Segments for profiles

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Preview feature

Segments and the customer data platform feature as a whole are currently in preview mode. Expect the features to be modified and expanded significantly in upcoming releases, including breaking changes.

Feel free to try the feature out. You can share your feedback directly with the Kentico Product team.

Segments group and organize profiles with shared characteristics. This allows you to accurately target the profiles in your marketing and personalization initiatives.

The system automatically assigns profiles to segments based on defined conditions. A single profile can belong to any number of different segments.

Relationship with channels

Segments are global and shared across all channels (e.g., website, email, headless).

You can create and manage segments in the Segments application in the Xperience administration when customer data platform is enabled. Available features include the AIRA Segment condition builder, which assists users in building conditions using natural language descriptions and a chatbot interface.

Create a segment

  1. Open the Segments application.
  2. Select New segment.
  3. Fill in the segment properties:
    • Segment name
    • (Optional) Identifiers – specify the Code name if you wish to use a different unique identifier than the pre-filled value.
    • Description – an optional description of the segment’s purpose.
    • Conditions – define which profiles belong to the segment using the condition builder. Profiles that match the conditions are included automatically.
    • Scheduled recalculation – enable to schedule automatic recalculation of the segment on a daily basic. This is only recommended if you frequently change a segment’s conditions, or regularly perform bulk imports of profiles (e.g., via custom code or database scripts).
  4. Save the segment.
  5. Select Recalculate segment now.

After the recalculation finishes, the segment includes all profiles that fulfill the conditions. You can find a list on the segment’s Profiles tab.

Segment recalculation

When a profile (or any of its linked entities) is created or updated, the system automatically checks if the profile fulfills the conditions of segments and adds or removes the profile accordingly.

However, whenever you modify a segment’s condition, you need to recalculate the segment to ensure that it only contains profiles that fulfill the new condition. In this situation, the segment’s Overview page displays a warning indicating that the current profile list may not reflect the latest conditions.

Manually recalculating a segment after a condition update

To manually run the recalculation, select Recalculate segment now in the displayed warning. This option is only available if you have the Recalculate permission for the Segments application. Alternatively, you can wait until a scheduled recalculation occurs.

Time the recalculation

If your application is hosting a live website, do not run the recalculation during the site’s peak traffic hours. Segment recalculation can be a resource-intensive process that may reduce the application’s performance.

Schedule automatic recalculation

If you frequently change a segment’s condition, or regularly perform bulk imports of profiles (e.g., via custom code or database scripts), you can schedule automatic recalculation for specific segments:

  1. Open the Segments application.
  2. Select a segment in the list.
  3. On the Overview tab, select Edit under the segment’s name.
  4. Enable the Schedule recalculation property.
  5. Select Save.

When you enable this option for a segment, the system randomly selects a time between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. (in the time zone of the server where the application is running). The segment is then recalculated automatically once per day at this time.

The goal of this approach is to run recalculations during off-peak hours, and avoid recalculating multiple segments at the same time.

However, scheduled recalculation is not required in most scenarios. When profiles are updated or created based on natural website activity, the system automatically evaluates segment conditions and adds or removes the profiles accordingly.

AIRA Segment condition builder

When the Segment condition builder AIRA feature is enabled, segments include an AI-powered assistant that helps you build segment conditions using natural language descriptions.

With the AIRA Segment condition builder, you can:

  • Describe the desired audience in plain language and have AIRA generate the corresponding condition.
  • Modify existing conditions by describing the changes you want to make.
  • Ask AIRA to explain how a condition works.

Generating a segment condition from natural language

You can access the AIRA condition builder when creating a new segment or on the Overview tab of an existing segment in the Segments application.

Select Create / Edit condition with AIRA in the Conditions area to open the AIRA interface.

Limitations

The Segment condition builder is limited by the condition types that are available for segments. While the builder can help create conditions quickly and efficiently, it cannot generate conditions that would not be possible when editing manually.

Edit segment conditions manually

You can edit segment conditions manually in a dedicated builder interface if you do not wish to use the AIRA Segment condition builder or if the feature is not enabled.

  1. Open the Segments application.
  2. Create a new segment or edit an existing one on the Overview tab.
  3. Edit the condition in the Conditions area:
    • If the AIRA Segment condition builder is enabled, expand the Add / Edit condition with AIRA menu and select Add / Edit condition manually.
    • If the AIRA Segment condition builder is not enabled, select Add / Edit condition.
  4. The condition builder interface opens. Select Add condition group.
  5. Choose a condition.
    • Use the search or select categories to find the appropriate condition.
    The text of conditions refers to the contact entity. Contacts internally store the personal details and activities of profiles. Profiles belong to the segment when the condition is fulfilled by their underlying contact.
  6. Fill in any required parameters for the condition.
  7. Repeat the process to add any number of conditions.
    • Conditions are organized together within condition groups.
    • Select Add condition group to create multiple groups. A selector appears above the groups where you can choose if Any or All of the condition groups need to be fulfilled.
    • To add individual conditions to a group, select Add another condition.
    • For each group, you can select if Any or All of the conditions need to be fulfilled.
  8. Select Apply.

Building a segment condition manually

The segment needs to be recalculated after you update the condition.