Amanda is working in a bank, during the daytime she's sitting in front of her computer and has to deal with clients' problems. She has to keep her cool and when she finally gets home after a hard day's work, she loves to funnel all the energy built up during the day into an active, sweaty workout.
Sarah is a mother of 4 toddlers. She spends most of her days running around trying to keep them from mischief and keeping the house in order. This leaves her exhausted most of the evenings. The only thing she wants is to take some time for herself, reconnect with her body and relax.
​At first glance, Amanda and Sarah have nothing in common... Nevertheless they are both looking for a yoga course that fits their needs and they both landed on Heather's website.
​If Heather met these two women in person, she would never offer the same yoga course or present the benefits of yoga in the same way to the both of them.
Why then would she send the same sales email to one and the other? That doesn't make much sense, does it?
The solutions to this problem is buyer persona based email segmentation.
That's quite a mouthful and sounds like something only large corporations can afford to do. But as you'll see in today's video, it's actually easy for you to segment your email list into relevant groups as well.
In this video you'll discover 3 ways to segment your email list that you can put into action in less than 5 minutes using Thrive Leads or Thrive Quiz Builder.
More...
Update
Thrive Content Builder and Thrive Landing pages have been replaced by Thrive Architect, which now has 268 pre-designed page templates and you can preview them all in our landing pages gallery.
What's Buyer Persona Based Email Segmentation?
There are a million different ways to segment your list. You can choose to create groups based on demographics, geographic location, behaviour, etc. Most of this is done through your email marketing service. But one of the most powerful (and profitable!) ways to segment your email list is based on buyer personas.
For most online businesses it doesn't actually matter where your visitors live or how old they are. What really matters is the problem they have and the solution they are looking to buy.
Imagine Sarah and Amanda, they are both female, might both be in the same age group and even live in the same town but their needs and wants are completely different.
You need the possibility to send targeted email messages to each one of your buyer personas.
How to Discover Your Buyer Personas
Hubspot gives the following definition:
"A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers."
Another term that's often used to describe the same thing is: customer avatar.
There are tons of different resources online that will help you create your buyer persona such as this one or this one.
​But for now, just remember this: You're looking to divide your website traffic into subgroups based on their problems and the solution they are looking for.
To do so:​
- List your offer(s)
- Create a fictional person (=persona) of your ideal customer for each one of your offers. One offer might have more than one persona. Eg. If you have a Facebook ads course, one persona might be an online business owner and the other one a local business owner.
- Create Groups or Buckets. Aim for 3 to 5 buckets maximum. If you're not planning on communicating differently with the different personas, they belong in one group.
Now that you've identified the different groups within your audience, let's look at how to segment them on your email list.
3 Ways to Apply Email Segmentation on Your Website
1. Create a Self-Segmentation Opt-in Form in Thrive Leads
Multiple-Choice opt-in form ==> Video: 1.15 min
Probably the easiest and quickest way to segment your email list is with a multiple-choice opt-in form. The reason this method is so quick is because you only have to set up one opt-in form for your entire website.
​In this case, your visitors will self-segment based on the first question you're asking.
With Thrive Leads, you'll be able to create an opt-in form with two or more options and show specific opt-in forms for each choice.
Pros
- Easy and super quick to set up
- Same opt-in form for the whole website
- The subscriber actively chose a certain group
Cons
- Segmentation is based on only one question
Use this method when you're looking for a fast way to start segmenting your email list today. You can find a full tutorial here.
This is the method we're currently using on Thrive Themes (and have been using with great success for quite some time now).​
2. Set Up Content Based Segmentation Opt-in Forms With Thrive Leads
Target Opt-in Forms Based on Content ==> Video: 4.24 min
You want to be in control of what opt-in form is shown on which content piece? That's possible with Thrive Leads and it's a good way to segment your list.
For each lead group, you can use the display settings to show your opt-in form only on a specific category, tag or even just on one post or page.​
As explained in the video, make sure to respect the display rules to allow Thrive Leads to show the most targeted opt-in form.
One big advantage of this method is that, because of the high relevancy of the opt-in offer with the content, your opt-in rates should be higher than with a site wide opt-in offer.
Pros
- Easy to set up
- Opt-in offer will be highly relevant to the content which is known to increase opt-in rates
- You're in control of what opt-in offer is shown on which content
Cons
- It takes a little longer to set up because you have to create multiple opt-in forms
- There is some planning involved to target the right category, tag or post.
Use this method if you have content on your website that clearly attracts one of the buyer personas.
3. Make an Email Segmentation Quiz With Thrive Quiz Builder
Segment Your List With a Quiz ==> Video: 9.15 min
If you're looking to segment your list while gaining valuable insights and entertaining your visitors, a quiz is the way to go.
Thrive Quiz Builder allows you to create specific results pages based on the results of the quiz.
In this example, we're using a category quiz and we use the dynamic content to create 3 different results pages, each one with a different opt-in form.​
This allows you to segment your list based on quiz results.
Pros
- Engaging for your visitors
- Base your segmentation on more than just one question
- Get other interesting data about your audience to help you craft better blog posts and email.
Cons
- Setting up the quiz takes a bit more time than setting up an opt-in form
If you're looking for a fun way to gain insights into your visitors while segmenting your email list, a quiz is what you're looking for!
Start Segmenting Your List Today
I hope that the above information showed you that segmenting your email list based on buyer personas isn't difficult to put in place.
Go ahead, create your Thrive Leads forms or your Thrive Quiz Builder quiz and let me know how it goes in the comments below!​
Thanks for another fantastic post, Hanne, and as ever, very timely!
Thanks Matthew, good to know this came at a good time for you!
Hanne – Bravo! As always, your videos are wonderful – educational, informative, succinct, and a pleasure to watch. Not to mention, your accent is exquisite and your diction is on point! You make even the most complicated of concepts seem easy/doable! Thank you again for yet another great solution-based video!
Thank you very much for the kind comment, Christine! I’m happy to hear these videos are helping you.
Ha, I did not even know that was a video in the main banner. I was looking for the how to in the text of the post.
Sorry Ostii, glad you found it now.
It is possible to create more than one question with Thrive Leads (see my link and look at the button “Blau”), but creation of complex segmentations makes – of course – more fun with the Thrive Quiz Builder 🙂
Hi Joachim,
Yes it is possible but we do not recommend it because Thrive Leads was not build for that purpose 🙂
Hi Hanne,
is it possible to setup “Custum Tracking Code” inside different stages of a Quiz? SO for example I can tag contacts based on stages?
Great question!! I would love to associate tags to specific answers throughout the quiz. For example: Everyone who answers B on question 1, C on question 2 and A on question 3, could be tagged 1B, 2C and 3A. Would be great to have that integrated into ActiveCampaign. 🙂
Hi Thomas and Kristian,
We’re working on a way to implement this but it’s not as straightforward because it has to work with every email provider, and be easy to use for you guys 🙂 So unfortunately I can not give you an estimation on this.
Hi Hanne,
thanks for sharing, a great example of segmentation in action!
You’re welcome Luis
Great stuff Hanne, keep up the good work.
Thanks Nick, will do 😉
Thanks, Hanne! This is another fantastic video tutorial from you. I simply love what you’re doing for us.
Thanks for you kind comment Irena!
Can you tell me the name of the website? Thasnks
Hi Dave,
If you’re referring to the yoga website, that is a demo site I set up that I’m changing all the time for tutorial purposes. But if you like the style of the website, you can download the yoga homepage template, that’s the one used on the website.
Hey guys!
I’d like to do this with a two step pop up in the way these do (and Jeff Walker etc have recently)
http://www.tribeworkshop.com
It has a radio button as step one then goes to step 2 afterwards.
Is this a feature you’ll be adding to Thrive Leads soon?! 🙂
Hi Dean,
Nice opt-in form indeed.
This is not something that’s currently on the development timeline.
For now, may I suggest this workaround:
You can get a very similar look and feel putting text with an icon (like a radio button) in front and linking the icon to the different states.
It would look something like this: https://diigo.com/09j8xd
You would not get the effect of ticking the button, it would immediately show the next state (=the opt-in form & offer)
Ah awesome! Would I be able to do this with Thrive Leads AND quiz put together?! (I own both) 🙂
Thank you, Hanne for the workaround. I’m a huge fan of what you’re doing at Thrive Themes and I was also hoping for a way to implement this method of segmentation (the ASK Method) in my opt-ins. I’m also wondering, as Dean commented below, if there’s a way to create this combining Thrive Leads and the Quiz Builder? Thanks, you rock 🙂
I’m not entirely sure what you mean with “combining” both tools can segment your list (which is the goal of ASK method).
If I remember correctly, the only step you won’t be able to do with our tools is the first survey part (but you can use Google Forms for that) then, ones you know your buckets, you can use either a multi-state form or a quiz to segment your list.
Lmk if I’m missing something that would need combination of TQB and TL…
Hanne, I’d love to see you respond to Dean and Christian, as this is something I want to implement as well. The ASK Method’s recommended tool (Bucket.io) is considerably more expensive than Thrive Themes, not to mention completely new to me.
Hi Nancy,
In my understanding you can do 90% of the ASK method with our tools. Like I said above, you’ll need to use something else for the survey part (but a Google form works great for that).
do you start at the end and work to the beginning with a quiz to have the elements available with designing the quiz?
Hi Linda,
I’m not really sure what you mean by that.
What I do is I make sure I know the different results I want to target and then I start making the questions.
Hanne for Prime Minister! Useful, easy to follow post and video.
hahahahah thanks Andrew 😀
Awesome tutorial Hanne, segmentation is so important to get the most out your list.
Glad you liked it Kim
Mobile is comprising more and more of use, so which is best for mobile?
Hi Robert,
For mobile I would suggest you use a ribbon. This is the smallest possible opt-in form. Also use the two-step ribbon so that the lightbox only shows after clicking on the button.
Amazing! I will straight ahead with the quizz segmentation!
Perfect Michael!
Another great post, Hanne! I’m going to build my first quiz soon 🙂
Happy to hear Esta! Let us know how it goes!
Is it possible to have an actual Last Name field instead of having only Name? I run a client’s website and they need more fields such as Website and Last Name but Thrive only offers 2 (Name, Phone, and Email)
Hi Clovis,
If you use the HTML form instead of the API connection you can add more fields to the forms.
Hey Hanne,
Thanks you so much for responding. I used an HTML form, but Thrive only allows double opt-in when using an HTML form (unless I’m missing something). Due to this, I’m not able to let a visitor fill out more than 1 form and be added to multiple groups or segments. Anyway around this using Thrive? Or are more fields or the ability to assign to segments with single opt-in coming later on?
Thank you!
Hi Clovis,
This really depends on your email service. With MailChimp or Active Campaign you do not need to use the HTML form (so you’ll keep all the options of the API connection).
Sorry but without knowing what service you’re using I won’t be able to help you out.
I’ve been planning on using Thrive Quiz builder that way so it’s great to see examples of how I could implement that technique!
Glad to hear that Abigail!
(Sorry for not replying to your comment. I tried multiple times but kept getting an error)
Hey Hanne,
Thanks you so much for responding. I used an HTML form, but Thrive only allows double opt-in when using an HTML form (unless I’m missing something). Due to this, I’m not able to let a visitor fill out more than 1 form and be added to multiple groups or segments. Anyway around this using Thrive? Or are more fields or the ability to assign to segments with single opt-in coming later on?
Thank you!
Hi Clovis,
So if I’m not mistaken, when you’re using an HTML form the single or double opt-in is done on email service provider (not through Thrive Leads).
You would need to create an HTML form that allows single opt-in (should be an option in your ES)
Great again, Hanne!
Thanks Sergio
Was wondering. When you ask questions in the QuizBuilder and you don’t assign a category. I understand then that these questions don’t contribute to the segmentation exercise. What is the point then of asking these questions ? Great post clear & precise as always. Thank you so much !
Hi Johan,
So this would just be questions for your own information (to gather insights into your audience) rather than decide about the results.
Perfect! I was just needing to segment an email list and I think Quiz Builder is going to work wonderfully 😉 Thanks for the great tutorial!
You’re welcome James
Hi Hanne. The ideia is great, but we should have more flexibility on determining the fields that are sent to the autoresponder, without having to mess with coding. For instance, if I use a multistep, showing 3 options on the first step, and a lead form on the second step, at this moment I need to send each of these to a different list. I would like to send all of them to the same list, but with one custom field showing the segmentation. If he clicked on the first option, this field goes with “1”, if second option, “2”, and so forth… Thrive Leads needs to make the jump over the “custom fields” canyon… Name, email and phone is just not enough sometimes…
Hi Diego,
I hear what you are saying but this really depends on your email provider too…
If you’re using a tag based email service (like Active Campaign, Drip, ConvertKit, Aweber,…) there is absolutely no need to add people to different lists.
I cannot see where in this post or anywhere else on the Thrive Themes website where you actually say how to segment your list with Thrive Quiz Builder. As in how do I get the people who answered in each segment into an email list for just that segment.
You just say that you can do it, but no instructions on how to do it.
Hi Ostii,
I saw you found the video now 😉 But you can also check out this resource: https://thrivethemes.com/tkb_item/using-the-dynamic-content-feature-on-your-quiz-results-page/
Hi Hanne, I need an option to let the user choose some or all answers at once (like in a check-box styled list), which then sends the pre-defined tags to my tag-based e-mail provider for segmented list building.
I have set up a Quiz, but as far as I understand it will jump to the next question as soon as one option has been chosen…
How can I create “a multiple option” answer?
Thank you!
Phillip
Hi Philip,
Sorry that’s not currently an option we provide.
Maybe have a “all of the above” option in there?
Thanks so much for sharing. I’m lost on having the tags being applied to the results. If they are A, they get A tag. If B, then a B tag. The results are based on their overall answers being mostly A’s or B’s for example. however, I get the contact added to ActiveCampaign with ALL the tags. Am I missing something?
Hi Monica,
There are 2 ways to add tags:
1 tag when they sign up just before revealing the result (or when they sign up on the results page to get a free download) ==> You simply apply this tag when you connect your email provider with the opt-in form.
Or several tags based on the answers.
Eg. If you have a quiz with 3 questions:
1. What do you want to accomplish? A weight loss B build muscle C both
2. How often do you workout? A less than once a week B 1 or 2 times a week C more than twice a week
3. How many protein do you eat? A. no idea B less than 30g a day C more than 30g a day
That puts people in categories:
==> Fast Results Needed
==> HardCore workout
==> Weigh tloss
If Person X answers B/B/B ==> they could go into category “Fast Results Needed” and get only that tag OR you could have answer based tagging and also have them tagged as “Build Muscle/Moderate/Average Protein”
Now the advantage of question based tagging is that you can capture much more info per subscriber. But it’s up to you to decide whether you want and need that info in your email service.
Monica asks a great question about tagging.. let’s take it further…
How do we pass on the tags set up in Quiz Builder to our tag-based CRM? There seems to be no way to do this in Quiz Builder?! Am I missing something?
The quizes “tags” are merely data sitting in a report of the results of responses to a given quiz. This misses the point of tagging, which is getting that valuable tag data into a CRM and using it.
Tom not sure what you mean…
The point of adding tags to a Quiz Builder answer is exactly as you described – the tags are passed onto your tag-based CRM/autoresponder.
You make great videos Hanne! Very informative and excellent examples. I would’ve had no idea about the logic when sorting a list of Lead Groups, thanks for that!
Happy this was useful 🙂