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Happy Monday!

Segmentation is the backbone of lifecycle marketing (we all know that), but most teams still rely on static lists that go stale fast. New customers get missed, old customers linger, and opportunities slip away.

This week, we’ll explore how to set up dynamic, auto-updating segments that keep your campaigns accurate without manual effort.

Today’s email is a 5-minute read. There’s a sponsor plug today; Every click you make on the sponsor link buys me a coffee ☕️ TY for your clicks.

Here’s what’s inside today’s email:

1. The problem with static segments

2. Why dynamic segments outperform every time

3. A framework to set up segments that update automatically

4. Quick hits: new lifecycle features and stats you can use today

Your segments should update automatically. Here's how to set it up

Deep Dive

I still remember the day I realized our segmentation strategy was broken.

We'd spent hours carefully creating a "high-value customer" segment for our quarterly promotion. The campaign performed well, but weeks later, a colleague pointed out something alarming: several customers who had made large purchases since the campaign weren't included in our "high-value" segment.

The segment was static. New customers who qualified after creation never made it in, while others who no longer met the criteria remained. We were essentially working with an outdated snapshot rather than an accurate customer view.

That's when I discovered the power of dynamic, automatically updating segments, and it transformed our marketing effectiveness overnight.

Why your segments need to breathe

Think of segments like living, breathing organisms, not static snapshots. People move between segments naturally as their behavior and attributes change:

• A first-time buyer becomes a repeat customer

• An active user goes dormant

• A free-trial user converts to paid

Dynamic segments adjust automatically as these changes happen, ensuring the right people always receive the right messages.

The three types of dynamic segments you need

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After experimenting with dozens of segmentation approaches, I've found these three dynamic segment types cover most lifecycle marketing needs:

1. Behavioral segments

These update based on what customers do (or don't do):

• People who viewed a product of category X but didn't purchase

• Users who haven't logged in for 14+ days

• Customers who open emails but never click

The beauty of behavioral segments is they capture intent and interest in real-time, allowing you to respond promptly to customer signals.

2. RFM segments

RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary) is my favorite framework for automatically categorizing customers by their value and engagement:

Recency: How recently did they purchase?

Frequency: How often do they buy?

Monetary: How much do they spend?

By combining these three dimensions, you can create powerful segments like:

• Champions (recent, frequent, high-spend)

• At-risk big spenders (not recent, but historically frequent and high-spend)

• New potential loyalists (recent, becoming frequent, growing spend)

What I love about RFM is that it automatically adjusts as customer behavior changes. Someone who hasn't purchased in 60 days naturally moves from "active" to "at-risk" without you having to manually update anything.

3. Lifecycle stage segments

These move people through your marketing funnel:

1. New subscribers who haven't made first purchase

2. First-time customers in their first 30 days

3. Loyal customers who purchase at least monthly

4. Lapsing users who might churn

5. Churned users

Lifecycle segments ensure your messaging aligns with where someone is in their journey with your brand.

We discuss this topic in a lot more detail in an upcoming article “Define your lifecycle stages like this and watch retention climb”

How to set up segments that update themselves

Creating dynamic segments isn't technically difficult. Here's the framework I use:

1. Define your segment criteria

Instead of thinking "who is in this segment right now," ask:

• What conditions should always put someone in this segment?

• What actions or attributes should always remove someone?

For example, a "high-value customer" segment might be:

• Has spent over $300 lifetime AND

• Has purchased within the last 90 days

Anyone meeting these conditions would automatically enter the segment; anyone falling below would exit automatically.

2. Use the right segment logic

Most platforms offer these basic operators:

• AND conditions (must meet all criteria)

• OR conditions (must meet any criteria)

• NOT conditions (must not meet specific criteria)

You can go way deeper as well, obviously. Simpler segments with clear criteria almost always perform better.

3. Test your segment boundaries

Before implementing, check:

• How many people currently qualify?

• How frequently do people tend to enter/exit?

• Are the boundaries capturing your intended audience?

When testing our "at-risk" segment, we discovered our original 30-day inactivity threshold was too long – by analyzing customer behavior, we found that just 14 days without login was a much stronger predictor of potential churn.

4. Set up real-time triggers

The true power comes when you pair dynamic segments with automated actions:

• Trigger emails when someone enters/exits a segment

• Adjust product recommendations based on segment changes

• Update paid media audiences as segments shift

We created a simple "welcome to VIP" automation that triggered whenever someone first entered our high-value segment. This timely recognition improved our VIP retention rate by 16%.

Your 15-minute dynamic segment starter

Ready to implement your first automatic segment? Here's a quick process:

1. Open your marketing platform's segment builder

2. Select a high-impact customer group (like recent purchasers)

3. Set conditions that will automatically add/remove people

4. Save and test by tracking how membership changes daily

The best part? Once set up, these segments work 24/7, maintaining themselves while you focus on creating great campaigns.

What's one customer group you're currently managing manually that could benefit from becoming dynamic? Start there, and you'll immediately improve both your marketing efficiency and your results.

Thanks for reading all the way through. If you found today’s issue valuable, the best way you can support is by sharing it with a colleague who might benefit too.

The more smart lifecycle marketers we bring into this community, the sharper our collective insights get.

See you next Monday!

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