Mailchimp segments vs groups: Which do you use? When? What are they and what are their differences? Let’s have a look at segments vs groups in Mailchimp, what they are, and then when it makes sense to each one. Both are ways of organizing your subscribers in order to send better targeted emails to them.
Groups and segments are similar but different.
That might still sound a little confusing or obtuse, so let’s dive into specifically what that means:
As I mentioned, creating segments in Mailchimp is a way of filtering subscribers. The first step to segmenting in Mailchimp is is to actually create a segment, and this helps explain what a segment is as well.
In the above example, the segment is subscribers bought Chimp Essentials but did not buy the Mailchimp Workshop. This would be handy because if I knew who bought one but not the other, I could send an email, just to that segment, and tell them that since they bought Chimp Essentials, they might also enjoy the Mailchimp workshop. So, if that email only goes to that one specific segment, I wouldn’t be sending it to subscribers who bought both, because they wouldn’t be in that segment.
So segmenting is a way of filtering your subscribers based on information you know about them. What sort of information can you know about your subscribers?
There are two types of segments, static and auto-updating. Static means new subscribers won’t be added to it over time, even if they share the same characteristics as others in that segment. For example, recent attendees of a conference, since that won’t change (unless time machines are invented). Most of the time we’ll be using auto-updating segments, as new people can be added to it, if they share the same characteristics that define the segment. For example, when someone buys Chimp Essentials, they can be auto-added to a “Chimp Essentials Buyers” segment, which makes sense it’s auto-updating.
The easiest way to to think about groups in Mailchimp is think of them like categories. Where a segment is a filter, groups are a way to categorize subscribers, typically organized by interests or preferences.
Groups in Mailchimp consist of a group category and then a group name. For example:
Cars (this would be a group category)
Porsche (group name)
BMW (group name)
Mercedes-Benz (group name)
So, a specific subscriber might be interested in Porsches and BMWs, so they could be part of the Cars group category and belong to both the Porsche and BMW group name.
So groups are a way of organizing subscribers by interest and preference, and subscribers can be part of any number of group categories and group names. So a person could be not interested in cars at all (and be in nothing in that group) or be interested in all three brands of cars.
There are several ways to add people to groups, including:
One thing to note is that if you want your subscribers to be able to add or remove themselves from a Group, it’s possible if you keep your group visible and link to either your signup form (for new subscribers) or the update profile page (for existing subscribers).
Why would you use a group in Mailchimp?
For both segments and groups in Mailchimp, it’s fairly easy to create either. First, click on Lists, then the list you want to group or segment.
If you’d like to create a segment, click on Create a Segment then add in the filters you want to use and click Preview. If the preview looks correct, click Save and segment, and you’re done.
If you’d like to create a group, once you’re on the list you want to group, click Manage Contacts, the Groups. From there click Create Groups and fill in a group category and group name.
Make sure you select how you want your group to show up—or if you want it to show up at all (by selecting don’t show these groups). Once you’ve added a group category and all the group names you’d like, click save.
Now you’re ready to use groups and segments on your Mailchimp list. This means you can get more targeted and personal with the emails you send.
The power of groups and segments in Mailchimp is that they let you sort your subscribers by what they’ve done, what they’ve bought, or what they’re interested in. That means you can get more specific with your email marketing, and that leads to generating more revenue.
Here are some ideas that you can use to increase the effectiveness of your email marketing with groups and segments in Mailchimp:
To learn more about these features, be sure to read my articles on personalization and automations:
While Mailchimp segments and groups are similar, they’re both ways to organize your subscribers, they’re different too.
To recap:
So groups help you figure out who your audience on your list, and segments help target them based on how they behave, so you can send them better and more targeted emails. Yes, there can be overlap and sometimes it doesn’t matter if you create a group or a segment, but hopefully this guide gives you some insight into which is the best to use and when.
Both are great ways to organize subscribers on a single list without having to create new lists for every product or content upgrade you’ve got. If you’d like to learn how to use groups vs segments in Mailchimp more, check out Chimp Essentials.
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