How do you create a segment?

Required tools

• Customer Insights – Journeys — Access to create segments.
• Clean customer data — The segment is only as good as the fields it is based on.

Define the rule

1. 1.Write the criterion in plain language first

   Put into words who you want to reach before you build anything: all contacts at customers in the construction industry who have made a purchase in the past two years and have given their consent. If you cannot say it in one sentence, the segment has not been thought through.

2. 2.Check that the fields exist and are filled in

   If you want to segment by industry, the customers' industry must be registered. If the field is empty for half of them, the segment will only include half of the customers it should. This is the most common reason why a segment ends up being suspiciously small.

3. 3.Always include consent in the criterion

   Consent should be part of the rule, not something that is checked manually afterwards. This prevents the segment from being used incorrectly by accident.

Build and verify

1. 4.Create the segment and look at the count

   If the figure is significantly higher or lower than expected, it is almost always the rule or the data quality that is wrong—not reality. Investigate before using it.

2. 5.Browse a selection of members

   Open ten random entries in the segment and assess whether they actually belong there. This spot check reveals errors that the numbers alone conceal.

3. 6.Give the segment a name others will understand

   Six months from now, a colleague should be able to tell what the segment contains without opening the rule. Describe what it is, not what it was once intended to be used for.