Digital Publishing - Personalization Segments - Intro to Personalization Segments

As we mentioned earlier, personalization segments let you filter content based on something about the person (think Data View) or based on a person's browsing history. We have data about people in Rock, so it's only natural we would personalize content using Rock data. For instance, you might want information on baptisms to display only if the person visiting your site has not been baptized. As an extension of that, you could have content that only shows to people who have been baptized but haven't taken a next step class. Or you may want some content to target men who have visited your men's retreat info page but have not yet registered. Similarly, you could have special content for people who have visited your camp webpage but don't have a camp registration. These are just a sample of the options we'll cover in this section.

You'll want to think strategically about how your segments are configured. The best configuration is to have simple segments that can be reused in different contexts. Some segments will last longer than others depending on the content they're applied to. Remember, you can filter on attributes about a person AND their previous activities on your website.

To view or configure personalization segments, navigate to Admin Tools > Settings > Personalization Segments.

Name - Consider a good, descriptive name for the segment. This helps distinguish it from other segments and makes its purpose clear.
Key - The Key is how you'll reference this segment when you're using it on your site. Specifically, you'll use the Key with the PersonalizationItems Lava filter, or with the Personalize command. By default, the Key will be the Name of the segment with the spaces removed, but you can change it to any unique value. Be sure there are no spaces in your Key and avoid special characters.
Description - Do your future self and your team a favor and make a note of what this personalization segment is for. You will thank yourself later!
Categories - Add Categories to group and organize your Personalization Segments according to how they're used. Navigate to Admin Tools > System > Category Manager then select ti ti-plus to add a new category. Make sure the Entity Type is Personalization Segment. Like other entities, a segment can be in more than one category if it's needed in different areas.
Persistence Schedule - Every personalization segment must have a persistence schedule. Choose one of the following types:
1. Interval - Saves segment results at a regular cadence, such as every 12 hours or every 7 days.
2. Schedule - Gives you control over specific days and times to persist results, like M/W/F at 3 a.m. This is helpful for large segments with many people.
Person Filters - Here you'll select the persisted data view that contains the people you want included in the segment. In this example we're using a data view returning adult females who are members or attendees. Keep in mind that a data view can only return people with a record in Rock, so don't use a data view if you want the segment to pick up anonymous visitors.
Session Filters - Add conditions here to filter people based on whether they have visited a particular Rock website. You can optionally add a date range. You might use this filter to select people who have visited your external website in the past month.
Page View Filters - This is similar to the Session filters, except it looks at page views instead of sessions. You can set conditions for which pages a person has viewed. In the example pictured above this filter selects people who have viewed the "New Here?" page on the external website within the previous month. You can also add Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) filters to narrow the population down further.
Interaction Filters - As you might have guessed, this filter looks for interactions the person has logged. You could use this to select people who have filled out a particular form, or who have logged an interaction by visiting a page on your site.

Tip

Data Views
The data view for Person Filters must be persisted. This keeps things fast, but means the data is not in real time.
Also note that if you're using a data view then it's impossible to use the segment with anonymous visitors.

Every filter area where you have conditions listed must match for a person to meet the conditions of the segment. For instance, if you have a Person filter and a Session filter, the person must meet both requirements to be selected by the segment. This is pointed out on the page itself, reminding you that these filters are linked together with an AND condition.

You can, however, use OR logic within each of the filter areas by toggling the Any/All button. Select Any if any one of the filter's conditions can be met or use All if they all need to be met. For instance, you might use the segment to filter for people who have visited your New Here page OR your Connect with Us page. Combine that with a data view that pulls only females, and you have a segment for women looking for information about your church.