Create a Segment Manually
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Build a segment using the Visual Builder.
- Use direct and related attributes to define filters.
- Combine filters with AND/OR logic and publish the segment.
Create a Segment Manually
Now that you understand the core concepts behind segmentation, this unit works through how a marketer defines an audience using the Visual Builder. You explore the key setup choices, learn how different attributes shape your filters, and learn how logic rules work together to form a complete segment definition. By understanding each part of the process, you can design audiences that accurately reflect the customers you want to reach.
Start a New Segment
When you’re ready to define a new audience, the first step is choosing the right setup options in the Segmentation Canvas. These selections determine how your segment processes data and which records it evaluates.
At this point in his work at Northern Trail Outfitters (NTO), marketing specialist Paulo Santino relies on these setup choices to make sure he starts with clean, unified data. If he chooses incorrectly, his filters might evaluate the wrong records or overlook important customer activity.
For example, a segment meant to target recent buyers could miss customers who purchased through the mobile app if the wrong data source is selected. Or it might pull in outdated behavior if the lookback window is too short. Paulo needs confidence that the segment will evaluate the full, accurate picture of each customer, whether they shopped online last week, joined a loyalty event in store, or engaged with an email campaign yesterday. Understanding the setup is an important part of building segments that reflect the desired audience.
You start by selecting Standard Segment, which is the standard option for most marketing use cases and uses a two-year lookback window. This gives you access to a broad and reliable history of customer activity, which is helpful when your filters rely on past engagement or long-term behavior patterns.
Then, you choose the Unified Individual ruleset to serve as the foundation for your segment. This is the same Unified Individual configuration you set up earlier, which determines how customer records are resolved and related through Data 360. By building your segment on this unified data model, your filters evaluate connected customer profiles based on the configuration you select.
By choosing these options—Standard Segment, and Unified Individual—you establish the data source, scope, and structure your segment will use. With the setup complete, you’re now ready to define audience filters in the Visual Builder.
Add Filters
With your segment setup defined, the next step is choosing the criteria that identify your audience. The Visual Builder organizes all available data into attributes, which you use to describe the people you want to include.
At NTO, Paulo depends on these attributes to translate real marketing questions into clear data rules. When he wants to find customers who browsed hiking boots last week or people who opened a recent gear announcement, he needs to understand which attributes reflect those behaviors and how to combine them. Filters are how he turns those ideas into a usable audience.
- Direct attributes come from fields stored on the Unified Individual profile. These are details that belong directly to the person—such as email address, location, or subscription status. Because they’re part of the unified profile, these attributes represent core customer details used for segmentation.
- Related attributes come from objects such as Accounts and Opportunities, or engagement data like opens and clicks. These attributes let you incorporate broader context into your segment, such as a customer’s purchasing history or recent interactions with your brand.
By choosing the right mix of direct and related attributes, you can describe the exact criteria your audience must meet. Whether you are filtering by demographics, behavior, or past activity, your attribute selections shape both the first layer of your segment’s definition and how the audience is evaluated based on the criteria you select.
Apply Logic
While filters define the basic criteria for your audience, logic determines how those criteria work together. In the Visual Builder, you use logic rules and aggregations to refine your segment so it reflects the exact group you want to target.
Concept | What It Does | Example |
|---|---|---|
AND Logic | Narrows the audience by requiring all conditions to be true. | Customers who browsed camping gear AND purchased within the last month. |
OR Logic | Broadens the audience by allowing any condition to qualify. | Customers who engaged with the last newsletter OR the most recent promotional email. |
Aggregations | Evaluates related records that may occur multiple times for the same individual. | Count is at least one purchase, email click, or event attendance. |
Container Paths | Defines the path to access data within your model. | Select the shipping address field on a contact record for personal information, or the shipping address on the contact’s account record for their business details. |
Preview Results | Shows a sample of records that match your logic before publishing. | Review preview data to confirm the audience size and composition match expectations. |
Save and Publish
Once your filters and logic are in place, the final step is preparing your segment for use in campaigns. Start by giving your segment a clear, descriptive name. A good name helps your team understand the segment’s purpose and recognize it later in Flow Builder or reporting.
At NTO, Paulo relies on naming conventions to keep segments organized. If he is building a segment for customers who recently browsed winter coats, for example, a name like Winter 2025_Outdoor Gear_Email Campaign helps his team quickly identify it when planning seasonal campaigns and reduces confusion when segments are reused or updated.
Next, decide whether the segment should update automatically. Choose a Standard refresh cadence for scheduled updates, or select Rapid if your use case depends on near real-time activity. Paulo uses Standard refresh for most ongoing programs, such as monthly loyalty emails. He switches to Rapid when the campaign depends on timely interactions, like identifying customers who clicked a new product announcement within the last few hours. If you don’t need a scheduled refresh, you can skip this step and publish manually, or rely on a Flow to refresh the segment when it runs.
Before publishing, review the preview results to understand how your logic evaluates the audience. The preview provides a sample of matching records so you can review how filters and container paths are being applied. Paulo often catches issues at this stage, such as segments that are too broad or too restrictive.
After confirming the results, save and publish your segment. Once published, the segment can be used as an audience source in a Flow or applied to a campaign.
You have now learned how segments are structured in Marketing Cloud Next, from defining filters and logic to preparing a segment for use. The next unit explains how segments connect to Flows and guide campaign automation.