When you’re running B2B email campaigns and you want your messages to land, blasting the same email to your whole list isn’t going to cut it. You need to get specific—segment your contacts so you send the right stuff to the right people. This guide is for anyone using Mailgenius who wants to actually see results, not just tick a box for “personalization.”
No fluff, no buzzwords—just a practical walkthrough of how to segment your B2B list in Mailgenius, what actually works, and what’s not worth your time.
Why Segmentation Matters (And Where People Go Wrong)
Let’s be real: “Segmentation” gets tossed around like some magic trick. But most teams still settle for “we sell to SaaS, so let’s email all SaaS.” That’s not segmentation. It’s lazy, and it hurts your deliverability and results.
Proper segmentation means: - Sending the right message to the right person, based on what you actually know about them. - Not annoying people with irrelevant emails (which gets you marked as spam). - Higher open rates, replies, and conversions. Not always “sky-high”—but definitely better than spray-and-pray.
Where people mess up: - Over-segmenting (“Let’s make a segment for every job title variation!”) and ending up with tiny lists that are impossible to manage. - Under-segmenting (“Everyone is a potential customer!”) and getting ignored. - Using data that isn’t clean, up-to-date, or useful.
If your data is a mess, fix that first. Otherwise segmentation is just rearranging deck chairs.
Step 1: Clean Up and Enrich Your Contact Data
Segmentation is only as good as the data you have. If your contacts don’t have anything but an email address, you can’t segment much. Start here:
- Remove dead leads: Get rid of bounces, unsubscribes, and anyone who never engages.
- Fill in missing info: Company size, industry, job title, location—whatever matters for your business.
- You can use tools (like Clearbit, LinkedIn scraping, or manual research) to fill gaps if you need to.
- Standardize fields: Make sure “CEO,” “C.E.O.,” and “Chief Executive Officer” aren’t in three different columns. Pick one format and stick with it.
- Ditch vanity data: Don’t bother with fields you’ll never use.
Pro tip: If you have hundreds or thousands of contacts, do a spot-check. Is your “Industry” field actually consistent? Are there typos everywhere? Fixing this now saves headaches later.
Step 2: Decide What Actually Matters for Your Segments
Not every field is worth a segment. Focus on what really changes your messaging or offer. Ask:
- Who are your best customers? What do they have in common?
- What triggers make someone more likely to buy (company size, tech stack, funding, region, etc.)?
- Who shouldn’t get certain messages? (e.g., existing customers don’t need onboarding emails)
Common B2B segmentation criteria: - Industry / Vertical: (SaaS, Manufacturing, Healthcare, etc.) - Company size: (By employees or revenue) - Job function: (Sales, Marketing, Product, IT, C-suite) - Seniority: (Decision-makers vs. practitioners) - Location: (Region, country, timezone) - Tech stack: (If relevant—e.g., “Uses Salesforce”) - Engagement: (Opened last campaign, replied, clicked, etc.)
Start simple. Three or four useful segments is plenty to begin with. You can always add more later.
Step 3: Create Segments in Mailgenius
Here’s the nuts and bolts. In Mailgenius, segmentation comes down to creating lists or filters based on your contact data. The exact UI may change, but the process is roughly:
- Import your cleaned contact list: Upload a CSV, sync your CRM, or connect whatever source you use. Make sure the important fields (from Step 1) are mapped correctly.
- Go to your Contacts section: Look for “Segments” or “Filters.” (If you can’t find it, check the help docs—Mailgenius moves things sometimes.)
- Build your first segment:
- Set rules like “Industry is SaaS” or “Job Title contains VP.”
- You can combine rules: “Industry is SaaS” AND “Seniority is C-suite.”
- Save and name your segment: Make it obvious—no one wants to guess what “List B2” means in three months.
- Repeat for other segments: Don’t go wild—focus on the segments that actually change your messaging.
A few segment examples: - “SaaS companies, 100–500 employees, US-based” - “Manufacturing, Operations leaders, EMEA region” - “Opened last 2 campaigns but didn’t reply”
Pro tip: Don’t get too fancy with nested rules and “OR/AND” logic unless you really need it. Complexity leads to mistakes—and broken campaigns.
Step 4: Tailor Your Campaigns for Each Segment
Once you’ve got your segments, the real work starts: actually writing messages that matter to each group.
- Change your value prop: A CFO cares about ROI, an IT manager cares about ease of integration.
- Use relevant examples: Don’t show healthcare case studies to a fintech prospect.
- Adjust timing: Send based on recipient’s timezone or business cycle if possible.
- Personalize, but don’t overdo it: First name + relevant company info is usually enough. “Hey {{FirstName}}, saw you use {{CRMTool}}...” is better than nothing, but don’t get creepy.
What to ignore: - Gimmicky merge tags (“Hey {{FirstName}}, how’s the weather in {{City}}?”) rarely help. - “Dynamic content” that’s more about showing off than actual relevance.
Quality beats quantity: One well-targeted email to 50 people will outperform a generic blast to 5,000.
Step 5: Test, Review, and Iterate
No segmentation plan survives first contact with reality. Track what works and what flops.
- Monitor open, click, and reply rates by segment.
- Check for deliverability issues: If one segment is tanking, maybe the data’s bad or the messaging is off.
- Refine segments: Maybe “SaaS companies in the US” is too broad, or your “Marketing Directors” segment is too small to bother with.
- Archive dead segments: Don’t keep lists around just because you made them.
Pro tip: Ask for feedback from real recipients if you can. “Why did you open this?” is a better metric than any dashboard.
What to Skip (Unless You Have a Ton of Time)
- Hyper-granular personas: Most B2B teams don’t have the scale or resources to write 10 different emails for 10 micro-segments.
- Over-automating: If you need a flowchart to explain your segments, it’s too complex.
- Chasing vanity metrics: 50% open rates are nice, but replies and pipeline matter more.
Keep It Simple—And Don’t Be Afraid to Adjust
Segmentation isn’t a one-and-done thing. Start simple, use the data you actually have, and focus on segments that make your emails noticeably better. If a segment doesn’t work, kill it. If you spot a new pattern, try it out.
Don’t let “segmentation strategy” become a full-time job. The goal is better results, not busier spreadsheets. Send smarter, not just more.