Businesses are facing even greater challenges in the fierce competition for dwindling consumer dollars. With the economy still uncertain, a new president being tested, people worried about keeping their jobs, and so much email out there competing for consumers' attention, businesses need every marketing advantage they can get.

In this year's battle of the inbox, the most successful marketers will be the ones who get to know their customers and deliver content and promotions relevant to their interests and needs.
Relevancy should always be at the heart of all your email marketing communications. It means knowing what your customers buy, how much they buy, when they buy -- and what interests them even when they're not ready to buy.

To get your email communications open, read, and acted on, the more relevant information you can deliver to your recipients, the more likely they are to be engaged by your content. Relevancy differentiates you from other businesses offering the same products or services. So how can you learn more about what your customers want and need? Survey them!

Surveys Help You Learn What Customers Want and Need
Are all your customers the same? Probably not. While they may have some things in common that bring them to your doorstep or website, their needs and interests aren't all exactly alike. That's why if you rely on a general, "one-size-fits-all" email marketing list, you may be missing out on opportunities to target customers' particular interests -- and capture those sales.
An online survey is an excellent tool to gather important information about your customers' preferences so you can create customer categories. (And, even if you have segmented your list, surveys can help you update and fine-tune it, and discover other customer categories and markets.)

By categorizing your customers into "buckets," you can email them articles and promotions directed to their specific interests and needs -- increasing your opportunities for targeted sales.

Get Started Using Surveys to Segment Your Email List
An easy way to get started is to survey your customers on what products or services they have purchased from you in the past and are most likely to buy from you in the future. Rather than doing this with an open-ended survey question, which won't allow you to segment with any precision, create a closed-ended survey listing the different ways people can buy from you, and ask them to choose all options that apply to them. It's a lot less work on them than filling in an open-ended question (and on you in the long-run trying to analyze their written answers).
For example, a wine store could survey customers on which wines they buy based on the geographic regions that the wines come from (California, Australia, Chile, France, etc.). Based on the survey feedback, the wine store can start sending targeted email content and promotions to customers who prefer Chilean wines, Australian wines, etc.

Some other examples of how businesses might survey their customers and then segment their email marketing mailing lists based on survey results:
• A gourmet foods shop surveys customers on which products they most often buy or would be interested in buying. Based on the results, the shop sends one mailing to coffee and tea aficionados and another to chocoholics, offering relevant content (e.g., how to choose a chocolate that really goes well with wine) and tempting promotional offers.
• A financial planner surveys customers on their top three financial planning goals (based on products or plans the company offers). Based on the items customers check off in the survey, the planner creates one mailing list for parents saving for their children's college education, and a separate list for empty nesters looking forward to their retirement.
• A sporting goods store surveys customers on the top three sports they actively participate in. Based on the survey results customers volley back at them, the store then targets athletes on the sports that keep them both in the game -- with skiers, golfers, and swimmers each receiving targeted email campaigns (but not receiving mailings on sports that don't interest them at all).

Based on the information about customers that your survey brings back, you may still send your general email marketing mailings once a month or quarterly, while targeting your list segments at other intervals.

Today, the businesses that differentiate themselves by making relevancy their number-one communications goal will rise above the pack -- and to the top of customers' inboxes.



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