This article walks you through the two methods you can use to create "on the fly" (OTF) Target Groups:
- after performing a search on the Contacts > Search page or Contacts > List page, you can "save" the queried users as a Target Group;
- when viewing a Mailing Activity Report (MAR), you can create a Target Group based on your refined set of contacts.
Regardless of which method you use, OTF Target Groups are dynamic – they automatically update when new contacts fit their configured criteria. This means that new contacts will continually be added to an OTF Target Group over time.
NOTE: Only Active contacts can be added to an OTF Target Group (Unsubscribers will not be included).
OTF Target Group use-cases
You can create OTF Target Groups quickly, and use them for many purposes. Below are some examples of how you can take advantage of these Target Groups.
You can create a list of:
- Anyone who opened a message within a certain date range (e.g., 10/01/19 through 11/01/19) and completed a subscription form
- All contacts from a specific domain (e.g., “@higherlogic.com”)
- Contacts who clicked a survey link in a message
- Everyone who opened a previously-sent message
- All contacts with the same first name
- All contacts belonging to the same Company
Comparison to Action-based Target Groups
There is some overlap between OTF Target Groups and Action-based Target Groups. The main differences are:
- Creating an OTF is very visual. You’ll start off with a list of contacts and apply search criteria to narrow the results.
- Action-based Target Groups have more capabilities with surveys and events.
Create an OTF Target Group from a Contact Search
You can create OTF Target Groups from two pages: Contacts > Search and Contacts > List. Let's walk through the process for each.
Contacts > Search page
- Access the Admin interface.
- Navigate to Contacts > Search.
- Configure the options as desired to designate your search criteria. See Contact Search to learn more about this process.
- Click Update to filter your contacts.
- Click Target to create a Target Group.
- In the resulting dialog:
- Enter a name.
- Select a folder to store the Target Group.
- Describe the Target Group, if desired, to explain its purpose.
- Click Create to create your Target Group.
To view the new Target Group, navigate to Contacts > Groups. The new Target Group displays with the type Report, indicating how it was created.
Contact > List page
- Access the Admin interface.
- Navigate to Contacts > List.
- Perform a search to filter the list: Click the magnifying glass to display the search field and enter your query (e.g., user name, email address, year, status). See Manage Contacts to learn more about the Contact > List page.
- The list automatically updates with the users meeting your search query. Click the Create Target Group icon (highlighted below).
- In the resulting dialog:
- Enter a name.
- Select a folder to store the Target Group.
- Optionally describe the Target Group to explain its purpose.
- Click Create to create your Target Group.
To view the new Target Group, navigate to Contacts > Groups. The new Target Group displays with the type Report, indicating how it was created.
Create an OTF Target Group from a Mailing Activity Report
If you create an OTF from the MAR for a single message, the message ID becomes part of the search criteria. The Target Group itself functions similarly to an Action-based Target Group, but with the added ability to perform custom searches to create criteria as necessary.
NOTE: If you create the Target Group from the MAR, you can only use contacts who received the initial message.
- Access the Admin interface.
- Navigate to Messages > List.
- Click the menu to the right of page title and select Sent to view your sent messages.
- Select the message in the list you want to report on, followed by Track from the More menu.
- You're now viewing the MAR. Click the Details tab and select any report that you wish to use as your initial set of contacts. Use the Search feature to apply filter criteria to further refine the contacts.
- These criteria are used to determine which contacts populate your Target Group. Once your list is refined, click Target.
- In the resulting dialog:
- Enter a name.
- Select a folder to store the Target Group.
- Describe the Target Group, if desired, to explain its purpose.
- Click Create.
NOTE: To view the new Target Group, navigate to Contacts > Groups. The new Target Group displays with the type Report, indicating how it was created.
iMIS Cached Personalization fields
If you're using the iMIS Integration, iMIS Cached fields remain in the search screen. You can use these fields as filter criteria.