At a glance
Connect each audience with a specific benefit of the offer. Check recent purchases, available categories and conflicting flow emails. Keep the offer conditions in one place. A previous promotional purchase does not prove an interest in every future discount.
Group customers using observed purchases
Start with a few understandable situations: a recent purchase, regular replenishment and a purchase during an earlier promotion. Use recorded orders and the correct promotion periods. A high basket value alone does not make someone a suitable recipient. Also define which product category might interest the person and which information supports that assumption.
Compare the offer with what the customer already owns
Check whether the main item was purchased recently. With durable products, accessories may be more useful than the same main product. For consumables, a reminder depends on likely need. Combine the offer, exclusions, available variants and destination in one brief. The campaign must communicate the same terms as checkout; purchase history should not obscure a contradictory offer.
Illustrative example: main product or accessory
A fictional coffee shop plans an offer covering a machine and care accessories. Recent buyers of the machine receive information about suitable care products. Earlier prospects can see the machine if they meet the selection rules. Regular bean buyers receive a separate range selection. The team claims neither a certain need for accessories nor guaranteed extra revenue from this grouping.
Complete one worksheet per audience
- Observation: which order or category supports the audience definition?
- Benefit: which specific question does the selected offer answer?
- Exclusion: which recent purchases or parallel emails make it unsuitable?
- Evidence: which test profiles show intended and unwanted inclusion?
- Approval: who checks the offer, stock and complete destination page?
Keep the audience definition actually used for later analysis, rather than recording only a changing segment size.
Start with one audience you can explain
Start with an audience for which the range and data support a clear recommendation. Check it using the segmentation guide and review overlapping flows. Extend the grouping only when the first rules work in practice. The goal is a better-supported offer; extra groups without different content mainly create maintenance work.
Sources and further documentation
Editorial preparation and source review: 6 October 2026.
Technical statements refer to the linked documentation. Examples and guidance are marked as such.