Using segmentation
A segment is a subset of a list. You can use segmentation to target any fixed data held against a contact, such as those who may be interested in a particular sport or those who haven't opened your previous campaign.
You can create a one-off temporary segment when setting up a campaign.
To create a reusable segment, go to the Lists tab, pick a list, click on Segments and choose Create a segment.
A segment can be created on:
| Data | Description |
|---|---|
| First name | The contact's first name |
| Last name | The contact's last name |
| List fields | Any additional list fields you've created |
| Date created | The date the contact was created |
| Last updated | The date the contact was last updated |
| Source | How they were added to your list (such as via an Import or via the API) |
| Segment | Exclude or include other segments already set up |
| Campaign activity | Send to subscribers who clicked, opened, did not click and did not open recent campaigns. Any of the above data can be included or excluded and the rules can be combined to create a powerful way of micro-targeting your subscribers. |
| Contact activity | Send to subscribers who engaged with any of your emails or were added in the last X days, or those who didn't engage and weren't added in the last X days. The engagement is checked for both regular campaigns and automated emails. The maximum date range is 365 days. |
| Tags | Include contacts with or without a specific tag |
Filter match types - all, any or none
When applying multiple filters to create a new segment, you must specify the conditions of that filter. These conditions use the AND/OR logic with the additional option to exclude contacts that match the criteria.
You can create segment according to match type:
- all - segmented contacts must match all of the filters in this filter group.
- any - segmented contacts can match any of the filters in this filter group. This requires more than one filter to be selected as contacts should match either one filter or the other(s).
- none - segmented contacts must match none of the filters in this filter group. This match type is based on exclusion rather than inclusion.
Here's an example of all the filter match types in action:
In the example above, by using multiple filters and filter groups we can create a segment of customers whose name begins with the letter 'B' and were either added to the mailing list before 2020 or last updated their details after 1st January, excluding all users with a Hotmail account.
Using 'match all' ensures that the segment has to include customers whose names begin with the letter 'B', while using 'match any' will further include one of the two additional filters applied - date created or last updated.
The 'match none' filter specifies that all other email addresses are valid for inclusion in this segment, except Hotmail accounts.
How to update subscriber data for segmentation
If you're using EmailOctopus forms or landing pages, you can choose which fields will be added and what kind of data to collect. The only required field is the email address one.
If you've not been collecting any additional data since using EmailOctopus, you can update subscriber data through an import or via the update contact API function. This can then be used to segment on.