Conversations & CRM
Segments & lists
Two different ways to group contacts for targeting — pick the one that fits how the group is defined.
Lists — a group you build by hand
A List is a named collection with explicit membership: you add contacts to it yourself, one by one or several at once from a contact picker. It stores no rules — just references to whichever contacts you put in it, plus a running total count. Removing a contact from a list only removes that membership; the contact itself is untouched. Lists can be marked active or archived.
Use a list when the group is something youcurate — “customers I met at this trade show,” “VIP accounts,” a hand-picked set for a one-off campaign.
Segments — a group defined by rules
A Segmentstores no contacts at all — only a set of filter rules. Every time you view it (or target a campaign with it), Instant evaluates those rules against your current contacts on the spot, so membership is always up to date automatically. A cached estimated count is shown for convenience, but it's a display hint, never the source of truth.
Rules combine with AND/OR and can be nested into groups. The fields you can filter on:
| Field | Operators |
|---|---|
| Name, phone, email, company, city, state, PIN code | equals, not equals, contains, not contains, starts with, ends with, is set, is not set |
| Marketing opted-in | is true / is false |
| Tag | has tag / doesn’t have tag |
| List membership | in list / not in list |
| Created / updated date | before, after, today, yesterday, last 7 days, last 30 days, this month, last month |
| Any custom field | equals, not equals, contains, is set, is not set |
Use a segment when the group is a standing definition you want to stay current on its own — “everyone tagged Lead who hasn't replied in 30 days,” “opted-in contacts in Karnataka.”
Which one for a campaign?