Create segments

Last updated: May 23, 2025

As your community grows, engaging and targeting specific user groups can become increasingly complex. Segments solve this by providing a powerful filtering system that simplifies how you target and engage specific groups within your community. This guide will walk you through what segments are and how to create one within your community.

Segments allow you to save audience filter combinations for quick access to distinct groups within your community. This streamlines your community management tasks by letting you instantly target specific users based on filter criteria like roles, tags, and other attributes, eliminating the need to recreate filter combinations repeatedly.

The true value of segments lies in their dynamic nature. Once you define your filter criteria, the segment automatically updates to include all users who match those filter criteria.

For example, suppose you frequently filter your audience to find users with a specific combination of tags and roles on the Manage audience page. Instead of repeatedly setting these filters, you can save them as a segment that captures this precise group. When new users meet your defined criteria—such as having particular tags and roles—they're automatically added to the segment. Similarly, if existing users no longer match the criteria, they're automatically removed, ensuring your segments always reflect the most current state of your audience.

Segments are included with all Circle community plans and are exclusively available to community admins.

You can create a segment of the custom filters applied on the Audience management page, audience rules in Bulk actions and the To section of an email broadcast.

To create a new segment from the Audience management page, follow these steps:

1. On the top navigation bar, click your community name or logo—or the dropdown icon next to it–and select Audience.

2. Go to your preferred tab, where you usually utilize filters. You can create a segment from any tab except Invited.

3. Apply the desired audience filters to segment the audience.

   

4. Click Save segment at the bottom of the filter bar.

5. Enter a name for the segment and click Save segment. 

Once created, you can start filtering your audience using these saved segments.

❗Important: It's essential to note that you cannot create nested segments. For example, when you go to the Manage audience page and apply a Segment filter to narrow down your audience, you’ll be able to still add additional filters to further refine the list. However, you won't be able to save it as a new segment.

Access your saved segments through the dedicated Segments page. To view the list of all your segments, follow these steps:

1. On the top navigation bar, click your community name or logo—or the dropdown icon next to it–and select Audience.

2. From the sidebar menu, go to Segments.

This dedicated page displays each segment's details, including the number of people, creator information, and last update timestamp. Click any segment name to view its members and adjust filters.

This Segment audience filter or rule helps you organize the audience list or target your preferred audience easily instead of manually applying various filters to achieve the same. 

You can use segments as an audience filter or audience rule in the following areas:

• Manage audience page: Apply the Segment filter and choose from your saved segments to quickly filter your audience list.

• Workflows: Incorporate segments as entry rules for bulk actions and scheduled workflows through the Segment audience rule.

• Broadcasts: When selecting your email broadcast audience, you can use the Segment filter in the To section instead of configuring multiple individual filters.

• Custom push notifications: For branded apps, you can use the Segment filter to define your audience for custom push notifications. It simplifies the process compared to configuring multiple separate filters.

You can create more precise audience groups by combining multiple segments using filters in these areas. When applying multiple Segment filters, they work with an “And” condition, showing only members who belong to all selected segments. You can also combine segments with other filters for granular refinement.