This feature is accessible by users with Author level or higher permissions. Take a look at this article to learn more about the different access levels for a MailChimp account.

If you want to send a campaign to a specific section of your list, this can be done using our list segmentation feature. When you set the criteria for the send, you'll be able to target the section without sending to the entire list. We'll walk you through how to send to a segment of your list and provide some examples of segmenting options below.

When you create a static segment in MailChimp, you can target specific subscribers in your list and save them in a segment to reuse later. Since the segments are static, they can't be edited, updated, or added to as subscribers change their subscription preferences, edit their profile information, or as new subscribers sign up for your list. Take a look at this article for details on how to create and send to a static segment.


Sending to a segment

While the segments you set up are based on your list data, most of the time you'll be choosing the segment you want to send to in the Campaign Builder.

  1. Navigate to the Recipients step of the Campaign Builder.
  2. Click the name of the list you want to send to and choose the Send to a segment option to expand the available segmenting options.
  3. In the first drop down menu, select any to include subscribers that match any of the segmenting criteria you set up, and select all to pull in only those subscribers that match each of the segmenting criteria.
  4. Set your segmenting criteria using the drop down boxes and text fields.
  5. Click Add Condition to add more than one segment. You can use up to five different segmenting options for each campaign.
  6. Once you've set your segmenting criteria click the right arrow on the navigation bar or the orange Next Step: Setup button to set your segment and move on to the next step of the Campaign Builder.

If you want to exclude some people from a particular campaign or series of campaigns without removing them from your list entirely you can use static segments. A static segment doesn't rely on other list data, such as merge fields or groups, and there's no limit to the number of static segments that can be created. Static segments can be created directly in your account, through the MailChimp API, or through apps like Hairball and Goooal.

Segmenting examples

Segment by Date Added

Create a segment based on the date subscribers signed up or were added to your list.

Segment by Last Changed

Create a segment based on when your subscriber's profile was last updated.

Segment by Email Address

Segment your subscribers using the information included in the Email Address field. You can segment by any portion of the email address and even filter subscribers by their email domain.

Segment by First Name or Last Name

Segment your subscribers by the information entered in the First Name and Last Name fields in your list.

If you've added additional fields to your list you'll also be able to segment based on information captured in those fields.

Segment by Member Rating

Create a segment based on your subscriber's Member Rating.

Segment by Groups

If you've added Groups to your list, you can create a segment based on which groups your subscribers are in. You can filter your segment by one of to target subscribers who are in any of the groups you've selected, all of to only include subscribers who are in all of the groups you've selected, or none of to target subscribers who aren't in any of the groups you've selected.

To select more than one group to segment on use command + click on a mac or ctrl + click on a PC until all the groups you want to use are highlighted. If you don't click at least one group we won't pull in any subscribers for the segment.

Segment by Location

MailChimp automatically gathers geolocation data for your subscribers if they use your MailChimp signup form or consistently open and click your campaigns.

Alternatively, you can import zip code or address data for your subscribers in order to target your list by location. The address field has to be completely filled out when subscribers submit information for that field. Partial entries won't properly validate for the signup form. The zip code field accepts 5 digit entries only, so no letters or longer zip codes.

Segment by Signup Source

Create a segment based on how the subscriber was added to your list.

Segment by Subscriber Activity

Create a segment based on the opened and clicked stats captured in campaign reports.

When you segment using recent campaigns, this pulls in data for the 500 most recently sent campaigns to your list.

Segment by Language

Create a segment based on the language information we've captured for your subscribers.

Segment by Email Client

Create a segment based on the email client your subscribers use.

Segment by VIPs

If you've marked a subscriber as a Golden Monkey you can segment using that information.

Segment by purchase activity

If you're using an Ecommerce plugin to capture purchase information for your subscribers, you can create segments using these options:

  • Product Purchased
  • Category Purchased
  • Spent (One Order)
  • Spent (Total)
  • Purchase Date

Take a look at this article for more information on creating segments using your purchase data.

Segment by social data

If you've activated SocialPro for your list, you can create segments based on your subscribers' social data:

  • Gender
  • Age
  • Influence Rating
  • Social Network
  • Following/Fan

On the SocialPro page, you'll also see a breakdown of your list by the different social networks. This information gives you the percentages of people on your list who use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr and MySpace. Click the Send to This Segment link under one of the social network heading to bring up the segment of your subscribers who are on that network.

Segment by Mandrill Activity

You can use the subscriber activity passed over from Mandrill to segment based on sends, opens, and clicks for emails designated by specific tags.

Notes

  • If you have a really complicated segment, or want more control of the segmenting criteria you may want to look at using Hairball. It's a desktop app built to help with more complicated list segmentation and large lists. Take a look at this article for more information on how that works.
  • If you're viewing a segment in your list you'll have the option to use that segment for a campaign. After you've selected the segmenting criteria click the Send To button to start a new campaign.
  • When using SocialPro it's important to note that while we are able to pull in the percentages of your subscribers that are active on the various social networks, it doesn't necessarily mean that they follow you or are a fan/friend on these networks.

Related Articles