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Segment-Triggered Flows
A segment-triggered flow sends messages to a specific group of people called a segment at the time you set in the flow. When you activate the flow, it sends messages to everyone in the segment at the scheduled time.
Required Editions
| Available in: Lightning Experience |
| Available in Enterprise and Unlimited Editions with Marketing Cloud Growth or Advanced Edition. |
| Available in: All Editions supported by Data 360. See Data 360 edition availability. |
Anatomy of a Segment-Triggered Flow
A segment-triggered flow can include:
- A schedule. When you want the flow to start sending messages. You can send immediately or schedule for a specific time.
- A segment. The group of people who receive your messages. You can create a new segment or use an existing one.
- Exit rules. When you want a person to be removed from the flow and stop getting messages.
- Message elements. The emails, SMS messages, or other communications you want to send. You can include one or more messages in your flow.
- Wait elements. Optional pauses between messages that control when the next message is sent.
When to Use Segment-Triggered Flows
Segment-triggered flows work well when you want to reach a specific audience all at once, such as with a marketing campaign. Here are some examples of messages you can send with a segment-triggered flow:
- A promotional email for all customers who made a purchase in the last 30 days.
- A new product announcement for leads who showed interest in a specific product category.
- A series of onboarding emails for new customers who joined this month.
- A special offer for high-value customers in a specific region.
How Segment-Triggered Flows Work
Here's what happens when you create and activate a segment-triggered flow:
- You define your audience by creating or selecting a segment.
- You publish the segment so it includes the most current data about who qualifies.
- You create your messages and configure when they should be sent.
- You activate the flow and choose when to start sending.
- At the scheduled time, if you selected to republish the segment right before the flow runs, the segment is republished.
- The flow sends messages to everyone in the segment.
- If your flow includes multiple messages with wait elements, segment members receive the messages according to the timing you configure.
- If you selected to run the flow on a recurring basis, the flow will run on the schedule that you configured.
After you activate a segment-triggered flow, it begins sending messages at the scheduled time. To make changes to a scheduled or active flow, deactivate it first.
When you deactivate the flow, you have two options. You can cancel all flow occurrences and exit all segment members immediately. Or you can finish all currently running flow occurances, but don’t let any new ones start.
Managing Segment Members
- Segment membership is updated when the segment is republished.
- When the segment is republished, individuals that now meet the criteria for the segment are added to the flow. Individuals that no longer meet the segment's criteria are removed from the flow.
- If you select to update the segment on the segment's publish schedule, the segment is refreshed at the time you scheduled. If the publish schedule is set to Do not refresh, the segment's population isn't refreshed.
- If you select to update the segment immediately before running the flow, the segment is republished immediately before the flow runs regardless of segment's publish schedule.
- An exit rule is like a filter that identifies people who should no longer be in a flow. For example, you can create a rule that sends someone to the end of a flow after they renew a contract.
- The flow evaluates the exit rules each time a user starts a flow or resumes a flow after a pause. If a segment member meets the exit rule criteria, they are removed from the flow and no longer receive messages.
Getting Started with Segment-Triggered Flows
If you are using Marketing Cloud Next, the best way to create a segment-triggered flow is to start from a campaign because it connects the flow with the campaign automatically. When you create a message-based campaign, you can choose a template that includes a segment-triggered flow, or build your own from scratch.
If you don't have Marketing Cloud Next, or you want to build a more complex flow, you can open Flow Builder to access additional elements and configuration options. Learn more in Create a Segment-Triggered Flow.
Managing Your Segment-Triggered Flows
After you activate a segment-triggered flow, you can monitor its progress and make changes as needed, including:
- Pause a flow so you can fix an issue or make changes
- Deactivate a scheduled flow before it starts sending
- Create another version of a paused flow with updates
- View performance metrics to see how your campaign is performing
When you pause a flow, segment members are held where they are until you resume. When you resume, the flow continues processing from where it left off, accounting for any time that elapsed during the pause.
Tips for Success
- Always publish your segment before activating the flow to ensure you're working with the most current data.
- Preview your segment membership to verify you're reaching the right audience.
- Test your message content before activating the campaign.
- Consider your segment's publish schedule. For the most up-to-date data, select to republish the segment immediately before running the flow.
- Use wait elements to space out messages so you send messages at the right times for your segment.
