The audience builder is step 2 of every broadcast. It is more than picking a list: you can combine lists and segments, add filters on almost anything the Mailer knows about a person, and remove people you do not want, all while a live count shows exactly how many will get the email.
The Segments screen uses the very same builder, so anything you build here can also be saved as a segment. See Segments And The AI Segment Builder.
Where to find it:
Open a broadcast (Emails, then Broadcasts, then a broadcast, or New Broadcast) and go to step 2, Audience.
Describe who should get this:
With an AI key, a box at the top lets you describe the audience in plain English, or press Talk, and then press Build this audience. The AI fills in the builder below and the count updates. Nothing sends until you press Send. Without a key, build it by hand as below.
Match and the live count:
- Match ALL of the following: a person must match every include rule. This is the usual choice.
- Match ANY of the following: a person can match any one of them.
The recipients box in the top right corner, and the live count beside the email preview, update every time you change something. View members in new tab opens the Subscribers screen showing exactly these people, with all its columns and sorting. That is the best final check before a big send.
Under the count, two boxes explain what will happen on this send.
- Always leave out: how many people your account-wide rules take off this send, which rules they are, and a Send to them anyway, this broadcast only box. See Always Leave People Out Of Broadcasts.
- How recently this audience engaged, split into three groups. See The Audience Health Check.
Who gets this email:
- 📢 Everyone, all active subscribers.
- Or send to specific lists: tick any lists.
- Or send to saved segments: tick any segments. Type to find one in a long list.
- But never send to these segments: anyone in a ticked segment is left out.
- But never send to these lists: anyone on a ticked list is left out.
Advanced filters:
Open ⚙️ Advanced filters for two more sections.
- Also include people who match: rules that narrow or widen who is in.
- Remove people who match: anyone matching these is removed, even if they match an include rule above.
Press + Add filter in either section and pick a rule. Each rule row shows how many people it matches, and a remove rule also says how many it takes out of this audience. The filters are grouped:
- Lists & segments: List, Segment.
- Subscriber: Tag (has any of, has all of, has none of), Subscriber status, Source channel, Country, Joined date, Name or email, Total spent (on record), Has bought (on record).
- Engagement: Engagement score, Total opens, Total clicks, Last opened, Last clicked, Score 1 (calculated), Score 2 (imported), Score 3 (imported), Last contact (sent, opened or clicked).
- Buyer: Product purchased (bought any of, bought all of, never bought any of), Total spend, Number of purchases, Last purchase, Buyer type, and Product group once you have made one. See Product Groups: Name A Set Of Products Once.
- Automations: In an automation. See Audience Filter: In An Automation.
- Advanced: Custom field. See Custom Fields: Create Your Own Data.
With WP Conversion Tracker installed, a WCT Audience Vault group adds Site click activity and Lifetime tracked clicks, read from real clicks on your website.
The rest of the builder:
- {} Edit rules as JSON: view, copy or paste the raw rules. Apply to builder loads what you pasted.
- The sample line lists a few matching addresses.
- 💾 Save as reusable segment: saves this audience as a segment.
- 🧪 Check these emails: opens Verify Leads in a new tab on exactly this audience. It asks you to name the audience first, because Verify Leads works on saved segments.
- Clear all: starts again.
Who is counted:
Lists, segments, tags and the other filters count active subscribers who are not archived. When the email goes out, anyone on your suppression list and anyone archived since is skipped. See The Suppression List.
A real example:
For the Black Friday bundle email, Anna at Leafwise Gardening ticked Free Seed Starting Guide and Newsletter. Under Remove people who match she added Product purchased, bought any of, Complete Garden Bundle. That row showed it removes 23 people who already own the bundle. Her Always leave out rules took off people on Not interested in offers and anyone tagged no-promos. The count settled at 1,160 recipients, and she pressed View members in new tab to check the list before scheduling.
Tips:
- Use Remove people who match for anyone who already bought what you are selling.
- Save audiences you use often as segments.
- When most of an audience has been quiet for months, send in waves. See Sending A Broadcast In Waves.
- See Sending Your First Broadcast for the other steps of the composer.