Before the first kickoff of the season, we sat down with the Atlanta Falcons to talk audience strategy. The Falcons were already using Emma's search feature to send targeted mailings based on member information, but they wanted to streamline their import process and de-clutter a growing list of groups. An hour and one very full whiteboard later, they had a new plan for segmenting their audience and cut their number of active groups from 178 down to just two.

The Falcons' strategy can work for anyone seeking ways to focus their email efforts. To help you get started, here are five Falcons-approved steps to smart segmentation:

Getting clicks on your newsletter is one of the elusive goals that requires a combination of the right information at the right time to the right recipient. No sweat, right? Well, it makes sense that the percentage of people who click is usually in the single digits. According to the Email Stat Center, the average click-through rate is 5.9%. You aren’t going to be able to meet everyone’s needs in the right stage of the purchase cycle. However, there are a few things that you can do to encourage those on the fence to go ahead and learn more.

If I had a nickel for every time I was asked, “How can I improve my open rate?” I’d probably be able to go on a shopping spree (okay, that’s wishful thinking). But it’s a question on all of our minds because we put valuable time and resources toward creating and sending email campaigns. And while many variables play into the open rate of an email (time of day, time of year, even the weather), I’ve got some practical tips for boosting opens you can apply to your own email strategy today.

Before joining the Emma team, I spent ten years working in the music business in Nashville, and you’d be surprised of the many similarities between country songs and email. Strangely enough, a few writing rules hold true for either one.