How to preview segments

You will learn

Learn how to preview a segment’s membership before you create it. Previewing segments can help speed up the creation process by providing insights into who is included, and allowing you to troubleshoot without waiting for a segment to generate. These features are supported for segments with 100 or fewer criteria.

Preview segment counts

Complete your criteria and resolve any errors before relying on the preview. Incomplete or invalid criteria can be left out of the preview count.

1. Navigate to Audience > Lists & segments.
2. Click Create.
3. Select Segment. If the Create segment panel opens, enter a name and click Create segment to open the builder.
4. Add segment criteria (e.g., If someone can or cannot receive marketing > can receive > email marketing > because person > Subscribed AND What someone has done (or not done) > Received Email > at least once > in the last 30 days).
5. Note the profile count below each condition or group of conditions joined by OR, and the Segment profiles count at the top of the page.

Preview segment profiles

To preview a selection of profiles who meet the criteria for a segment while you build it:

1. Navigate to Audience > Lists & segments.
2. To create a segment, click Create > Segment. If the Create segment panel opens, enter a name and click Create segment. To edit an existing segment, select it and click Edit definition.
3. Add segment criteria (e.g., If someone can or cannot receive marketing > can receive > email marketing > because person > Subscribed AND What someone has done (or not done) > Received Email > at least once > in the last 30 days).
4. Click Preview details.
   

5. In the sidebar that opens, you’ll see a summary of the segment’s estimated size as a proportion of all your profiles, plus a selection of sample profiles who meet your current criteria.
   

6. Click any listed sample profile to explore their profile and understand why they qualify for the segment.

When you’re ready to save, close the preview sidebar and click Create segment for a new segment or Update segment for an existing segment.

Understanding segment counts

To understand how these numbers interact when all your conditions are joined by AND, think of your segment criteria like a Venn diagram. The number below each criterion indicates the number of people in that circle within the Venn diagram. The Segment profiles count reflects the number of profiles that are in the area where the Venn diagram circles overlap.

When all conditions are joined by AND, your Segment profiles count cannot be larger than the smallest criterion count. It is also possible for your Segment profiles count to be 0, even if each criterion count is a large number.

With OR, profiles only need to meet 1 of the joined conditions. The count below an OR-connected group includes profiles matching any condition in that group, so it can exceed the count for a single condition. If you join several groups with AND, profiles must match at least 1 condition in each group. Learn more in the AND vs. OR reference.

Consider these examples:

• If someone can or cannot receive marketing > can receive > email marketing AND If someone can or cannot receive marketing > cannot receive > email marketing
  In this example, the criteria are mutually exclusive. There are many profiles that can receive email marketing, and many profiles that cannot receive email marketing (indicated by the criteria counts for each row), but there is no one who meets both criteria, so the Segment profiles count is 0.
• If someone can or cannot receive marketing > can receive > email marketing AND What someone has done (or not done) > Placed Order > at least once > in the last 30 days > where Collections includes any of Shoes
  In this example, the criteria count for the first criterion is high, because there are many emailable profiles in the account. However, only a few people have placed an order in the last 30 days for items in the Shoes collection. The Segment profiles count is slightly smaller than the criteria count for the second criterion, because some shoe purchasers are unable to receive email (e.g., they are unsubscribed or suppressed).

Additional resources