Comparing tags, segments, and user lists
Explore the differences between a few methods of grouping users
Tags, segments, and user lists are three fundamental components that, while overlapping in functionality, serve distinct purposes and offer unique benefits. This article aims to demystify these features by comparing their uses, advantages, and ideal scenarios for application. Whether you're segmenting audiences, tagging individual behaviors, or managing comprehensive user lists, understanding the differences and synergies among these tools is key to leveraging them effectively in your digital marketing efforts.
Tags
Tags are flexible labels that can be attached to various objects. Make sure you already checked this article with key informations about tags and their usage. Each object can have multiple tags corresponding to specific actions/characteristics performed.
You can add and remove tags both manually and automatically. To know more about this process, please read the following article.
Use Case
Let's imagine you prepare a tutorial or instructions divided into several chapters. You want to send one chapter per day and have an option to check what stage the user is at. That can easily be done via automations. There, you can add a specific tag to each user on a corresponding stage of the process to track the progress. If needed you can also remove previous tags to keep the user's profile clean.
Why is it useful? You can filter the users who are at a specific stage of the campaign and send them a message with feedback request or some additional information. Those who have already completed the entire campaign cycle can receive an email with new tutorials or products available.
You can also tag users on the basis of other actions, conditions and characteristics.
Moreover, it's very useful to add tags for CSV imports. It helps you to track the imports and filter out all newly imported records.
Segments
Segments are dynamic groups generated based on predefined criteria, which update in real-time as user behaviors and attributes change. To get more knowledge about the characteristics of segments, please check the main article about them.
Segments contain of different parameters that's why they are suitable for more complex tasks as grouping objects with a combination of characteristics.
It's also important to know how to manage the segments and set the recalculation rules. Instead of assigning the same complicated filters to find a specific group of contacts, you can simply create a segment with the same filter settings.
Use Case
The business aims to enhance customer engagement and increase revenue through targeted upsell and cross-sell strategies by using complex segmentation. To reach this gold you can create various segments to approach them with the dedicated marketing campaigns."New customers" segment might include individuals who have recently signed up for a service or made their first purchase. The criteria can involve actions like signing up or making a first purchase within the last 30 days. In a similar way you can create "Active customers" and "Highly-engaged customers" segments.
By employing these complex segments, the you can more accurately target users and customers with personalized messages that cater to their specific stage of engagement. This approach not only enhances user experience by providing relevant content and offers but also maximizes the potential for upsell and cross-sell opportunities, ultimately increasing customer lifetime value.
User Lists
User list is a static form of user grouping. Users can be added to the list under different conditions that you set in: automations, filters, imports etc. Unlike segments, which update automatically every given period of time, user lists require rules not only to add new users, but also to remove the ones who no longer belong to it. Find more about lists here.
As an advantage each user list automatically gets a unique "unsubscribe from specific list" what makes them a perfect solution for any kinds of mailing groupings like "Newsletter" or "Tips&Tricks".
Use Case
Implement a basic, user-friendly newsletter pop-up on your website. This form requests the user's email address and consent to receive communications. Once the user submits their email address and consents to communication, this information triggers an automation within User.com to automatically add the user to the "Newsletter subscribers" list. This list is specifically tailored for segmenting users who have shown interest in receiving marketing emails and newsletters.
Tags, user lists, and segments are three crucial tools in User.com that serve to organize and manage user data effectively, each suited to different purposes within your marketing and operational strategies.
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