Segments in All Contacts: Overview

Segments are how you filter and group contacts in All Contacts. They’re used throughout Act-On to send targeted messages, trigger automation, and analyze results.

What Is a Segment?

A segment is a dynamic group of contacts that meet specific criteria — like geographic region, score threshold, email engagement, or CRM data. Segments help you focus on the right people, whether you're sending an email or triggering an automated program.

Where Segments Live

All your segments live inside the All Contacts view in Audience Center. You can organize them using:

• Folders – Custom folders and subfolders for campaigns, audiences, or time periods
• Subsegments – Child segments that inherit their parent’s audience and apply additional filters

Types of Segments

There are several ways to define a segment in All Contacts:

• Query Segment – Uses filters and logic to define your audience (e.g., “Score above 50 AND filled out form X”). These update automatically as contact data changes.
• Direct Select Segment – A fixed group of contacts you manually select. Best for one-off sends or VIP lists.
• A/B Split Segment – Randomly splits a parent segment into multiple parts for testing or staggered sending.
• System Segment – Prebuilt segments for opt-outs, bounces, and other deliverability categories. You can't delete or edit these.

Common Use Cases

• Target recent leads based on score and behavior
• Create suppression segments for hard bounces and opt-outs
• Run A/B tests with evenly split segments
• Organize segments into campaign-specific folders

Next Steps

• Create a New Segment
• Create A/B Split Segments
• Organize Segments in Folders
• Find and Understand Segments