Use Lists and Segments in Automated Programs

  • Updated

You can use lists and segments to control who enters your Automated Program, who exits it early, and how contacts move through different branches. This article explains how to add and manage lists and segments in your program and how they influence program flow.

Quick Reference (Advanced Users) - Click to Expand
  • Source Lists: Define who enters your program
  • Entry methods: Manual, Immediate, Scheduled
  • Immediate entry: Works with a single list only, not segments
  • Early Exits: Remove contacts automatically when they match criteria
  • Branching: Use lists or segments to create conditional paths
  • Build tab: Shows all lists and segments used anywhere in the program
  • Program must be stopped to update source lists
Try it like this: Use a segment of inactive contacts as your source, branch your program based on engagement segments, and add an Early Exit so active contacts drop out as soon as they re-engage.

Essentials to Get Started

  • Prepare your contact sources and email messages before designing your program.
  • Your program must be stopped to add or change Source Lists or Segments.
  • You can add new contacts to your program using:
    • Manual entry
    • Immediate entry (single list only)
    • Scheduled entry
  • List Segments cannot be used with Immediate entry.

Instructions

Add Source Segments or Lists

Source Lists and Segments determine who can enter your Automated Program.

  1. Go to Automation → Automated Programs and either create a new program or edit an existing one.
  2. Open the Settings tab and go to Contact Sources.
  3. Select Select Sources.
  4. Choose one or more lists or segments.
    • Use the search bar to find items quickly.
    • If sources are already selected, choose View selected to manage them.

Lists and Segments in the Build Tab

The Build → Lists and segments section shows every list and segment associated with your program, including:

  • Source Lists
  • Marketing Lists updated during program steps
  • Lists or Segments used in branch conditions

You can add additional lists or segments by clicking +Add List or Segment. You can also view or remove existing items as needed.

Early Exits

Early Exit conditions remove contacts from the program automatically once they meet specific criteria. These are useful when you want contacts to stop receiving messages after taking an action, such as converting or meeting a threshold.

To set up an Early Exit in the Automated Journey Builder:

  1. Open Build → Early exits.
  2. Click +Add Condition.
  3. Define the list or segment rule for the exit.
  4. Click Submit.
Contacts in a Wait step will complete their current wait before being moved into Early Exits. For details, see How to Use Early-Exit Conditions.

Use Segments and Lists for Branching

Lists and segments can direct contacts to different paths in your program using conditional branching.

  1. Open your program:
    • Go to Automation → Automated Programs, or
    • Open your program’s Dashboard and select Build → Program flow.
  2. Click Add new step icon Add new step at the position where a branch should occur.
  3. Select Branch in the Add New Step dialog.
  4. Name the branch step.
  5. Select a condition from the first dropdown.
  6. Select the list or segment to evaluate.

Branch condition dialog

  1. Click Submit to save the branch.

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