About segments

Segments are filters on your contact database. They let you define a specific group of contacts based on criteria you choose, such as language, interests, campaign behaviour, and custom fields. Once you have built a segment, it updates automatically as your contact data changes. There is nothing to maintain.

You can use segments as the target audience for a campaign, as a trigger condition in a workflow, or to show or hide specific content in a message using dynamic content.

Key things to understand about segments

Segments never store contacts

A segment describes a set of conditions. Every time you use a segment, Flexmail filters your entire database against those conditions and returns the current matches. Deleting a segment never deletes any contacts. It only removes the filter.

Segments only include active contacts

Segmentation runs on confirmed contacts only. Unconfirmed and blacklisted contacts are excluded from all segment results, regardless of whether they would otherwise match your conditions.

Up to five conditions per segment

Each segment can include up to five segmentation rules. When you add more than one rule, you choose whether contacts must match all conditions (AND logic) or at least one condition (OR logic).

See "Combining segmentation rules" for examples.

What you can segment on

• Default contact fields: email address, first name, name, language, source
• Custom fields you have created: text, numeric, date, and multiple choice
• Interests: subscribed to, not subscribed to, unsubscribed from
• Opt-in forms: has subscribed via a specific form
• Campaign interaction: has received, opened, or clicked a specific campaign
• Form and survey interaction: has completed a specific form or survey
• Landing page interaction: has visited a specific landing page
• Date added: when the contact was first added to your account

Segments vs. interests

These two features are often confused, but they work differently.

In practice, segments and interests work best together. Use interests to let contacts express their preferences, then build segments that combine those interests with other contact data for precise targeting.

Best practices

Keep your contact data complete

Segments are only as powerful as the data behind them. A segment based on a custom field only works if that field is populated for your contacts. Think about which data you need before you start building segments, and make sure you are collecting it.

Name segments clearly

Use names that will still make sense to you and your colleagues months or years from now. Include the key criteria in the name: "Customers NL, Newsletter" is more useful than "Segment 4."

Consider the effort vs. the audience size

More segmentation means more relevant emails, but also more content to create. Before building a very specific segment, check how many contacts would actually be in it. A segment of 50 contacts may not justify the effort of a dedicated campaign.

Let contacts manage their own preferences

Where possible, use public interests to let contacts tell you what they want to receive. Self-reported preferences are more reliable than inferred ones, and giving contacts control reduces unsubscribes.

Common mistakes to avoid

Building segments before the data exists

A segment based on a "Region" custom field returns zero results if that field has not been filled in for any contacts. Before creating segments that rely on custom field data, check that the field is actually populated. You can check this from the contact overview by filtering on the field.

Using AND logic when you mean OR, or vice versa

The most common source of unexpected segment results. If a segment returns far fewer contacts than expected, you may have used AND when you meant OR. If it returns too many, the opposite. Always double-check the logic after building a new segment.

Relying on segments for suppression instead of the blacklist

Some users try to exclude contacts from campaigns by removing them from segments rather than blacklisting them. This is not reliable. The blacklist is the correct and protected mechanism for suppressing unwanted sends. Segments are for targeting, not suppression.

Not checking segment results before sending

A segment that worked perfectly three months ago may return different results today, because contact data changes over time. Always preview the estimated audience size in the campaign setup before sending, especially for segments you have not used recently.

Next steps

• Read "Building your first segment" for a practical walkthrough using a realistic example
• Read "Combining segmentation rules" to learn how AND and OR logic work and see all available conditions
• Read "Building a nested segment" to learn how to create hierarchical segment structures without repeating conditions