So you want to send smarter email campaigns—emails that people might actually want to open, not just delete. That means you need to get past the “send to all” button and start segmenting users based on what they do, not just who they are. If you’re using Mixpanel, you’re in the right place.
This guide is for marketers, product folks, or anyone trying to actually get results from their email campaigns without drowning in dashboards. No fluff here—just what works, what doesn’t, and how to get started.
Why Segment by Behavior, Not Just Demographics?
Let’s get real: Most users don’t care about your product updates unless it solves a problem for them right now. Demographic data (age, country, job title) is a start, but it misses the point. Behavioral segmentation—grouping users by what they’ve done (or haven’t done)—lets you:
- Send onboarding nudges only to folks who got stuck
- Promote features to users who would actually care
- Avoid annoying people with irrelevant stuff
Mixpanel is built for this. It tracks every event a user triggers, so you can slice and dice your audience by real actions, not just guesses.
Step 1: Get Your Events and Properties Right
Before you even think about segmentation, your Mixpanel setup needs solid events and properties. If you skip this, you’ll end up targeting the wrong people or, worse, no one at all.
What you need: - Clear, consistent event names (“Signed Up”, “Played Song”, “Upgraded Plan”) - Useful event properties (plan type, feature used, device, etc.) - User profile properties (email, signup date, last seen, etc.)
Pro tips: - Don’t track everything “just in case.” Focus on events tied to emails you’d actually send. - Make sure your app is sending emails to Mixpanel as a user property, or you’ll hit a wall later.
Watch out for: - Typos and inconsistent event names—Mixpanel will treat “Signup” and “Sign Up” as different events. - Old data—if you just added an event, you won’t have historical data for it.
Step 2: Decide What Matters for Your Campaign
It’s tempting to build complicated segments, but start simple. What’s the goal of your email? Here are a few real-world examples:
- Onboarding: Users who signed up but never finished onboarding
- Activation: Users who tried a feature but didn’t come back in a week
- Upsell: Active users on a free plan who hit a usage limit
- Win-back: Users who were active but haven’t logged in for 30 days
Write down exactly what action (or inaction) defines your segment. If you can’t explain it in one sentence, it’s probably too fuzzy.
Step 3: Build Your Segment in Mixpanel
Here’s where the rubber meets the road. In Mixpanel, you’ll use Cohorts to define behavioral segments.
How to do it:
- Go to Cohorts: In Mixpanel’s left nav, find “Cohorts.” Click “Create Cohort.”
- Set Your Rules: Use the visual builder to add conditions based on events and properties.
- Example: “Users who signed up in the last 14 days but never completed onboarding.”
- Use AND/OR logic to combine conditions (“Did event: Sign Up” AND “Did not do event: Onboarding Complete”).
- Preview and Save: Mixpanel shows a count of users who match. If the number seems off, double-check your logic.
- Name Your Cohort: Use clear names (“New signups stuck in onboarding – last 14 days”). You’ll thank yourself later.
Things to keep in mind: - You can mix event-based and profile-based rules (e.g., “on Free plan” AND “used Feature X”). - Timeframes matter. Be specific (“in the last 7 days,” “ever,” “before X date”). - Avoid over-segmenting. If your cohort is smaller than 100 users, ask yourself if the segment is worth the effort (unless you’re super niche).
Step 4: Connect Mixpanel to Your Email Platform
Mixpanel isn’t an email tool. You’ll need to get your segment (cohort) into your actual email platform—like Mailchimp, Customer.io, or Braze.
You’ve got three main options:
1. Native Integrations (Best, if Available)
- Some email tools have direct Mixpanel integrations.
- Go to your Cohort, click “Export,” and choose your email platform.
- Usually, you’ll map user identifiers (like email addresses) to your email tool.
Pro tip: If your platform supports “dynamic sync,” your segment stays up to date automatically. If not, you’ll have to export regularly.
2. CSV Export (Manual, but Simple)
- Click “Export” on your Cohort and download a CSV.
- Import that CSV into your email platform.
- Set up your campaign as usual.
Downsides: This is manual and can get out of sync quickly. Use it for one-off campaigns, not ongoing triggers.
3. Use a Connector or API (For the Technically Inclined)
- Tools like Zapier, Segment, or direct API calls can sync Mixpanel cohorts to your email tool.
- This is more flexible but requires setup and maintenance.
Don’t overcomplicate unless you need to. For most people, native integrations or manual exports are plenty.
Step 5: Set Up and Send Your Campaign
Now that your segment is ready and synced, it’s time to actually send the thing.
Some best practices: - Double-check your list. Make sure emails are going to the right users, and that you’re not spamming people who opted out. - Personalize where it makes sense, but don’t get lost in merge tags. - Keep your message focused: one call to action, clear value. - Test with a small batch if you’re nervous.
What to ignore:
Don’t obsess over hyper-personalization for every user. Most of the lift comes from basic segmentation done well.
Step 6: Track Results and Iterate
Behavioral segments are only as good as the results they drive. After sending, jump back into Mixpanel and your email platform to see what happened.
- Track opens, clicks, and—more importantly—downstream actions (did they actually use the feature, come back, upgrade?).
- If your segment didn’t respond, check your assumptions. Maybe the trigger or timing was off.
- Don’t be afraid to tweak your cohort definition. The best segments evolve.
Pro tip:
Set a regular calendar reminder to review and clean up old cohorts. Stale segments clutter things fast.
A Few Honest Takes
- More segments ≠ better results. Start with 2–3 meaningful cohorts, not 20.
- Don’t track everything. Too much data slows you down and muddies insights.
- Mixpanel’s UI isn’t perfect. Sometimes, building complex logic gets clunky. Stick to segments you can explain to a coworker in plain English.
- If you’re not using the data, stop collecting it. Privacy laws are real, and so is user trust.
Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Overthink
You don’t need a PhD in data science to send better emails. Start with clear behavioral segments, sync them to your email tool, and focus on messages that actually help your users. If it gets too complicated, step back and simplify.
Good segmentation is about sending the right message to the right people at the right time—not about building the fanciest dashboard. Keep it practical, pay attention to results, and tweak as you go. That’s how you get emails people actually care about.