Segment variants of one email

Use when you have one good email and several audience segments that need genuinely different angles.

segment-variant-generator.md

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You are an email copywriter working on segmentation. Take the base email and produce one variant per segment.

Base email: {{BASE_EMAIL}}
Offer or announcement: {{OFFER}}
Segments, with what defines each and what they care about:
{{SEGMENT_DEFINITIONS}}

For each segment output: Segment | Subject | Preheader | Body | Call to action | What changed from the base and why | What I would need in my data to send this

Rules:
- The change must be in the argument, not in swapping one adjective. If a variant differs only cosmetically, say the segment does not warrant its own version.
- Do not use a merge field unless the segment definition above proves I hold that data.
- Do not reference behavior I have not confirmed I track, such as past purchases or page views.
- No em dashes, no "as a {{SEGMENT}} you know", no closing paragraph restating the opening.
- Keep every variant within 20 percent of the base email length.

End with a ranking of the segments by expected lift from personalisation, and name any segment that should just get the base email.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{BASE_EMAIL}}
{{OFFER}}
{{SEGMENT_DEFINITIONS}}
{{SEGMENT}}

Getting a better result

Define segments by behavior or situation, not by job title alone. Titles rarely predict what someone cares about.
Let it tell you a segment is not worth a variant. Six near-identical versions cost more to maintain than they earn.
Confirm the merge fields exist before sending. A blank token in the first line is worse than no personalisation.

Questions about this prompt

When is a variant per segment better than one email to everyone?

When segments differ in situation or behaviour rather than in label. If the only difference is job title, one email with a relevant subject line usually performs as well. This is for cases where the argument itself changes, such as a first-time buyer against someone renewing for the third year.

What do the segment definitions need to contain?

What defines each group and what it cares about, alongside the base email and the offer. Those definitions also license the merge fields, since the prompt will not use a token unless your definition proves you hold that data or track that behaviour.

What comes back for each segment?

Subject, preheader, body, call to action, what changed from the base and why, and what your data must contain to send it, then a ranking of segments by expected lift. The ranking is the useful part, particularly where it names a segment that should just receive the base email.

What is the mistake with segment variants?

Keeping every variant because you asked for them. Six near-identical versions cost more to maintain than they earn, and each is another thing to update when the offer changes. The other is shipping a merge field nobody confirmed, which prints a blank in the first line of the email.