Segmenting by Engagement
Description
Engagement-based segmentation lets you build audience segments based on how contacts interact with your communications, not just who they are. Instead of relying solely on demographic or profile data, you can group contacts by their real behavior: who opens your emails, who clicks your links, who ignores your messages, and who has gone quiet.
This gives you the power to send the right message to the right people based on what they actually do.
Why It's Important
Traditional segmentation answers the question "Who is this person?" Engagement segmentation answers a far more actionable question: "How does this person interact with us?"
Improve Deliverability and Sender Reputation
Email providers like Gmail and Outlook watch how recipients interact with your messages. If you consistently send to people who never open or click, your sender reputation drops, and more of your emails land in spam. By segmenting on engagement, you can focus your sends on active contacts and protect your deliverability for the long term.
Increase Conversion Rates
A contact who clicked a link in your last three campaigns is far more likely to convert than someone who hasn't opened an email in six months. Engagement segments let you concentrate your highest-value offers and calls to action on the people most likely to act on them.
Reduce Unsubscribes and Complaints
Sending frequent messages to disengaged contacts is one of the fastest ways to drive unsubscribes and spam complaints. Engagement segmentation helps you dial back frequency for uninterested contacts, or re-engage them with a dedicated win-back campaign before they opt out entirely.
Spend Your Budget Where It Counts
Every message you send has a cost, whether that's a per-send fee or simply the time your team invests in creating content. Engagement segmentation ensures that investment goes toward the contacts who are paying attention.
Key Engagement Criteria
When building a segment, you can define conditions based on the following engagement signals:
| Criteria | Description | Example Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Opened a message | The contact opened a specific campaign or any campaign within a time window | Target contacts who opened your last product announcement |
| Did not open a message | The contact did not open a campaign or any campaign within a time window | Identify contacts who missed an important update for a re-send |
| Clicked a link | The contact clicked any link (or a specific link) in a campaign | Build a segment of high-intent contacts who clicked a pricing page link |
| Did not click a link | The contact received a campaign but did not click | Follow up with a different call to action for contacts who opened but didn't click |
| Engagement frequency | Number of opens or clicks over a defined period (e.g., last 30, 60, or 90 days) | Separate highly active contacts from occasionally engaged ones |
| Last engagement date | The date of the contact's most recent open or click | Find contacts whose last interaction was over 90 days ago for a win-back flow |
Step-by-Step Process
To create a segment based on engagement:
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In the left menu, select Audience, then Contacts
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Choose your list
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Select the Create a segment option
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Name your segment with a descriptive label (e.g., "Engaged - Last 30 Days" or "Inactive - 90+ Days")
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Under conditions, select Email activity or Link activity as your criteria:
- Email activity: Filter contacts by whether they received, opened, or didn't open specific campaigns or any campaign within a date range
- Link activity: Filter contacts by whether they clicked (or didn't click) links in your campaigns
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Configure the parameters for your condition:
- Set the time window for the lookback period (e.g., last 30 days, last 90 days, or a custom date range)
- Choose whether the condition applies to a specific campaign or to any campaign
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Combine multiple conditions using AND / OR logic to refine your segment further. For example, "Opened any email in the last 30 days AND clicked at least one link"
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Review the total number of matching recipients displayed next to the segment name
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Click Save and exit
Your segment will update dynamically: contacts enter or leave the segment automatically as their engagement changes over time.
To send a reminder to the contacts who did not open or click a specific campaign, see Following up with contacts who did not open or click.
Practical Use Cases
Reward Your Most Engaged Contacts
Create a segment of contacts who have opened and clicked at least 3 times in the last 30 days. Use this segment to:
- Offer early access to new features or products
- Send exclusive discount codes
- Invite them to a referral or loyalty program
These are your brand advocates, so treat them accordingly.
Re-Engage Dormant Contacts
Build a segment of contacts whose last engagement was more than 90 days ago. Launch a dedicated win-back campaign:
- Use a compelling subject line that acknowledges the gap (e.g., "We miss you, here's 20% off")
- Keep the email short and focused on a single action
- If they still don't engage after 2–3 attempts, consider suppressing them from regular sends to protect your deliverability
Optimize Send Frequency
Segment your audience into tiers based on engagement frequency:
- Highly engaged (5+ interactions in 30 days): these contacts can handle higher frequency. Send your full campaign calendar
- Moderately engaged (1–4 interactions in 30 days): stick to your most important messages only
- Low or no engagement (0 interactions in 30+ days): reduce to monthly or trigger a re-engagement flow
This approach respects your audience's attention while maximizing the impact of every send.
A/B Test by Engagement Level
Use engagement segments to run smarter A/B tests. For example, test whether a shorter subject line performs better with disengaged contacts, or whether a different call to action placement lifts click rates among your mid-tier segment. Testing within engagement tiers gives you more actionable insights than testing across your entire list.
Tips for Getting the Most Out of Engagement Segmentation
- Start simple. Begin with two segments: engaged (opened or clicked in the last 30 days) and disengaged (no activity in 90+ days). Expand from there as you learn
- Combine with profile data. Engagement segments become even more powerful when layered with demographic or behavioral attributes. For instance, "highly engaged contacts who purchased in the last 60 days" is a high-precision segment
- Review regularly. Engagement patterns shift over time. Revisit your segment definitions quarterly to make sure they still align with your goals
- Respect the disengaged. Suppressing chronically disengaged contacts is not losing audience; it's protecting the inbox placement of every other message you send
- Use engagement data to inform content. If a large portion of your audience opens but doesn't click, the issue may be your content or call to action, not your list. Let engagement metrics guide your creative decisions
Troubleshooting
Engagement segment shows zero contacts
- Make sure campaigns have been sent to generate engagement data
- Check that tracking pixels are not being blocked
- Verify the date range covers a period when campaigns were active
- Wait 24–48 hours for activity data to be fully processed
Contacts not entering the segment as expected
- Review your AND/OR logic for conflicting conditions
- Check that the time window is wide enough to capture activity
- Verify that open and click tracking is enabled on your campaigns
- Try creating a simpler segment with one condition first to test
Segment not updating dynamically
- Allow time for the system to process new engagement data
- Refresh the page or log out and log back in
- Check that new campaigns are being tracked correctly
- Contact support if the segment hasn't updated after 48 hours
Open tracking seems inaccurate
- Privacy features (such as Apple Mail Privacy Protection) can pre-load tracking pixels, inflating open counts
- Some email clients block tracking pixels entirely, underreporting opens
- Use click activity as a more reliable engagement signal when accuracy is critical
- Consider combining open and click conditions for a more balanced view
Related Articles
- Creating dynamic segments - Learn the basics of building segments
- Using tags to track engagement - Tag contacts based on their actions
- Adding attributes to your list - Combine engagement with custom data
- Understanding contact status - How contact status relates to engagement
- Tracking campaign performance - Measure the engagement metrics that drive segmentation
- Following up with contacts who did not open or click - Send a reminder to a "did not open" or "did not click" segment