Lists and segments

A list is a folder of people you put there. A segment is a rule that is worked out again every time you send. If someone unsubscribes on Tuesday, they are out of Wednesday's email without anyone rebuilding anything.

Being in a list or a segment never makes someone mailable by itself. Consent and engagement decide that.

Go to Email & SMS → Audience → Lists & segments. The table shows Name, Type, People, Can be emailed and Created. Use the search box or the All, Lists and Segments buttons to narrow it. A segment whose rules cannot be read shows can't be counted.

#Make a list

1. Press New list.

2. Type a name in Name the list and press Create.

3. Add people by ticking them on the Contacts page and pressing Add to list, by choosing the list during an import, or from a form.

Click a list to open it. You see On the list, Can be emailed, Last 30 days (joined and left) and How it has grown over 90 days. See the people opens the contacts in it. Download CSV exports them.

At the bottom you can change the Name and What is this for? (Save), or press Delete this list. Deleting removes everybody from the list and deletes nobody. It is refused while something live, such as a flow, points at the list.

Sign-up settings has the tick box Ask people to confirm by email before they join and the field Send this list's emails from. See "Double opt-in".

#Make a segment

1. Press New segment.

2. Give it a name. What is this for? (optional) is a note for you.

3. Press + Add rule and choose from four groups:

   • About the person: a detail on their record, their email provider, how long ago they signed up, how engaged they are, whether they said yes, and whether we can email them.
   • Lists and flows: on a list, in a flow, was sent a campaign, opened a campaign, clicked a campaign.
   • What they did: did something on your site (placed an order, viewed a product, abandoned a cart), or did something with your email (opened, clicked, bounced, unsubscribed, marked as spam).
   • What they spent: how many orders, how much they spent, their average order, when they last ordered, and money your email earned from them.

4. Fill in the rule. Every rule has a switch: matches or does NOT match.

5. Press Save.

Inside one group, every rule has to be true. A segment matches people who fit any group. Press + Add another group (OR) to add one. A segment can hold 20 groups, and a group can hold 20 rules. With no rules, a segment matches everybody.

#Example: bought in the last 30 days

Add the rule When they last ordered, choose in the last, and type 30 in the days box. Choose NOT in the last for people who have not bought in that time. Someone who has never ordered counts as "not in the last 30 days".

#Read the count

Under the rules, the page counts as you type. will get it is how many would receive an email. The line beside it reads like 1,200 match · 80 held back. The reasons are:

• Unsubscribed, complained, or a dead address
• No proof of consent
• Quiet for 12 months

So a segment of 1,200 people may reach 1,120. That is correct. The same checks run when you send.

#Start from a template

On the Segment library tab (or Start from a template under the builder), press Browse. Templates are grouped as Engagement, Purchasing, Winback, Milestones and Compliance, for example Purchased in the last 30 days, Ordered 14 to 30 days ago, Lapsed customers, Abandoned a cart and Said yes to marketing. Each shows a live count. Press one to read its rules, then Create to make it, or Edit definition first to change it before saving. Nothing is created until you press one of those.

#Read a saved segment

Click a segment to see Right now (people who match, and how many would get an email), How it has changed (one count a day, taken each morning) and Who is in it, 50 people a page. Each person shows Yes or the exact reason they would not get the email. Edit the rules reopens the builder.

#If it didn't work

• "Finish the rules to see a count." A rule is missing a value. Fill in or remove it.
• Save is greyed out. The count is showing an error. Fix the rule above it.
• The count is smaller than I expected. Check held back under the count.
• I cannot find the button to make a segment. Your role needs permission to send campaigns.