Create list segments using data points related to your Leads and Contacts using CRM Segmentation. With this, you can market to segments of your Leads and Contacts which are more dynamic and targeted than a standard list segment. You can use criteria based on Campaign membership, Opportunities, Owners, Accounts, and other related objects (this will vary by CRM).

Read further to learn how to use this feature.

Prerequisites

Act-On Contacts Enabled or ABM

• Act-On Contacts should be enabled for your account, with a native sync active. If you don't yet use Act-On Contacts, complete the form here to request this feature activation. In this case you can also use Marketing Lists.
• If you do not have Act-On Contacts enabled for your account & only use Marketing Lists, you will need the Account Based Marketing (ABM) add-on feature. Contact your Account Manager for further assistance.

Other prerequisites

• An active connection with a supported CRM:
  • Salesforce
  • Microsoft Dynamics
  • SugarCRM
  • Netsuite
    
    Make sure that the connected CRM user has Read access to the CRM objects you'll be using for segmentation, such as Accounts and Opportunities.
• A recurring sync is set up in Data Management.
• CRM list(s) imported to Act-On.

Instructions

1. Either go to Contacts > All Contacts > New segment or go to Contacts > Marketing Lists & from the relevant Marketing List, select Create a Segment from the list menu.
2. In Manage Segment, build your segment query:
   • Select  CRM from the first dropdown menu
   • Select the object you wish to search against in the second menu. See CRM Object Relationships, below, for more information.
   • Select the field name
   • Select an operator (eg "equals", "contains", "starts with", "is between or equals", etc)
   • Specify the value. See also CRM Fields with Specific Values, below, for more information.
3. Name your segment.
4. Click Save.

CRM Object Relationships

When using a query to locate Contact or Lead records based on an associated Object, some limitations exist.

Objects with 1:1 relationships

Some CRM objects will have a one-to-one relationship with Contacts or Leads, such as Accounts. This means that for each Contact record, there can be only one Account record. Segmentation by this criteria will work as expected without limitations.

These objects vary by CRM but generally include:

• Account
• Owner

Objects with 1:Many relationships

Some objects will have a one-to-many relationship with Contacts or Leads, such as Opportunities. This means that for one Contact, there are multiple Opportunities.

Due to a more complex data relationship, segments using these objects may not include all records as expected. For example, if you segment criteria on whether an Opportunity exists for your Contact, you will find the associated Contacts. However, if you search for specific Opportunity criteria and a Contact has multiple Opportunities associated, you may not see all of the records you expect. This is a known limitation at this time.

These objects vary by CRM but generally include:

• Opportunities
• Campaigns

Depending on your CRM, there are workarounds to this, such as using a Dynamic Marketing List (Microsoft Dynamics), Saved Reports, or Campaigns (Salesforce), which can single out the qualifying contacts you wish to target.

CRM Fields with Specific Values

• Boolean Values: Data fields such as checkboxes will contain Boolean values.  Some CRMs use 0 and 1, while others will use TRUE and FALSE. You can see these values in the Data Management panel data preview. You may also consult your CRM administrator to confirm the correct Boolean values to search your data.
• Picklist Search: By default, picklist fields will provide a dropdown menu of the options available in your CRM. If you instead wish to search the picklist values, this can be changed to a text box. Contact Support to enable this change.

Troubleshooting

Why is my segment missing data?

There are several reasons that you may have issues with missing contacts that you expect to see in a segment.

Your data is not up-to-date in Act-On due to sync timing

You may be missing records due to incorrect sync timing, or an unscheduled sync run from the Data Management page. CRM segments rely on current CRM data, which is managed separately from the Data Management page. Please ensure that the sync is running regularly.

Best practice: Schedule the sync on the Data Management page to run just before your scheduled list sync to ensure all segments are promptly updated. Running the sync after the list sync, or less frequently, will delay segment updates.

See Data Management for more information.

Your search criteria may be incorrect

Make sure that your search conditions are correct. Common mistakes include:

• Typographical errors (also called typos)
• Flaws in the query logic (click here for more information)
• Incorrect Boolean values (see Notes on CRM Field Values above)
• Incorrect CRM object selected (eg Opportunities vs Opportunity Contact)
• The segment is on the incorrect list (eg Leads vs Contacts)

Your segment criteria may use an object with a 1:many relationship

Due to a more complex data relationship, segments using these objects may not include all records as expected. For example, if you segment criteria on whether an Opportunity exists for your Contact, you will find the associated Contacts. However, if you search for specific Opportunity criteria and a Contact has multiple Opportunities associated, you may not see all of the records you expect. This is a known limitation at this time.

These objects vary by CRM but generally include:

• Opportunities
• Campaigns

Depending on your CRM, there are workarounds to this, such as using a Dynamic Marketing List (Microsoft Dynamics), Saved Reports, or Campaigns (Salesforce), which can single out the qualifying contacts you wish to target.

Contact Support

If you have reviewed all of the reasons above and still need help, please contact our support team for additional assistance.