Creating a Segment | Apsis Knowledge base

A Segment is a dynamic filter that captures the Profiles matching a set of conditions at the moment the Segment is used. As Profile data changes, Segment membership updates automatically — you don't need to refresh or rebuild it. This article walks through how to create one from scratch, the condition types available, and how to combine them.

In this article, you'll find how to create and name a Segment, how to set conditions using Properties (Subscription, Attributes, Tags) and Events, how to use the AND/OR logic and include/exclude rows, plus a use cases reference and a troubleshooting table for the most common issues.

How to create a Segment

Go to Audience > Segments and click Create segment.
Click on Untitled Segment to name it. Give it a name that reflects the character of the Profiles it captures (for example, VIP customers — Sweden).
Set conditions using the Properties or Events tab in the left side menu.

Under Properties you'll find Subscription, Default Attributes, Custom Attributes, and Tags. Under Events you'll find Response Data, Website Interaction, Consent Timeline, Event tool interactions, Forms & Pages interactions, Custom Events, and Achievements.

Drag the Property or Event you want to use into the Segment canvas.
Click the cogwheel icon on the condition to open its settings and refine it.

⚠️ Case sensitive: All text-based values in conditions are case sensitive. Sustainability and sustainability are treated as different values.

Preview or calculate the Segment

To see how many Profiles match the current conditions, use the bottom bar of the Segment Builder:

Calculate — returns the count of matching Profiles.
Show Profiles — opens a preview of the Profiles in the Segment.

Every time you change a condition, click Calculate again to get the updated number.

⚠️ Note: The calculated Profile count includes all Profiles in the Account regardless of Subscription status. To see how many Profiles are actually opted in, either add Subscription -> state -> Opt-in for the subscription you aim to send to OR use the Send to step in the Email tool — the count there only includes Profiles opted in to the chosen Subscription(s).

Using Subscription in a Segment

The Subscription condition (under Properties) captures Profiles with a specific consent state.

Drag Subscription into the canvas and open it with the cogwheel.
Select the Subscription from the dropdown. Choose the Email or SMS channel.
Click Add attribute data and select state.
Choose the consent state: Opt-in, Pending opt-in, Opt-out, etc. Click OK to save.

⚠️ Note: As with all Attribute-based Segments, setting the include/exclude option to minus means the Segment searches across all Sections in your Account.

Using Attributes in a Segment

Attributes hold data about a Profile — name, email, country, shoe size, customer tier, anything you've defined in your Data Model. The condition options change based on the Attribute type.

Drag an Attribute into the canvas. As it stands, the Segment captures all Profiles with any value in that Attribute.
Click the cogwheel icon to refine.

Attribute types and operators

Attribute type	Operators available	Example
Text	Equal to, Not equal to, Contains, Starts with, Ends with	Interest Equal to Sustainability
Number (incl. decimal)	Equals, Not equal, Greater than, Greater or equal, Less than, Less or equal	Shoe size Equals 38
Date	Specific date, before/after, between	Signup date After 1 Jan 2026
Timestamp	Time range with hours/minutes	Registered Between 09:00 and 17:00
True/False	True, False	Is member True

💡 Tip: For advanced text pattern matching (multiple values, partial matches with logic), see Regex Segmentation.

Using Tags in a Segment

A Tag is simpler than an Attribute — either a Profile has it or it doesn't. Think of it as a sticker or label.

Drag the Tag into the canvas to capture all Profiles with that Tag.
Click the plus/minus icon on the condition to switch between has the Tag (+) and does not have the Tag (−).

💡 Tip: You don't need a Segment to use a Tag in most other activities. Tags can be applied directly during a send or from a Marketing Automation flow.

Using Events in a Segment

Events capture behaviour: how a Profile responded to a campaign, what they did on your website, what they submitted in a form. Found under the Events tab in the left side menu.

Event categories

Event category	What it captures
Response Data	How Profiles responded to emails, SMS, or moved through a Marketing Automation flow (sent, opened, clicked, bounced, unsubscribed)
Website Interaction	Data collected by the Apsis tracking script — page views, time on page, clicks
Consent Timeline	When and how a Profile gave consent through a Form
Event tool	Event statuses such as Registered, Received confirmation, Attended
Forms & Pages	Views, submissions, and response values
Survey	Survey submit, survey responses
Custom Events	Any custom events you've set up in your Data Model
Achievements	Achievements awarded through Marketing Automation flows

Event Versions

If a Form, Product View, or Custom Event has been changed, a new Event Version is created. When you use one of these in a Segment, a Version dropdown appears so you can select which version to use. Read more about Event Versions.

Refining an Event condition: What, When, How Often

Once you've dragged an Event into the canvas, the cogwheel opens three tabs:

Tab	What it controls	Example
What	The data inside the event	URL string Contains "sustainability"
When	The timeframe	In the last 30 days, or between two dates
How Often	The frequency	At least 5 times, or exactly once

Example: pageview Segment

Goal: capture all Profiles who visited the Sustainability section of your website at least 5 times in the last 30 days.

Open the Events tab and locate Website Interactions > Page view.
Drag Page view into the canvas.
Click the cogwheel, then Add event data.
Select URL string, choose Contains, type sustainability.
Open the When tab — set the range to the last 30 days.
Open the How Often tab — set frequency to at least 5.
Click OK, then Calculate to see the count.

AND/OR logic

When you have more than one condition, the AND/OR connector appears between them. Click it to switch between the two.

Logic	Captures Profiles who…	Typical use
AND	Match all conditions	Narrow targeting — VIP customers in France who opened the last campaign
OR	Match any condition	Broader reach — anyone tagged VIP, or who has spent over €500

Include and Exclude rows

Including or excluding a single condition

Click the + icon on a single condition to switch between include (+) and exclude (−).

Example: the row below captures all Profiles with Country France AND who are NOT tagged VIP.

Including or excluding a whole row

The first + icon on the row controls whether the entire row's conditions are included or excluded.

Include (+) — capture Profiles who match the conditions in the row.
Exclude (−) — capture Profiles who do not match the conditions in the row.

Some simple examples:

All profiles with an email address:

Include all profiles with an email address that ends with efficy.com:

Exclude anyone with an email address that ends with efficy.com:

Exclude anyone that does not have an email address that ends with efficy.com (basically the same as include anyone who has an email address that ends with efficy.com):

⚠️ Important: When a row is set to exclude, the AND/OR connector inside that row flips too. Country equals France OR tagged VIP inside an excluding row will exclude all Profiles that have France AND are tagged VIP. The OR becomes AND when the row is excluded.

Create a Segment from an Email report

You can build a Segment directly from an Email report — for example, to follow up with everyone who clicked a specific link in your last campaign, or to retarget Profiles who didn't open.

Open the Email report for the campaign you want to use.
Find the metric you want to base the Segment on (Opens, Clicks, Bounces, Unsubscribes).
Click the Create Segment option for that metric.
The Segment Builder opens with the relevant condition pre-filled. Adjust or add more conditions as needed, then save.

💡 Tip: This is the fastest way to create follow-up Segments for re-engagement campaigns or to clean up your audience after a send.

Common use cases

A few of the most useful Segments to have in your library:

Use case	Conditions	Used for
Active subscribers	Subscription state = Opt-in AND opened or clicked an email in the last 90 days	Send-to lists for regular campaigns
Inactive Profiles	Email sent in last 6 months AND NOT (opened OR clicked) in last 6 months	Re-engagement campaigns; list hygiene
Hard bounces	Bounce event with BounceReason starts with "Hard"	Cleaning the audience to protect deliverability
Recent website visitors	Page view in last 7 days, frequency ≥ 1	Retargeting and triggered flows
Profiles missing data	Attribute (e.g. First name) equal to empty	Data enrichment campaigns

For step-by-step examples of these and more, see Segmentation Use Cases.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Likely cause	Fix
Segment count is 0 but I expected Profiles	Case-sensitive value mismatch in a text Attribute	Check the exact casing of the value (VIP vs vip) and re-enter it
Calculated count is much larger than the send size	Calculate counts all Profiles, regardless of Subscription	Check the count in the Email tool's Send to step — it filters by opted-in Profiles only
Segment behaves unexpectedly when row is set to exclude	AND/OR logic flips when a row is excluded	Re-read the row as the system applies it. If unsure, split into two simpler rows instead
Event condition returns no matches even though the event clearly happened	Wrong Event Version selected	Check the Version dropdown and select the correct one — or "Any version" if not sure
Segment used in Marketing Automation but no Profiles enter the Node	Segment exceeds the 500,000 Profile limit	Narrow the conditions to bring the count under 500,000
Calculate button takes a long time	Many complex Event conditions, large audience	Wait for the calculation to complete. Simplify the Segment if it consistently times out

What's next?

Segmentation Use Cases — Step-by-step examples of the most-used Segments (Unsubscribed, Bounces, Inactive Profiles).
Regex Segmentation — Advanced text pattern matching for power users.
Export Profiles — Export the Profiles in a Segment for offline use or list hygiene.