What are segments
Segments divide your mailing list into smaller, relevant audiences based on contact data and behaviour. As a result, contacts only receive campaigns that match their interests and engagement, which usually leads to more opens, clicks, and conversions.
Segments divide your mailing list into smaller, relevant audiences based on contact data and behaviour. As a result, contacts only receive campaigns that match their interests and engagement, which usually leads to more opens, clicks, and conversions.
A segment is a saved filter over your contacts. You define one or more rules — for example "Country" is "NL" and "addresses that clicked in the last 30 days" — and the segment automatically shows everyone who currently matches those rules. There is nothing to maintain by hand: as contacts change, the segment changes with them.
You combine rules with AND and/or OR. AND narrows the audience ("Country" = "NL" AND "clicked in the recent period"); OR widens the selection ("Country" = "NL" OR "Country" = "BE") — then both countries are included. You can group rules to build more complex conditions, such as "Country is NL OR BE AND opened the last campaign".
Creating a segment
- Click "New segment" and give the segment a name. Then choose the operator you want to build the groups with. If you pick the AND operator, the selection gets smaller with each rule in the group, because addresses must meet every condition. With OR it is exactly the other way around.
- Add one or more rules and pick a field for each rule. For example: "Subscribed on" is after 1 January 2026 AND "Company" is "Mailcamp". Everyone who subscribed after that date and belongs to the company Mailcamp is then included in the segment.
- You can also add a second group that filters with the OR operator. Click the "Add group" button and choose the operator you want. There you can specify, for example: "Subscriber tag" is "X" OR "Subscriber topic" is "Y". In this case everyone is selected who works at Mailcamp, subscribed after 1 January 2026, and has tag "X" or topic "Y" linked to their address.
- Then choose "Save". The overview shows how many addresses match these segment rules. It can sometimes take a moment before the contacts are loaded. If you choose "View subscribers" under "Actions", the matching addresses are shown listed one below the other.
Segments live inside a listEach segment belongs to one mailing list — it cannot mix contacts from multiple lists. If you need to reach across lists, build the same segment in each list and send the campaign to all of them.
Segments update themselvesMembership is recalculated every time the segment is used. A contact who matches today but no longer matches next week is automatically dropped — and vice versa. You never need to "refresh" a segment manually.
Combine with tags and topicsTags and topics are themselves rule inputs — "has tag = customer" or "has topic = product-news" can be one rule of a larger segment. This is how you build audiences like "customers interested in product news who joined in the last 60 days".
Why bother segmentingTargeted sends usually see higher open and click rates and fewer unsubscribes, because the content is more relevant to the people who receive it. Even a simple segment ("only customers", "only newsletter subscribers") tends to outperform sending to the full list.
Segments in use are protectedIf a segment is referenced by a campaign, tag, or topic, deleting it is blocked until those references are removed. The delete dialog tells you exactly where it is in use so you can clean up first.
Watch the audience sizeA very narrow segment may resolve to a handful of contacts — or zero, in which case the campaign cannot send. The "Subscribers in segment" view shows the current count; check it before scheduling to avoid surprises at send time.
Why is my segment empty?
No contacts currently match every rule. Open the segment, check the "Subscribers in segment" view, and try loosening one rule at a time to find the one that filters too aggressively.
Can a segment span multiple lists?
No — every segment belongs to exactly one list. To target the same audience across lists, recreate the segment in each list and send the campaign to all of them.
Do segments update automatically?
Yes. Membership is recomputed every time the segment is used. Contacts who newly match are picked up and those who no longer match are dropped — no manual refresh.
Can I delete a segment that's in use?
No — if a segment is referenced by a campaign, tag, or topic, deletion is blocked. The delete dialog lists every place it's used so you can clean those up first.
How do I express "(A or B) and C"?
Use grouping. Build an OR-group containing the A and B rules, then AND it with the C rule at the top level. The rule builder shows the grouping visually.
See also
Updated about 9 hours ago