Using the segment builder

The segment builder allows you to build dynamic searches in your audience based on specific criteria. You can send to segments just like audience groups. Segments update in real-time as they search your audience, so you can trust the numbers to be up to date before you send! To get started, you'll head to the Audience tab of your account and select the the option for segments.

What kind of segments can I build?

You can build segments based on 4 main criteria types (pictured here):

Simple segments

You can build simple, one criterion segments or build in additional criteria to create more complex segments.

Here, I’ve created a simple segment to search my audience based on contact information. My single criterion is anyone whose RSVP field is populated with “Can’t wait!” 

After naming my segment and selecting my criteria, I just hit Add and Save to see the final details before hitting Create segment which opens the segment in my Audience.

Important note: when segmenting based on a field, the value for 'equals' must match the case as it appears in your contact record; for example, if RSVP equals 'Can't wait!', only contacts that have their RSVP set to 'Can't wait!' (with a capital C) will return in the segment results - if a contact has their RSVP field set to 'can't wait!', it will not be included.

Complex segments

To build a more complex segment, you just need to add more criteria! There are two ways to build additional criteria into your segment:

You can add another criterion of the same type by hitting Add and then Add another. 

Here, I’ve added three additional contact information criteria. When you have multiple criteria of the same type, you can choose between any or all logic. 

Any will search your audience for contacts that meet one or more of these criteria, while all requires the contacts in the segment to meet all three criteria to qualify for the segment.

In order to add additional criteria of different types than your first criteria type, simply Add and Save the first criteria type to close it out. Hit Add another to start a new criteria type. 

You’ll have the same any/all logic options within that second criteria type. Here’s how my segment criteria looks when it’s finished.

I chose all in my first layer and any in my second layer. You can see how the two criteria types are separated and you can edit each individually as needed. 

Just hit Add and Save after each additional criterion to continue building your segment!

Segmenting by postal code

You can create segments that look for contacts within a set mile radius of a specific postal code. You'll first need to have the postal codes for your members mapped to a postal code member field. Note: this only works with U.S. postal codes.

Click to Create a new segment from the Segments tab of the Audience page.

Name your segment and select to find contacts based on Contact information.

Select Postal code and set the next dropdown to Within.

Set the radius (in miles) and the zip code.

Hit Save and Create segment.

What does "Limbo" mean?

We refer to contacts that don't exist in any audience groups as "in Limbo," because they are essentially floating around in your audience without a home. There are two main causes for having contacts in Limbo:

Deleting a group from the audience page -- If contacts in that group do not exist in any other groups, they'll be in Limbo. Remember that deleting a group simply removes that organizational layer for your audience. It does not delete all of the contacts within that group.

Creating a sign-up form that does not add your subscribers to an audience group -- When setting up your classic sign-up or lightbox form, be sure to select a group to add those contacts to by default. Otherwise, the contacts will be added to your audience but will be tricky to locate and send to as part of a specific group.

How do I build a Limbo segment? 

Here are the steps to isolate contacts in limbo, to delete them or add them to an audience group, using the segment builder:

Click to Create a new segment from the Segments tab of the Audience page.

Name your segment and select to find contacts based on Audience groups.

Search for contacts who are in "Limbo (not in any group)".

Hit Save and you're done! 

Suppressing segments

Once you've built your segments, you can choose to exclude a single segment from receiving a mailing directly from the review and send page! This makes it super easy to select the audience groups and segments you'd like to send to and exclude the folks you want to ensure do not receive your mailing.

The "exclude an audience segment" option is available on the Review & Send page just below the Recipients field:

Checking the box reveals a dropdown menu for selecting segments.

Here's what it looks like when you've successfully selected an audience segment to exclude from your mailing:

The suppressed segment displays as "excluded" on the Overview tab of the mailing Response. You can view the entire list of suppressed addresses on the Excluded tab: