Getting started with SegmentsUpdated 13/02/2018
Learn how to use all the filters in the segmentation tool to build and save precise segment queries.
Segments are used to group together Users or Accounts with a common set of Attributes and Events. Segments are used to:
- Whitelist Users and Accounts to sync to Connectors
- Use as native segments, audiences, views, and lists in 3rd party tools
- Save common queries in the Hull Dashboard
Segment Limits
The number of segments allowed in your Hull Organization depend on your billing plan.
Creating & Updating Segments
You can build Users Segments through Users tab, and Account Segments through the Accounts tab in the dashboard. Segments are built in the Segmentation Tool at the top of the Users and Accounts list.
The Segmentation Tool enables you to
- Query User and Account Attributes
- Query User Events and Event Properties
- Combine AND / OR logic
Segments updated whenever a member User or Account is updated, or every six hours if it contains a relative time component (e.g. Last seen less than 7 days ago).
Building User and Account segments
The segmentation tool enables you to build queries of your customer data, preview the results in real-time, and save them to view again & sync data to other tools.
There are two types of segments:
How to find the Segmentation Tool
You can access the segmentation tool via the Users and Accounts tab, then the Lists tab. The segmentation tool is displayed above the User and Account lists where you can pick the Attribute, Event & Group filters to create your query.
Building segmentation queries
Hull has records of all your customer data, so you can build Segments from any Attributes and Events in any person or account’s Profiles.
- User Segments can be defined from any User or Account Attribute, or User Event
- Account Segments can be defined from any Account Attributes
| Type of Data | Description |
|---|---|
| User Attributes | Any User-level Attribute from any tool. |
| Account Attributes | Any Account-level Attribute from any tool |
| User Events | Any person-level events from any tool |
| Event property | Any event property on any event. Use the “where” button, then select a property. |
| Every property time | Any event property timestamp. Use the “where” button, then select a property like Days since signup |
| Segments changed events | Any previous entered or left segment event |
| Attributes changed events | Any previous created or updated attribute |
Attribute Filters
You can use any Attribute that’s ever been assigned to any User or Account in your Hull database to build a query.
Click Add an Attribute then Pick an Attribute (or select the existing attribute) and search for your target Attribute. Attribute search supports fuzzy match. You can toggle between User and Account Attributes in the search menu.
Auto-completing text filters
When typing in any text filter, Hull will lookup and suggest autocompleted values for the data type you’ve chosen from your real data.
Using multiple values for the same text filter
On any single text filter, you can add multiple values. Hull will lookup and autosuggest values from your data and add tags for each selected value. This will include Users or Accounts who match any of the tags (boolean OR).
Event filters
For User Segments, you can use any Event that has ever occurred in a User timeline to create segmentation queries.
Click Add an Event above the User list to select from the list of Events stored in Hull.
Event time filters
You can filter by the number of times the Event has ever occurred, and the time period the Event occurred in. By default (like in other tools) this is set to “at least once”.
| Number of occurrences | The User Has: |
|---|---|
| Zero times | Never had this Event |
| At least once | Had this Event occur greater than or equal to one times |
| At least | Had this Event occur greater than or equal to the specified integer |
| At most | Had this Event occur less than or equal to the specified integer |
| Exactly | Had this Event occur equal to the value specified integer |
| Not Exactly | Had this Event occur any value value not equal to the specified integer |
| Time Period | The User Has: |
|---|---|
| Over retention time | Any time period up to the retention period in your plan |
| Absolute → On | On the specified date |
| Absolute → Not on | Not on the specified date |
| Absolute → Before | Earlier than the specified date, exclusive |
| Absolute → After | Later than the specified date, exclusive |
| Absolute → Between | Any time between the specified dates, inclusive on both ends |
| Relative → In the last | Less than the specified number of days ago, inclusive |
| Relative → More than | Less than the specified number of days ago, inclusive |
| Relative → Exactly | The specified number of days ago, inclusive |
| Relative → Between | Any time between the specific number of days ago, inclusive |
Event property filters
You can access Event Properties within each Event by clicking the Where button. This will fetch all Event properties associated with that Event in the database, as well as Hull’s default Event properties which are auto-enriched on every Event including:
- Type
- Source
- Location
- URL
- Days since signup
You can use unlimited combinations of Event properties in User Segments.
Managing AND / OR logic
There are many options to filter Attributes and Events within Hull’s segmentation tool.
There are no limitations in the complexity of filters and AND/OR logic you can use to build Segments.
| Type of data | Description |
|---|---|
| And/or | Boolean logic to include all the rules (AND) or any of the rules (OR). |
| Groups | Create groups of filters to nest combinations of AND and OR. |
Selecting AND or OR filters
Use the Users matching all/any of the following filter to switch between And/Or filters.
Creating AND/OR Groups
You can create groups with combinations of AND (matches all the filters) and OR (matches any of the filters) using Groups. This creates nested boolean logic in your segmentation query.
Click Add a Group to create nested sets of And/Or filters. You can then add filters within the box of the group. These filters will inherit the rule of their parent group first.
There is no limit to the number of Groups you can create, including Groups within Groups.
Managing Segments
Use different combinations to build and iterate on segmentation queries from your data.
Preview Segments as-you-type
Hull’s segmentation tool works in real-time.
The “real” response from the customer database is returned immediately in the User or Account list below the query builder and the User and Account counts (no sampling) in the top left.
Embedded content: https://fast.wistia.com/embed/medias/3aqtu0bmzm.jsonp
Save and update Segments
You can save Segments to view them later, and use them in other tools. You can also update existing Segments, and save them.
Select the top right menu in the segmentation tool, then click Save as new Segment. You can also check connectors to immediately whitelist this Segment with.
Search for any saved Segment
You can search for and find your saved Segments in the top left of the Users list (default to All users) and Accounts list (default to All accounts)
Click the Segment name, then search or use the dropdown to find your saved Segment.
Delete a Segment
When you’re viewing your Segment, click the dropdown menu in the top right and select “Delete segment”. You’ll view a confirmation dialog.
Deleting a Segment does not delete User Profiles, only the query to group them together.
Syncing Segments
You can sync Segments to other tools. This will pass all matching Users to through that integration. If the integration has and supports native segments (e.g. Mailchimp Lists), these can also be passed.
Sync Segments to other tools with one-off manual Replay
You can push all Users in a Hull Segment to another tool in a one-off sync.
- On a segment, click the Send to dropdown. This will display every connected tool for that type of segment (User or Account), as well as CSV exports (to email) and JSON extracts (to a URL).
- Click on your preferred tool to send your data. You will see a confirmation dialog
- Click Send on the confirmation dialog.
Syncing segments to other tools automatically
You can set your Segments to automatically update through Connector settings. You can access these from your dashboard through the Connectors tab in the dashboard, clicking on your connector of choice, and navigating to the Settings tab.
Whitelist the Segments you want to sync, then click save. Hull will now keep all these segments updated with any User update moving forward.
