XM Directory Segments

About XM Directory Segments

Segmentation is the process of dividing the contacts in your XM Directory into different groups, based on demographics, needs, priorities, common interests, and other psychographic or behavioral criteria. XM Directory allows you to easily define segments based on these attributes.

Using Segments Across XM Directory

Once you’ve created segments in XM Directory, they can be used across Qualtrics in many of the same places that mailing lists and samples can. However, the benefit of segments is that the group of contacts is more dynamic in nature because contacts can be added and removed based on changes in their attributes.

Distribute surveys through email or SMS to segments. You can also use segments for digital intercept targeting.

You can also distribute surveys to segments from inside the Distributions tab of a survey.

Creating Segments

As segments are created, you and other directory managers will be able to see them in the Segments tab of the directory.

Once a segment is created, all contacts in your directory that meet the conditions will be added to the segment. Segments are refreshed every 24 hours, so that as new contacts are added to the directory that meet the criteria, or contacts are updated so they no longer meet criteria, segments are updated accordingly. You can also manually rebuild the segment.

1. Navigate to your Directories.
   
2. Select the directory where you’d like to add a segment. You may have access to just one.
   
3. Go to the Segments & lists tab.
   
4. Make sure you have Segments selected to the left. (This is the default page you will land on.)
5. Click Create a segment.
6. Name your segment.
   
7. If desired, add a description for the segment.
8. Determine whether all the conditions you will add must be met in order for a contact to be added to the segment, or if it can be any condition.
9. Select the field you want to define the segment by.
   Qtip: You can see more on what’s available on Fields You Can Filter By. More often than not, you will probably be using embedded data or transactional data from your directory.
10. Specify how you will define the value.
    Qtip: Is it an exact match? Choose Equal To. Is it a phrase or term that may be present in the value? Choose Contains. You can also specify whether a value is empty or not, or set numeric fields based on relative values, such as Greater than or equal to.
11. Enter the value, or select an existing one from the dropdown.
12. Add more conditions or condition sets as needed.
13. Click Create.

The segment will search through existing directory contacts to build the segment. This may take some time, especially if your directory has many contacts, so you can safely leave the page while the segment is being generated.

Setting Segment Criteria

Setting the criteria for a segment is similar to setting conditions for search terms in XM Directory. The following linked support pages contain additional details that can help you build these conditions.

• Fields You Can Filter By
• All vs. Any
• Condition Sets

Rebuilding Existing Segments

Segments are refreshed every 24 hours. This means that as you add new contacts to the directory that meet the segment’s criteria, or as contacts are updated so that they no longer meet criteria, the segment will take note of these changes and incorporate them once a day by default.

However, if you do not want to wait, you can rebuild the segment at any time.

1. Go to the Segments & lists tab.
   
2. Make sure you have Segments selected to the left. (This is the default page you will land on.)
3. Click the name of the segment you want to rebuild.
4. Click Segment Options.
   
5. Select Rebuild Segment.

The segment may take some time to rebuild. Feel free to leave this page while it loads.

Changing the Criteria for an Existing Segment

You can change the criteria for an existing segment. Once you do this, the segment will automatically rebuild itself, incorporating the appropriate contacts and removing those that do not fit the new criteria.

You can edit a segment’s criteria by using the dropdown and selecting Edit.

Or, if you’re inside the segment, click Segment Options and select Edit Segment.

Managing Contacts in a Segment

Managing a contact in a segment is mostly the same as managing it in the directory. See Managing a Single Directory Contact for more information. In this section, we’ll cover functionality unique to segments.

You can opt-out contacts on a segment level. This means that the contact will not receive messages sent to that segment. However, they can still receive messages sent to the entire directory, or to a mailing list that they’re opted-in to.

To change the opt-out status for a contact in a segment, click on the contact and go to the Lists section. Then, click the menu button and Opt-out of segment to change their opt-out status.

You can also change the opt-out status of many contacts in your segment at once by following these steps:

1. Click the checkbox for every contact whose status you want to change.
   
2. Click the gear icon.
3. Select your desired opt-out status.

Contacts can be opted-out on multiple different levels. See Opt Out Behavior to see how these levels interact with each other.

Copying Segments

Copying segments can be useful if you plan to make a lot of similarly-formatted segments, and only need to change a few criteria at a time.

You can copy a segment by using the dropdown and selecting Copy.

Or, if you’re inside the segment, click Segment Options and select Copy Segment.

From there, you will be given the exact same criteria and can edit it before you finish creating your new segment. Don’t forget to give your segment a new name.

Deleting Segments

You can delete a segment by using the dropdown and selecting Delete, or, from inside the segment, by clicking Segment Options and selecting Delete Segment.

Using Segments in CX Dashboards

Once you have created segments in your directory, you can use these segments to build filters and widgets in your CX Dashboards. You just have to enable them first.

1. Go to the dashboard where you want to be able to filter by segments.
2. Select the settings gear.
   
3. Go to Directory Segments.
   
4. Select Filter by directory segments in this dashboard.
5. Select the directory the segments are saved in.
6. Click Apply.

Once this finishes loading, you will see Segments mapped in your dashboard data. You will then be able to add segments to widgets or add dashboard filters.