Blog

The latest from the MailBuild team

Segments have arrived, time to start targeting

Posted by David Greiner on June 26, 2007 12:06 PM

A few days back we snuck out the release of the brand new segments functionality in MailBuild. This new feature makes it easy for your clients to send much more targeted emails to their subscribers.

Segments work by building rules around the types of subscribers you'd like to target. These rules are based around the data you store on each subscriber, such as email address, interests, amount spent, etc and also campaign activity, such as opening a past campaign. For example, if you have the data, it's easy to create a segment of all your female customers in Chicago who clicked the link to your online store in the last newsletter you sent.

Your segments can be as simple or as complex as you like, and they're a breeze for you and your clients to build with our step-by-step wizard. Once you or your clients create a segment, it will be available in the Define Recipients screen when sending your next newsletter. Here's a quick overview of the process.

1. Head into your list and click "Manage Segments"

Click on the Manage Subscribers tab, then select the list you'd like to create a segment for. Next, click the Manage segments link under List Options.

Click Manage Segments

2. Click to create a new segment

Click on the Create a new segment link on the right hand side.

Click to Create a new segment

3. Name the segment

Give the segment a recognizable name that describes the types of subscribers it will include.

Give your segment a name

4. Create your first rule

Create your first rule by selecting the type of rule you want to create and click the Create Rule button. If you have created custom fields for this list, or have previously sent a campaign to it, you will be able to create rules based on these elements too.

Create your first rule

5. Add the rest of your rules for the segment

Based on the type of rule you create, you'll be presented with different options, such as greater than, equals, is provided and contains. If you've already sent a campaign to this list, you'll also have options based on past campaign behaviour, such as opening a recent newsletter or clicking a certain link.

Create your first rule

6. Send targeted emails just to that segment

Once you save your segment, it will be available in Step 3 of the Create/Send process. Just like sending to a complete subscriber list, you can select the checkbox next to your segment, and send the campaign just to those subscribers that meet the criteria you set for that segment.

Send targeted emails just to that segment

Enjoy! If you have any feedback or suggestions on how we can continue to improve the segments functionality, we'd love to hear it.

8 comments so far

Vernal

wrote on June 27, 2007 3:57 AM

Oh so hot. Officially hand-knitting my Mailbuild Jacket of Proselytization.

Dave Greiner

wrote on June 27, 2007 12:21 PM

We're holding you to that now Vernal! We want photos ;)

Alex

wrote on June 27, 2007 7:16 PM

Great news and fantastic work. Thanks all involved :)

Jez Swinscoe

wrote on July 7, 2007 2:47 AM

This feature is fantastic and long awaited for me - is there going to be an easy way to export the list of subscribers for a given segment?

That would be very useful for my clients

Dave Greiner

wrote on July 10, 2007 4:53 PM

Jez, thanks, glad you like it. Segment export functionality isn't in our short-term plan, but I've just added your request to our feature request tracker, and if we get a few more customers requesting the same thing it will certainly be considered.

Franck

wrote on February 28, 2008 5:57 AM

How to import subscribers into a specific segment

Dave Greiner

wrote on February 29, 2008 1:56 PM

Franck, if you're having trouble importing subscribers I recommend getting in touch with our support team through the Help section in your account.

Dave

wrote on October 5, 2008 4:02 AM

I agree. Exporting data for segments would be a fantastic addition.