• by Jordan Ayan , March 18, 2009

Everyone is looking for ways to make their dollar stretch a little further. This may mean clipping coupons, eating at home, carpooling or taking a stay-cation (stay at home vacation) this year. When it comes to email, there's an underutilized -- but highly effective -- way to stretch your marketing dollar. And you may just rev up your customer loyalty in the process.

Geo segmentation is an advanced email segmentation tool that enables you to segment your opt-in list on a geographic basis using ZIP codes. Using a filter, you can target all subscribers who fall within a specified ZIP code range. For example, a 10-mile radius from ZIP code 12345 will include subscribers from all ZIP codes that even partially fall within that ten-mile range.

Combining geo segmentation with dynamic content functionality to automatically customize each email to the customer's profile creates highly relevant and personal emails. A national radio talk show host segmented his list to notify his listeners when he was traveling around the country and making local appearances. This information was of high interest to listeners who lived in the cities he was visiting. Similarly, book retailers, concert promoters, and other venues can geo segment lists to promote appearances, performances and events pertinent to that geography. Businesses can geo segment to promote traveling seminars. Restaurants and retailers can geo segment to include retail locations in emails.

Geo segmentation also enables you to target subscribers who are more recession-proof and therefore more likely to buy your product or service. This is not to say that you should drop all marketing efforts to those customers who are not purchasing right now, but geo segmenting allows you to concentrate your effort and pay special attention to those who are spending right now.

This tool can be used to deliver different messages to different audiences defined by geographic location. For example, a retail store can send "Offer 1" to likely buyers in a nearby ZIP code and send "Offer 2" (a better one) to buyers further away to entice them to make the trip. Retailers can offer private sales for their best customers or offer a pre-sale event for items that must be seen in person before being bought, such as cars, furniture, real estate, etc.

Finally, geo segmenting enables you to run various offers using different ZIP codes to test the effectiveness of the offers. This will allow you to test for any variable you'd like, including price points, free shipping, gift with purchase, coupons, email copy changes, or combinations of these variables.

Using advanced tools like geo segmentation provides businesses an edge, which is especially important during difficult economic times.