Segmentation w/ Date Range in Smart List e.g. 7 Days Ago / 7 Days Ago

[Anonymous]

Is anybody using Segmentation with Date Ranges in their Smart Lists?

For Example, I have a segment for Customers with Last Visit More Than 7 Days Ago and one for Customers with Last Visit Less Than 7 Days Ago.

Will this Segment Update Tomorrow to Move everybody out of the Less Than 7 Days Ago to the More Than 7 Days Ago, based on the new day?  Or will Segments ONLY update on Data Value Changes to the record?

If it doesn't automatically update, why let us setup segments based on date timeframes like that?  I'm really curious to see if anybody is doing something similar and getting it to work, as it doesn't appear to function as I expected.  (though I've re-approved the segment to check tomorrow and ensure it isn't working as expected)

Thanks!
John

[Kenny_Elkington]

Hi John,

Segments cannot dynamically update on date ranges, since segment changes trigger on data value changes.  Date functionality is still preserved for certain use cases like birthdays, but fields like this cannot work the way you expect.  To manage this, we usually suggest create a second boolean field which says whether  the criteria for the segment are currently met and to update this with a recurring daily/weekly/monthly batch campaign.  For example, If Not visitied Web Page in Last 7 days, Change Data Value Recent Visit to False, and then set up a trigger campaign to switch back to true when a visit is logged.

[Josh_Hill13]

Kenny,

So what you are saying is to use a Static List system instead or to base the Segmentation on this trigger?

John, I'm not sure what you are using the Segmentation for, but a smart list would work better here. If you are using it to push dynamic content out, then it might be worth re-exploring how to set that up. A smart list and trigger withs separate emails seems fine if you have an split like this.

[Anonymous]

I think Kenny is saying to base the segmentation on a custom field and maintain the dynamic value of that custom field with a recurring campaign of its own.  I've got that setup now and it should work out just fine.

I do still have a problem with how this is handled / enforced within the app, itself.  Basically you are saying, "yes, we know it doesn't really work well to base segmentation on date values in a manner in which those values might dynamically change, even though we let you setup Smart Lists for Segments in just such a manner."  I would think that you should, at the very least, throw up some alert text warning people when choosing dates for segments, especially when further defining date range filters, something to the effect of "Warning: Segmentation with Date Values may not work as expected.  Unless the date aspect of this segment is static (e.g. related to Birthdates or Anniversary Dates), you may need to setup some extra plumbing to get the functionality you seek."  Possibly even with a link to a help article.

I LOVE how much programmability and flexibility is provided in the app, giving us a ton of freedom...  at least until that results in giving us enough rope to hang ourselves.  Thankfully I caught this in sending some test emails to our Test Clinic and noticed abnormalities before launching it to real customers.

Much appreciated,

John

[Anonymous]

@Josh, thanks for the suggestion.  I am planning on using these segments for dynamic content in emails and don't want to manage a set of 28 seperate emails in the app, when I can manage 4 emails with just the dynamic snippets being different.  I realize I can get at similar functionality by going down that path, but would end up with a lot more clutter, just to workaround a gap in the functionality of segmentation.