indicates

their shifting behaviors, shifting interests, and you can then serve them more relevant content to where they are today. You can also use automated trigger links, obviously, to add them to funnels, remove them from funnels, present them with a better offer than you would have considered previously. For example, if people open your emails, but they don’t click, you can…

send them more educational content, for example, to make them more intrigued in the product. Potentially there’s that misalignment between your offer and where they are now. So you need to close that gap to the mindset gap really from where they are now to where they need to be to be interested in your offer. If they click links in your email, but they don’t end up buying, let’s say for one-on-one

tagged people for example, you could send them a sneaky behind the scenes tour of your yours for a day. So where you document what happens in your VIP day for example, if that is your offer. On the flip side for course students and course buyers, people who click but don’t buy, potentially there are

questions or objections that are clearly occupying their mindset that you are not answering on the sales page or potentially they didn’t scroll down far enough on your sales page to find those, you know, objection busters. So send them a quick follow-up email with your most prominent FAQs and addressing some of those objections that often come up when it comes to your offer.

If they have purchased, my God, amazing. And it’s been a little while, you can absolutely send them a soft prompt towards the next logical step. So in my instance, for example, I have a case study toolkit where I help online business owners create super strategic case studies. The next logical product here would be to take your case studies from the blog format.

and turn them into a private case study podcast as I did in my instance to really give it more depth, more, you know, trustworthiness because you’re listening to the business owner tell you rather than just reading it written up in a blog post. So I do that after people buy my case study toolkit. I organically, if people show certain behavior, invite them to check out the, you know, the product, the toolkit to help them launch their own private case study podcast.

So that’s where it’s important to understand your customer journey, understand how your products fit together and how people move through your offer suite. So it’s not a, you know, once and done approach as you evolve your offer suite as, yeah, as the times evolve, as the dynamic of your offerings shifts, it is super important to keep this updated and also consider how people potentially are changing their path to your offer.

your office wait. And very important here, as I mentioned before, make sure you keep it relevant. So don’t get lazy. Don’t forget the trigger links. Don’t forget looking at your data. You need to be across in how long it takes someone to purchase the first time to the second time on average. You need to know how many touch points it takes between those purchases. for example. So really Fall in love with your data.

The data in your email platform, really tap into it, Be super curious and be creative when it comes to how you can close the messaging gap and how you can find those little detours and shortcuts through your customer journey to get people what they need faster. So if you now are super, super curious to create those bespoke

journeys for every prong in your business, then you can start with auditing your current email strategy. And I would start with asking yourself these three questions. So are you actually segmenting your subscribers when they join your list or are you treating everyone the same?

Do you also have a nurture sequence specific to the offer type? So starting with a strategic lead magnet that is highly relevant to that follow on offer and content that taps into the very unique mindset of one-on-one customers and course buyers as well. And then last but not least, you using behavior driven triggers to keep refining your messaging and keep updating?

the insights and the subscriber profile that you have in your marketing platform so you can dish up, you know, highly relevant offers at the right time. So that was a lot today, wasn’t it? So many considerations, but when you drill down into it, it’s really about being strategic, backtracking the best starting point to make people curious about what you have to offer in a paid capacity.

So if you would love to feature in an upcoming episode where I, like myself, or a guest expert that I would invite solve your customer experience headaches, obstacles, questions.

then please submit your question via the link in the show notes. You can do that anonymously or alternatively you can add your name and business details and I’ll do a bit of snooping before answering to make it even more relevant and also give you a backlink to your website for a bit of SEO juice. If you enjoyed this episode, I hope you did.

Please subscribe, leave a review, follow along, share it with anyone who might be interested because I would love this podcast format to get in front of as many online business owners as possible. Thanks so much for tuning in and I’ll see you next time.