About Pre-Built Segments

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Pre-built segments are automatically generated collections of contacts based on email engagement, purchase history, and other valuable information. Use these segments to send campaigns to contacts who have similar criteria.

In this article, you'll learn about pre-built segments and how to use them.

Definitions

Before you use pre-built segments, it’s helpful to understand these common terms.

Contact Someone in your audience with information stored in your account.

Subscribed contact Contacts who opt-in to receive email marketing.

Segment A section of your audience that includes contacts with common audience field information.

Pre-built segment An automatically generated segment based on contact information or activity.

Email builder The part of Mailchimp you'll use to create, design, and send a regular email, automation, or landing page. The email builder has different sections where you'll choose recipients, set up email information, choose a template, add content, and send or schedule delivery.

Ad builder The part of Mailchimp you'll use to create a social media ad campaign. The ad builder has different sections where you'll choose an audience, add content, and schedule your ad.

Predicted demographics A Mailchimp feature included with the Standard plan or higher. Predicted demographics uses data science to predict the gender and age of your contacts. To learn more, check out About Predicted Demographics.

How pre-built segments work

Mailchimp tracks contact traits and behaviors as soon as they join your audience. We use these behaviors to create predefined segments for you. Because conditions are already added to pre-built segments, you only need to select the segment to see which contacts meet the criteria.

For example:

  • A subscribed contact who has opened at least one of your recently sent emails will end up in the Engaged Subscribers segment.
  • A subscribed contact who hasn’t opened any of your last five emails will meet the criteria for the Disengaged Subscribers segment.

If our pre-built segments do not fit your needs, use them as inspiration to build your own custom segments. For instance, if you want a different standard for inactivity than the Disengaged Subscribers segment, you can create a new segment defined by a higher or lower number of unopened emails.

Types of pre-built segments

Pre-built segments fall into 3 categories.

Subscriber engagement

These segments are available to all Mailchimp accounts. They are based on the date contacts joined your audience and how they interact with your emails.

Pre-Built Segment Conditions
New Subscribers Contacts who have joined the audience in the past seven days. The contact doesn’t have to be a subscribed contact to meet the criteria of this segment.
Engaged Subscribers Subscribed contacts who have opened at least one of your last five emails.
Disengaged Subscribers Subscribed contacts who haven't opened all of your last five emails.

Customer behavior

These segments require e-commerce data in your account from version 3.0 of our API. This data comes from integrations like Magento, BigCommerce, or a custom API 3.0 integration.

Pre-Built Segment Conditions
High-value Customers Contacts predicted to have the highest customer lifetime value.
Potential Customers Contacts who haven't made a purchase from your store.
Recent Customers Customers who have made a purchase from your store in the past 30 days.
First-time Customers Customers who made their first purchase from your store in the past 30 days.
Repeat Customers Customers who have placed at least two orders from your store.
Lapsed Customers Customers who haven't purchased in the past eight months.

Demographics

Demographics segments are based on data from predicted demographics. The Predicted Demographics feature is included with the Standard plan or higher.

Pre-Built Segment Conditions
Male Subscribed contacts who we infer are male.
Female Subscribed contacts who we infer are female.
Under the age of 35 Subscribed contacts who we infer are under the age of 35.
Over the age of 35 Subscribed contacts who we infer are age 35 or older.

Where to find pre-built segments

You can find pre-built segments in your audience and in some campaign builders.

Segments section of your audience

Visit the Segments section of your audience to choose from a list of pre-built segments or create your own segment. segments-pre-built

On the checklist for a regular email

When creating an email campaign, click the Send to drop-down in the To section of the email checklist to select a pre-built segment. This tool helps you engage contacts most loyal to your company. email-checklist-pre-built-segments

In a Multivariate or RSS email

On the Recipients step of a Multivariate or RSS email, click the radio button next to Segment or tag to select a pre-built segment. pbs-multivariate-campaign

Next steps

Use pre-built segments to find the right recipients for your emails quickly. Here are some other ways you can use pre-built segments.

  • Use a marketing automation flow to welcome New subscribers who recently signed up.
  • Send repeat customers a promotional email with a special reward or discount.
  • Target contacts between the age of 35-44 with a promotional email for a specific product.

For more information, check out these resources:

Create a Regular Email

Learn how to create a regular email in Mailchimp.

Create and Send to a Segment

Segments help you send emails to contacts based on e-commerce data, location, and more. Learn how to create segments and send to your subscribed contacts.

Segment an Audience by Purchase Activity

Learn how to segment your audience based on purchase activity.