Build audience segments

A segment is a saved set of rules that picks subscribers, such as everyone who opened in the last 30 days and is tagged vip. Use segments to choose or exclude people in a broadcast or sequence.

Before you start

• Check the System segments first. One may already do what you need.
• To target by tag, add tags to subscribers under Subscribers.

Create a segment

1. 1Open Audience Segments and click New segment.
2. 2Enter a Segment name and, if you like, a Description (optional).
3. 3Click Condition, then choose a field, an operator and a value.
4. 4Choose how the conditions combine: AND needs all of them, OR needs any of them, and NOT excludes anyone who matches.
5. 5To mix these, click Nested group.
6. 6Read the matching subscribers count, then click Create segment.

What happens next

The segment appears under Custom segments and can be picked in Broadcast and in a sequence's Audience step. Click the count to see who's in it. Open Insights for sent, delivered, bounced, open rate and click rate, plus lifetime revenue. The copy icon duplicates any segment, including system ones, as a new custom segment you can edit.

Segments update themselves

Every segment here is dynamic. You save the rules, not a list of people, so a subscriber moves in or out as their data changes. There's no static segment. To freeze a group, add a tag to those people and build a segment on that tag.

A broadcast works out its audience when it sends, so a scheduled broadcast reaches whoever matches at that moment. A sequence checks only once, when someone enrolls.

System segments

What you can filter on

How the counts work

• Counts cover active subscribers only.
• Subscribers marked Proof or Admin never count and never receive a real send. The preview tells you when some matched but were left out. Reach them with Send test copy.
• Counts are worked out when the page loads. Rolling figures such as opens over 30 days, purchases and sequence membership refresh about every 15 minutes, so they can lag slightly.
• Only N will receive a promotional or marketing send on a card means the rest opted out of that channel.
• When a broadcast uses several segments, Estimated recipients counts each person once, so it can be lower than the segment counts added up.

What can go wrong

• Segment name is required. Enter a name.
• Add at least one condition — an empty segment would match every subscriber. Add a condition. Use All Subscribers if you want everyone.
• One or more conditions is missing a value. Fill it in or remove it. Complete or delete the row.
• This segment is used by a scheduled or draft broadcast (...). Remove it there before deleting. Take it off the named broadcast first.
• This segment is used by a dynamic content block (...). Remove it there before deleting. Take it off the named block first.
• System segments can't be edited or deleted. Duplicate one to change it.
• Excluding All Subscribers removes everyone, leaving Estimated recipients at 0.