Master email marketing fundamentals. Join the Ready, Set, Send Challenge Week 2!

Pre-built engagement segments include numerous non-Subscribers and omit numerous Subscribers

District18
Campaign Expert
0 Votes

I just discovered that the pre-built segments (Most engaged, Somewhat engaged, Least engaged, and Everyone else) contain numerous contacts that are not Active Subscribers (from 11% to 21% of the contacts on each pre-built segment are not Active Subscribers). As a result, I inadvertently sent my newsletter to 245 email addresses that are not associated with Active Subscribers. I also discovered that 17% of the Active Subscribers are not in any of the pre-built segments. As a result, 252 Active Subscribers were not on distribution for my newsletter. (Through exports and Excel formulas, I found them, and built a new list so that I could send the Newsletter again, just to them.) Finally, I do not see any way to manually refresh the pre-built segments. I do see the message: "Last Refreshed: 6 hours ago" immediately below the Summary when viewing each segment. The number of contacts in each segment is the same as it was when I sent my Newsletter yesterday (>> 6 hours ago). How do these segments get refreshed, and what does it mean to be refreshed for the pre-built segments? I assumed that 1) the pre-built segments would include only Active Subscribers and 2) the pre-built segment "Everyone else" would include any Active Subscriber not in any of the other pre-built segments. Are these not valid assumptions? Thanks in advance.

4 REPLIES 4
William_A
Administrator
0 Votes

Hello @District18 ,

 

Based on what denotes an active vs. inactive contact in our system, are you sure the segmentation is pulling contacts that don't match that criteria? If a contact isn't in an active status, then our system wouldn't be able to send an email to them, since they either wouldn't have an address or wouldn't have an applicable permission status to be able to send to.

 

When viewing the segment, are you viewing a version of it that's among the list of segments created, or are you clicking the three dots for the Most Engaged, etc. and selecting the "View Contacts" option? Have you sent any emails since your last viewing of the Most Engaged?

 

Everyone Else would be the people that don't match the system's calculations for your Most Engaged, Somewhat Engaged, and Least Engaged. To get a better understanding of the email engagement segmentations, I'd recommend checking out this article.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
William A
Community & Social Media Support
District18
Campaign Expert
0 Votes

I am using the three dots to "View Contacts" for each pre-built segment, and then I'm doing an export from that view. I also did an export of all Contacts (to Excel), filtered for status = Active, and did a comparison. I discovered this issue when I was troubleshooting why some people weren't in the list of Sent contacts for the email, and saw that some people who WERE on the Sent list didn't belong. 

 

I have not sent an email since my last viewing of the pre-built segments.

William_A
Administrator
0 Votes

Then I'd advise calling our general support during their open hours, so you can securely provide specific examples for them to troubleshoot and look further into.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
William A
Community & Social Media Support
District18
Campaign Expert
0 Votes

Will do!

  • Avatar

    Featured Article

    Use Sections to Build Email Campaigns Faster and Improve Engagement Rates

    Using Sections while designing your marketing email not only increases your own efficiency but helps you to deliver a more friendly, organized message. Check out some of the key benefits of using sections in email.

    See Article
  • Avatar

    Featured Thread

    Casual Conversations: What's your go-to playlist?

    If you listen to music while you work, share your playlist below so we can be inspired and maybe find some new music!

    View thread
  • Avatar

    Featured Thread

    Ready, Set, Send Challenge: Week 2 - Designing the Perfect Email

    Learn how to create emails to effectively engage with your audience and drive the results you want.

    Join challenge
Updates
Just Getting Started?

We’re here to help you grow. With how-to tutorials, courses, getting-started guides, videos and step-by-step instructions to start and succeed with Constant Contact.

Start Here

73% of SMBs express doubt that their marketing strategy is effective. Does this sound familiar? Read our Small Business Now Report to learn how you can tweak your strategy to see better results.

Go read our article
Upcoming Webinars
OCT 24
Engage and Convert: The Email and Social Media Power Play
2PM - 3PM EST