Email marketing is still one of the best business strategies in the 21st century. However, to implement a successful email campaign, it is not enough to just take all the email contacts one can get and hit the send button. More than that, especially in as distinct of a market as Japan, companies have to divide their email lists thoroughly. This is where the power of customization comes in, good ROI is achieved by higher engagement rates and conversions when the appropriate message is sent to the appropriate person or group of people. This article will provide how exactly to segment your Japan business email list and why this is important.

Role of Segmentation in Email Marketing in Japan 

There are many differences when it comes to the Japanese business culture and consumer behavior compared to several countries. It does not come as a surprise that even though email marketing in Japan is commonplace, people do appreciate accuracy, politeness, and business decorum. Even mass advertising emails are more likely to be ignored and deleted than appreciated and read. It is because tailored and relevant content gets attention.

Segmentation enables enterprises to: 

• Communicate with the right message to the right people: A corporate executive needs to be reached by a different approach than a small business owner.
• Encourage participation: Attempts to actively communicate in such emails with the content will have a high open, read, and response rate.
• Enhance conversions: Achieving set conversion goals with such specific messages anywhere from sales to consultation bookings or leads can be achieved. 
• Foster loyalty: There is an appreciation for personalized communication especially through emails with the Japanese audience cultivating trust and enhancing connections.

Step-by-Step Guide to Segmenting Your Japan Business Email List

1. Segment by Industry

Another approach that might help organize the Japan business email list in segments is based on industry, which is one of the easiest yet most useful ways of doing that. Japanese businesses, depending on the field of business, tend to differ a lot and the industries have different needs, challenges, and opportunities. 

Why it’s important: This is because a manufacturing message, for instance, may get in the inbox of an audience that addresses a tech innovation and even a retail chain. 

How to do it: This may involve the use of sign-up forms, surveys of the addresses provided, or whenever possible the existing CRM system to help in the classification of business verticals such as retail, technology, manufacturing, finance, etc. 

2. Segment by Business Size

Japan has a vibrant business sector characterized by different levels of enterprises ranging from the micro level to conglomerates. The size of a business often determines its budget, needs, and decision-making processes and policies. 

Why it’s important: This means that if they are large enterprises they will look at enterprise solutions that are big whereas for small enterprises they will seek solutions that are cheaper and can grow with them. 

How to do it: Divide the number of companies in your email database according to the number of employees per company/different annual revenues or enumerate small (1-50 employees), medium (51-200 employees), large (201+ employees) companies along with the existing client industry. 

3. Segment by Role or Job Title

In Japanese companies, hierarchy in business is given great respect, and decision-making roles tend to be performed by specific people depending on their level in the organization. You must consider the role aspect when sending messages.

The importance of this: The message for a CEO or a manager will be more global, while a message intended for a department head or a team leader may be deep and narrow.

How to do this: Create an email list and define the working titles ranging from CEO to manager, marketing head, IT director, and so on.

4. Segment by Location

The geographical position of Japan greatly influences its business as well. There are noticeable distinctions between the companies located in urban areas like Tokyo and Osaka and those in the interior regions of Japan.

Why it’s important: Some businesses situated in the central cities would have different needs as opposed to those situated in smaller towns or rural areas.

How to do it: Segment with the use of the location data and divide the list according to major cities, regions, or prefectures.

5. Segment by Purchase History or Engagement Level

For organizations that have some history of engagement with your business, it is beneficial to strategize on how to cater to them based on their purchase behavior or engagement level.

Why it’s important: It is a great advantage when you can avoid sending the same irrelevant message to every recipient or their previous purchases and instead make it more focused and geared towards that individual by sending a message that they appreciate.

6. Segmentation by User’s Stage in the Sales Funnel 

You can do it by asking for participation in surveys and sending emails to customers already at the bottom of the sales funnel. The right message needs to be sent at the right time. Your email list segments should be generalized according to the user’s stage in the sales funnel. 

Why it’s important: Psychographic content is necessary for prospects at the awareness level, while product details, testimonials, or offers are necessary for consideration and decision-making levels. 

How to do it: Data should be retrieved out of the CRM or automated marketing for already existing customers to analyze the sales stages where each of the recipients is in awareness, consideration angle, and the decision stage. 

Best Practices For Segmenting Japanese Business Lists

Keep it simple. Do not go to the extent of segmenting everything which results in very complicated campaigns. Only select a few segments that are dependent on the most significant factors that you have.

Use clean and accurate data. Data can often mean data restoration, in this case, check the email list you use while sending newsletters to avoid sending them to obsolete and redundant contacts. 

Test and optimize. Historically observe the results of the campaigns with outdoor advertising in indexes and appropriately change the strategy. It is called A/B testing – this gives an opportunity to see what segments are susceptible to particular messaging.

Do not ignore the privacy laws. Focus on the Japanese privacy policy and ensure your email marketing does not go against local laws such as the Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI).

Conclusion

To maximize the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns, it is imperative to segment your Japan B2B email lists. This is because sending emails that are designed for a specific audience only assists in increasing the rate of engagement, fostering deeper connections, and increasing the conversion rate. If the email relevance is to be enhanced the segmentation exercise must be geared towards understanding the audience.