Create a marketing segment (deprecated)

  • Updated

Deprecated

Visitor Intelligence is deprecated and no longer supported. Contact your sales representative or customer success manager for migration options to Optimizely Data Platform (ODP).

A segment is a collection of user profiles that you can use to target website content and optimize your online campaigns. For example, you can create a segment for visitors that have previously responded to a campaign and display a loyalty discount code for returning visitors only, see personalize content and use audiences.

Segments are dynamic. If you create a segment with the criteria visitors from Sweden, two visits within the last fortnight, the profiles change as new visitors view the site and previous visitors do not return.

The Segments view shows recently created segments and segments labeled as your favorites. To designate a segment as a favorite, select the star icon Image: star icon. You can search and filter segments.

Image: Episerver Insight Segments view

Create a segment by filtering visitor profile data

You can create a segment by filtering visitor activity and historical data.

  1. Select the filters from the Contact, Last Seen, Country, and Visitor Group columns in the Profiles view.

    Image: Columns in the Profiles view

  2. Click Save as segment.... The Create a Segment From Filter dialog box displays.

    Image: Create a Segment From Filter dialog box

  3. Enter a name for the segment or accept the filled-in value.
  4. Select Available in visitor groups if you want the segment to be used in audiences.
  5. Click Create. The segment displays in the Segments view.

    Image: New segment in the Segments view

Create a segment based on filter definition

Using filter definitions lets you create advanced segments based on visitor activity, historical data, and profile data. For example:

  • visitors who have bought a specific product during a specified period,
  • users who have ever opened any campaign email or
  • visitors with abandoned carts today.

Optimizely Visitor Intelligence comes with a default set of shared filter definitions based on best practices of using track events in common scenarios. Still, developers can also create customized filter definitions specifically for your website. In the user interface, you will see the shared (built-in) filter definitions that are compatible with the Optimizely products you have installed and those customized for your website. 

You can create segments based on these reusable filter definitions and tracked statistics from visitor groups. The images in this section are examples, and your user interface may look different.

  1. In the Segments view, click Create a Segment. The Segment filters view displays. On the right side are categories you can expand to see the shared and customized filters available for your website.

    Image: Segment filters view

  2. Select a filter definition from one of the categories. Its parameters display in the view.
  3. Fill in the parameters as applicable.
  4. You can add a time and occurrence filter to limit the matching profiles in the segment further.
  • Time – The time filter lets you combine an event with a time range, such as "Customers who spent more than $100 within the last 7 days". The time when the event occurred is used for filter definitions based on events. The Last Seen property in the profiles is used for filter definitions based on profile data. If you set specific dates, the times are 00:00:00 on the start day and 23:59:59 on the end day. If you set the number of days, for example, within the last 7 days, the segments include matching profiles from 00:00:00 on the start day up until now.

    You can set the following time frames under First visit:

    • anytime – A time range is not specified.
    • between – Between a specific start and end date.
    • before – Before a specific date.
    • after – After a specific date.
    • within the last – Within the last number of days.

      Image: Time range filter

  • Occurrence

    This type of filter only works on event filter segments where the occurrence of profiles is countable. You will get a warning message ("Warning: This filter may include an aggregation. Adding occurrence parameter can return incorrect results.") when a filter definition does not support an occurrence filter.

    You can specify the following types of occurrences under Occurrence:

    • equal – Occurrence equals the specified value exactly. For example, "equal 3 times" can filter out customers who have placed exactly 3 orders and include those in the segment.
    • more than or equal – Occurrence is more than or equal to the specified value. For example, the occurrence filter "more than or equal 3 times" can filter out customers who placed 3 or more orders and include those in the segment.
    • less than or equal – Occurrence is at least once and less than or equal to the specified value. For example, "less than or equal 3 times" can filter out customers who have placed 1, 2, or 3 orders and include those in the segment.

      Image: Occurrence filter

  • Click Preview to see which profiles the filter affects.

    The Preview of profiles view displays up to 1000 profiles that match the filter criteria.

    Image: Segment filters preview

  • Give the segment a name and description, and click Save.

    Image: Name the filter

    The segment is saved and added to the Segments view.

    After you create a segment based on event data, a cache of matching profiles is built for the segment. This cache is refreshed daily.

Edit a segment

You can edit the attributes of a segment from its context menu in the Segments view. You can also click the individual segment to modify its attributes. Optimizely Visitor Intelligence automatically saves actions you make. If you have pending changes in your draft, click Apply changes.

  • Title – Edit the title of the segment.
  • Description – Enter a description of the segment.

    You can apply additional attributes through the Actions menu.

    Image: Episerver Insight edit segment titles

  • Archive – Select this option to remove the segment from the Segments view. Refresh the page to update the list. You can deselect this option in the Archive view to restore the segment to the Segments view.
  • Available in visitor groups – Use this segment in visitor groups.
  • Manager – Choose the person you want to manage this segment.
  • Duplicate – Create a copy of the segment that you can modify to create a segment.

Use a segment as a visitor group

When you create a segment, you can make it available to visitor groups in Optimizely CMS. When available there, you can set up a visitor group that uses this segment as a criterion and then personalize your website content for this visitor group specifically.

You need administration rights to set up audiences (visitor groups).

For example, if you want to use the Black Friday traffic segment that you created in the previous example, follow these steps:

  1. Make sure that you set Available in visitor groups for the segment you want to use as a visitor group. This is so it shows up in the Member of Segment criteria.
  2. Go to CMS > Visitor groups in the top menu and click Create to create a visitor group.
  3. Drag the Member of Segment criterion from the Insight Criteria tab in the panel on the right and drop it into the Drop new criterion here.

    Image: Drag and drop new criterion

    1. Select the segment you want from the Segment Membership drop-down list.
    2. Name the visitor group, add other criteria if necessary, and then save the visitor group.
  4. Personalize the content described in the CMS Audiences topic and select your visitor group from the list. See also Optimizely Recommendations.

Use a segment as a target group in Optimizely Campaign

If you have Optimizely Campaign, you can use segments from Optimizely Visitor Intelligence as target groups for your campaigns in Smart Campaigns and Marketing Automation. See Use marketing segments as target groups for mailing campaigns.