Segmentations

Segmentation

INDEX

Segmentation

Segmentation is one of the most useful features to make email marketing campaigns as effective as possible and to improve the reputation of our mailings.

This feature allows you to select the segment, or group, of subscribers who will respond best to your mailing, resulting in better outcomes (more opens , more clicks ).

To create segmentations in Mailrelay, simply go to Subscribers > Segmentation. There you will find the main Segmentation window, where you can manage previously created segmentations as well as create new ones.

What is a segment and how does it differ from groups?

There is a fundamental difference between segments and groups:

Segments include contacts who meet specific conditions that you define. If contacts stop meeting these conditions, they leave the segment. If other contacts start meeting them, they join it. It is dynamic.
Groups are a set of subscribers that you have imported or created as a static version of a segment. They do not change; they always contain the same contacts (until you make changes).

Let's take a look now at how you can create a subscriber segment in Mailrelay.

Create a Segment

If you are already on the Subscribers > Segmentation page, click on the Add button.

You will see a screen similar to the one in the image below.

First, give the segment a name; this is for internal use only and will help you identify it, for example, "Contacts who have not opened the last newsletter".

The most important parts of the segment are the condition groups and the conditions.

Condition groups: encompass a set of conditions within themselves.
Conditions: are the parameters, or variables, that will allow you to filter out precisely the contacts you want (those who have opened an email, those who have a specific custom field, etc.).

How are condition groups and conditions related to each other?

In the case of condition groups, you can set "Match all" or "Match any".

What does this mean?

If you choose "Match all", a contact must fulfill—meaning they are true—all condition sets to be included in this segment. This acts as an "AND" condition for those used to working with logical systems.

If you choose "Match any", the contact will be added to the group if they meet the conditions of any single condition group. In other words, it functions as a logical "OR".

Inside the condition groups, the behavior is exactly the same:

You can select "Match all" so that all conditions must be met for the group to evaluate as true.
Or "Match any" so that the entire group evaluates as true if just a single condition is met.

In the image below, you can see an example of what we have been discussing:

In this case, this segment works with two condition groups: if either of the two is true, the contact will be included in the segment.

Since the option is set to "Match any", fulfilling just one of the two condition groups is sufficient.

Let's look at the groups:

First Group: The contact has not opened the specified newsletter AND belongs to the selected group. Both conditions must be met for the group to be true. If one is true and the other is not, it will evaluate as false because the "Match all" option is selected.

Second Group: The contact has not clicked on the newsletter AND belongs to the selected group. Likewise, both conditions must be met.

Therefore, within these condition groups, given the selected options, all conditions must be fulfilled.

However, at the segmentation level, since matching any condition group works for us, only one of the two condition groups needs to be true.

You can keep adding conditions by clicking Add condition or Add condition group. If you want to delete a condition, simply click on the red trash icon:

Or delete a condition group:

Parts of a Condition

Conditions follow this format:

Condition: Here you select the type of condition, which can be based on subscriber values (group membership, name, custom field...) or their actions (opens, clicks, etc.).
Options and Values: Depending on the condition, you will need to select the remaining parameters, such as the specific group you are looking for, or whether they opened a specific newsletter. You only need to fill in the options you require.

Basically, a condition consists of a first part where the main condition is selected (via a dropdown menu), and based on that selection, new modifiers appear to define the condition.

Some examples could be:

Subscriber belongs to group <-> Personal contacts (where the main condition is Subscriber belongs to group and the modifier is the name of the desired group).
Subscriber's name <-> Blank (the main condition is Subscriber's name and the modifier is that we do not have their name, meaning the name field is blank).

However, it can have two modifiers:

Subscriber clicked a link in the newsletter <-> Specific newsletters <-> Welcome to my blog (the main condition is Subscriber clicked a link in the newsletter, the first modifier is Specific newsletters, and the second modifier is the name of the newsletter you choose to use from those you have sent).

Most Commonly Used Segments

Subscribers Who Haven't Opened a Specific Newsletter

To select subscribers who have not opened a specific newsletter, simply go to Subscribers > Segmentation > Add.

Enter a descriptive name in Name: (for example, Haven't opened the newsletter).

In Conditions, select either Match all or Match any interchangeably.

Next, select the condition Subscriber has not opened the newsletter and choose Any newsletter under Newsletter filter. After that, select Specific under Time range, which will display the Start time and End time options right below.

In these two options (Start time and End time), specify the time frame you want to filter by—in this example, three months.

Finally, you can create a new segment (Create segment) or create a new group (Create group):

Create segment: Segments are dynamic. Therefore, if a contact in the segment opens the specified newsletter after it has been created, they will automatically leave the segment.
Create group: In this case, groups are static. Once the group is created, contacts will remain in it even if they subsequently open the newsletter specified in the segmentation.

After creating the segment or group, you will be able to select them to send newsletters or use that information as you see fit.

Subscribers Inactive for Several Months

To find out which subscribers have been inactive for a specific period—three months, for example—simply go to Subscribers > Segmentation > Add.

Enter a descriptive name in Name: (for example, Inactive for three months).

In Conditions, select either Match all or Match any interchangeably.

In these two options (Start time and End time), specify the time frame you want to filter by—in this example, three months.

Finally, you can create a new segment (Create segment) or create a new group (Create group)