Segments

What it does

A segment is a saved set of conditions or a customer list that picks out the customers you want to reach, ready to reuse on any campaign.

When to use it

Use it when you want to message part of your customer base rather than everyone: one region, one store type, the accounts on a particular price band, or a list of specific customer references you have been given. Build the segment once, then pick it as the audience on as many campaigns as you like.

Condition-based segments match customers on their attributes, so keep those up to date first. See Customers and Import WhatsApp customers.

Steps

Create a conditions segment

1. Open WhatsApp → Segments and select New Segment, then Conditions.
2. Enter a Name, up to 120 characters. Use something a colleague would recognise on a campaign, for example North stores.
3. Choose a Tag (optional) to group this segment with related work, or leave it on No tag. See Tags.
4. Under Segment conditions, stay on the Builder tab and add your rules, as described below.
5. Check the Matching customers: figure underneath, which updates as you edit.
6. Select Create Segment.

You land on the new segment's page.

Build the conditions

The Builder tab starts with one group. Everything inside a group is joined by the Match setting at the top of it: All of the following means a customer must satisfy every rule in the group, Any means one is enough.

1. Select Add rule.
2. Open Attribute and pick a key from Select attribute key. Use Search attributes if the list is long.
3. Open Value and pick from Select value. Until a key is chosen the box reads Select a key first.
4. Repeat for each rule you need.
5. To combine conditions differently, select Add group for a nested group with its own All or Any setting, for example region is North and (store type is Convenience or Forecourt).
6. Remove anything you no longer want with the bin icon beside a rule, or Remove group on a nested group.

The lists are built from the attributes on your own customers and show the first 200 matches, so type into Search attributes or Search values to find one that is not shown. If searching still does not find it, the attribute is not on any customer yet — add it to the customers first.

Leaving the conditions empty matches every customer.

Create a customer list segment

Customer list segments target customers selected by reference in your ERP, CRM or accounts package. Use Conditions instead when you want an audience that follows customer attribute rules.

1. Open WhatsApp → Segments, choose New Segment, then Customer list.
2. Enter a Name and, optionally, choose a Tag.
3. Paste Customer references, or use Upload references to append a CSV or text file containing references only. Separate references with commas, new lines, spaces, tabs or semicolons. A leading reference column heading is ignored.
4. Check the reference count and choose Create Segment.
5. Review the matched, unmatched and invalid counts, then choose View segment.

Duplicate references count once, and matching ignores capitalisation. References must be 36 characters or fewer. The report lists up to 1,000 unmatched references; Download unmatched saves that same list. Counts include every submitted reference even when the report is shortened. Invalid entries are shown separately.

The segment's Customers card shows its member count and the first 100 references. Export includes only contacts with marketing consent who can receive messages, so its count can be smaller than the customer list.

To update a list, open the segment, choose Edit, then Add to current list or Replace current list. Paste or upload the new references and choose Update Segment. Leave references blank to change only the name or tag. A segment's type cannot be changed after creation.

If references are unmatched, check their spelling and confirm the customers have been imported, then add the references again. Unmatched references do not join the segment automatically. If an upload is too large, split it into two segments with at most 4 MB per upload. Selecting several segments creates a separate campaign for each segment, so contacts in overlapping segments can receive the campaign more than once. See Scheduled campaigns.

Find a segment

1. Open WhatsApp → Segments.
2. Type into Search segments.... The list narrows as you type and matches the name only.
3. Use the tag filter (All tags) to show one or more tags, or Untagged. Once something is selected, Clear filter removes the filter.
4. Select a name to open the segment.

Edit a segment

1. Open the segment and select Edit.
2. Change the Name, Tag (optional) or conditions, then select Update Segment. For a customer list, use Add to current list or Replace current list as described above.

Editing changes who the segment matches from now on. Campaigns already sent are unaffected. If a campaign is already scheduled against this segment, check it on WhatsApp → Scheduled before you change the rules.

Export the opted-in contacts

1. Open the segment and select Export.
2. Choose Excel (.xlsx) or CSV (.csv).

The file lists one row per contact who matches the segment and holds marketing consent, with the customer reference and the phone number. Contacts without consent are left out, and so are contacts whose number has stopped being deliverable. See Consent.

To take a copy of the segment list itself, with all its figures, use Export on WhatsApp → Segments instead. It follows whatever search, tag filter and comparison date are on screen.

Delete a segment

1. Open the segment and select Delete.
2. In Delete segment?, select Delete to confirm, or Cancel to keep it.

What you'll see

The list on WhatsApp → Segments shows, for each segment:

Segments are listed alphabetically, 10 to a page, with pagination above and below the table. The count names any filter you have on, for example Showing 1–10 of 18 segments tagged Retail. With no segments yet you'll see "No segments yet. Segments created for this company will appear here.", and a search or tag filter that matches nothing shows "No segments match these filters."

The two consent columns also show the change since a comparison date: the current figure, the rise or fall against Previous, and the percentage. By default the comparison is 30 days ago. Set Comparison date and select Apply to compare against a different day. Reset, which appears once a custom date has been applied, goes back to the default.

A segment's own page repeats those figures under Metrics, with its plain-text Description, Tag and creation date under Segment overview, and the same rules in their raw JSON form under Conditions for a conditions segment. A customer list instead shows its members under Customers.

If something goes wrong

• "Fix invalid rules before saving.": one rule is incomplete. Check every rule has both an Attribute and a Value, then save again.
• A rule shows Missing: that attribute key or value no longer exists on any customer. Pick a current one, or restore the attribute on your customers.
• A rule shows Unable to verify: the attribute list could not be loaded just then. Reload the page and check the rule again before saving.
• "Unable to load attributes." or "Unable to load values.": the lists could not be fetched. Close the picker, reopen it, and reload the page if it persists.
• Matching customers shows 0: the conditions are stricter than you intended. Switch a group from All to Any, or remove a rule, and watch the figure change.
• Customers match but Contacts with Marketing Consent is 0: the accounts have no opted-in contact. See Consent.
• A contact you expected is missing from the export: they either have no marketing consent or their number has been marked as no longer deliverable. See Consent.
• An export fails with "We couldn't export. Please try again." or "Audience figures are unavailable right now. Please try again.": try again in a few minutes; if it keeps failing, contact your onboarding manager.
• Figures show "Data unavailable" or a dash: the totals could not be worked out just then. Reload the page, and if it persists contact your onboarding manager.
• Description reads "Unable to parse conditions", or the contact export reports it cannot read the segment's conditions: the segment's rules are not readable. Open Edit, rebuild the conditions on the Builder tab and save, then export again.
• "JSON needs attention." or "Fix JSON before switching to the builder.": you are on the JSON tab and the text is not a valid set of conditions. Correct it, or undo your change, before switching back to Builder or saving.
• Counts look out of date: audience totals are recalculated about once an hour, so they can trail a very recent import or consent change. The Matching customers: figure on the form is always live.

The JSON tab

Segment conditions has a JSON tab alongside Builder, showing the same rules as text. The Builder tab has a read-only Conditions JSON preview of the same thing. Use the JSON tab only when someone has given you conditions to paste in; anything you can build on the Builder tab is easier to check there.

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