Audience Builder

Segment your contacts into targeted audiences using filters, tags, and behavioural rules.

Overview

Audience Builder is the segmentation engine for TotalApp's marketing suite. It lets you define named audience segments — reusable groups of contacts that share specific characteristics — which are then used as the target audience in Email Marketing campaigns, Campaign Manager initiatives, and A/B Testing experiments. Build a segment once, and every module that needs a targeted audience pulls from the same definition.

Segments can be dynamic (membership auto-updates as contact data changes) or static (a snapshot taken at creation time). Dynamic segments are recommended for ongoing campaigns; static segments are ideal for time-sensitive promotions where you need to lock in the audience.

Creating a Segment

Click New Segment to open the segment builder. Give the segment a descriptive name, then add filter rules using the rule builder below the name field.

Filter rules are combined with AND or OR logic. Click the logic toggle between two rules to switch between them. AND narrows the audience (contacts must match all rules); OR broadens it (contacts matching any rule are included).

Example Segment — "High-Value Re-engagement"

AND Tag contains "VIP"

AND Last email open was more than 60 days ago

AND Total purchase value is greater than $500

This segment targets high-value customers who have gone quiet — a classic re-engagement audience for a win-back email campaign.

Available Filter Types

Filter	Operators	Example Values
Tag	contains / does not contain	"VIP", "Trial User", "Webinar Attendee"
Location (Country)	is / is not	"United States", "Germany"
Last Activity	more than / less than N days ago	30, 60, 90 days
Purchase History	total value > / < / = amount	$100, $500, $1,000
Campaign Engagement	opened / clicked / did not open	specific campaign or "any campaign"
Lead Source	is / is not	"Lead Capture Form", "CRM Import", "Shopify"
Contact Created	before / after date	2026-01-01

Dynamic vs Static Segments

Dynamic Segments

Membership is recalculated each time the segment is used. A contact added to your list today will be included in a dynamic "All Contacts" segment send tomorrow. Use dynamic segments for ongoing newsletters, drip campaigns, and any audience that should reflect the current state of your contacts list.

Static Segments

Membership is captured as a point-in-time snapshot when the segment is saved. No new contacts are added after creation. Use static segments for one-off promotions, retrospective surveys, and experiments where you need to hold the audience constant throughout the test.

Segment Size Preview

As you add filter rules to the builder, a live count in the top-right of the builder panel shows the estimated number of contacts that match your current rules. The count updates in real time with each rule change — no need to save the segment to see the size. A count of zero is shown in red to alert you that your filters are too restrictive before you save an empty segment.

Tip — Use the Size Preview to Calibrate

Start with broad rules and watch the count decrease as you add more filters. When the count drops below your campaign's minimum viable audience size, remove or relax the most restrictive rule. The preview saves you from launching a campaign only to discover your segment has ten contacts.

ML-Powered Audience Suggestions

The Audience Workspace tab in Audience Builder uses machine learning to surface high-value segment suggestions based on patterns in your historical campaign engagement data. It analyses which contact attributes (tags, purchase patterns, activity recency) most strongly correlate with high open rates, click rates, and conversions, and suggests ready-to-use segment configurations.

ML suggestions are labelled with their predicted engagement uplift vs your average. For example: "Contacts tagged 'Webinar Attendee' who opened at least 3 campaigns in the last 90 days — predicted open rate 42% vs your average 24%." Click Use this Segment to import the suggestion into a new segment form, ready to name and save.

How much data does the ML engine need to generate suggestions?

The ML engine requires at least 500 contacts and 3 sent email campaigns to generate meaningful suggestions. On smaller lists, the Audience Workspace shows a "Not enough data" placeholder and advises you to grow your list and send more campaigns before suggestions become available.