Segments& smart lists

[Nurture_Ninja]

Can someone share their views on running segmentation for categorizing job levels based on job titles? Do you think using segments is better than using smart lists? I understand the difference between the two—how smart lists are not mutually exclusive while segments are—but honestly, segments for this purpose are confusing me a lot. I would really appreciate any input. Thanks!

[derelict_wombat]

Hi @Nurture_Ninja 

If you are just looking to create targeting audiences smartlists make more sense as they are easy to setup and you can have an unlimited number of them. 

BUT if you are wanting to do personalization using dynamic content or snippets you will need to use segmentation.  There is a limit to how many segmentations you can have (20 i believe) so you want to make sure you are using them most efficiently. 

In the end it really matters what you are trying to do with the information. 

Hope that makes sense. 

[AshleighMo · Accepted solution]

@Nurture_Ninja - It depends on your goal and what you are trying to accomplish. Segmentations can be very useful for things that a smart list cannot be used for (such as dynamic content).

1. Dynamic Content - If you want to run differing versions of emails depending on job level/title, you would need to have the segmentation set up or you would be stuck creating multiple versions of the same email. As @derelict_wombat mentioned, you can only have 20 segmentations but you can have up to 100 segments (what you are breaking your segmentation down into).
2. Segmentations also reduce processing time in Marketo unlike Smart lists which take more processing power.
3. The segmentation can also be helpful to reduce human error when there are multiple people in an instance. For example, segmentations cannot be "easily" modified, unlike a smart list that is very easy to modify (no approval process). It keeps things a bit more buttoned up in the instance.
4. Another benefit is that each person can only exist in one segment within your segmentation, so there would be no chance of audience overlap with different email versions. With a smart list, you likely need to manually add in additional exclusions to ensure there is no overlap. 

On the other hand, Smart lists can be useful for things where segmentation would not. 

1. You can have unlimited smart lists
2. If you wanted someone to receive more than one communication because there is relevant content to them in both versions, you would need to use a smart list. 
3. They are quick and easy to create. If you are in a pinch and need to create a list, smart lists can populate pretty quickly without thinking too much into things. 
4. If you are trying to target something unique and won't be reusing that targeting, you will want to use a smart list. 
5. Gathering information quickly such as engagement information or normalizing data.

I hope this all helps!

This is a good info thread specific to segmentation: https://nation.marketo.com/t5/product-discussions/%EF%B8%8F-mentor-ashleigh-morrow-adobe-marketo-eng... - I hope it lets you view this as it is from the mentorship program.

[Jo_Pitts1]

@Nurture_Ninja,

step back from the technology for a moment.  What are your goals?  WHY do you want to categorize job titles into job levels?

Cheers

Jo