Audience Segment

Segment · User Segment · Audience Segmentation

Definition

An audience segment is a group of users sharing characteristics or behavioural patterns, used as the targeting unit in personalization and marketing campaigns.

Why segmentation exists

Personalization for everyone is no personalization at all. The same New this week banner for a
first-time visitor and for a repeat customer is a wasted slot. Segments solve that: instead of one
anonymous experience, each group gets content that fits it.

Segmentation sits between one-size-fits-all and full one-to-one personalization. It scales: you do
not need an individual profile per person, only membership rules per group.

Segment types in e-commerce

Type	Criteria	Example use
Behavioural	Viewed a category, added to cart	Targeting a popup with an offer
Lifecycle	New / active / churning / loyal	Different banner messaging
RFM	Recency, frequency, monetary value	VIP promotions versus reactivation
Traffic source	Email, paid, organic, direct	A personal welcome message
Category affinity	Looked at footwear, browsed DIY	Prioritising recommendations
Predictive	Churn probability	Proactive offers

Static and dynamic segments

A static segment is a frozen list of users loaded once. It suits one-off campaigns: everyone who
bought in November 2024.

A dynamic segment updates in real time as the user data changes. A shopper adds the first item to
the cart and enters the abandoned cart segment; they complete the purchase and leave it. For
e-commerce this is the default working tool, because behaviour changes every day.

Tip: start with simple lifecycle segments — new, active, churning. They deliver the largest
gain for the smallest configuration effort.

Putting segments to work

A segment on its own is only a grouping. The value comes from what is done with it:

Personalization targeting: different banners, popups and recommendations per segment
A/B tests: reading results by segment shows who a change helped and who it hurt
Email campaigns: exporting a segment to the ESP for personalized sends
Ad targeting: lookalike audiences built from high-value segments

Frequently asked questions

How does a segment differ from a persona?

A persona is a marketing archetype described qualitatively — a name, motivations, pain points. A segment is an operational group derived from real data: selection rules, membership conditions, refreshed in real time. Personas guide strategy and messaging; segments drive automation, A/B tests and targeting.

What is a dynamic segment?

A dynamic segment updates automatically as the data changes: a shopper makes a purchase, leaves the potential buyers group and enters the buyers group. That is what separates it from a static, frozen list. For e-commerce dynamic segments are essential, because behaviour changes daily.

How many segments are enough to start with?

Four to six core segments are a sensible start: new visitors, returning without a purchase, active buyers, churning users and loyal customers (an RFM segment). As data accumulates, the segmentation is refined by category affinity and by the affinity profile.

Gravity Field

Segmentation in Gravity Field

Gravity Field builds dynamic segments from behavioural data and the affinity profile, and uses them to target personalization and A/B tests.

✦Dynamic segments driven by behaviour in real time

✦Affinity profile across categories, brands and price bands

✦RFM segmentation: recency, frequency, monetary

✦A predictive segment — churn prediction

✦Segments applied inside A/B tests and personalized campaigns

✦Segment export for use in email and CRM

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