• by Jess Nelson , September 25, 2015

MailChimp, an email marketing service, announced new automated features and email segmentation capabilities in a product update on Thursday.

Based on customer feedback and request, MailChimp has incorporated workflow queue management, email segmentation and sending time configuration capabilities into their platform.

The product update reflects the growing use of data and personalization in email marketing. MailChimp states that segmented campaigns have a much higher return on investment when compared to non-segmented campaigns, including an increase of clicks by 51.92%.

MailChimp claims the new workflow queue management feature gives marketers more control over their emails by allowing subscribers to remove or add themselves to specific workflows, instead of unsubscribing from their emails all together.

MailChimp states that “everybody wins” in this scenario, but marketers may see this as a mixed bag of blessings. It keeps uninterested customers on email lists they do not want to be on. Further, marketers may not want to be focusing their energy and resources on unattainable users.

The platform’s expanded email segmentation and timing features enable marketers to outline specific conditions for who should receive the email, such as timing and purchasing behavior. MailChimp claims the new feature enables marketers to stop sending emails to customers who have already bought the product mid-workflow, thus eliminating spam.

Finally, MailChimp has incorporated a new feature that enables automated emails to be triggered on subscribers who didn’t open or click on the previous email sent.

The company reports the average email open rate hovers between 17% and 26% on their platform, depending on the industry. With most email open rates at one-in-four, marketers may at first view the new trigger feature ideal for saving time and increasing opens and clicks.

MailChimp cautions users, however, since the new trigger feature also runs the risk of spamming recipients and annoying customers, and increases the likelihood of abuse reports and sender reputation diminishing.

Marketers should be wary of trigger-happy email campaigns, looking instead to their content to increase ROI.