The Power of Segments: Smart Targeting, Better Results

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Let’s talk about Segments! Customers have been asking me, what happened to lists? Let me introduce you to the new & improved segments, formally known as lists. 

What are Segments? A new, smarter way to group records (contacts, leads, deals, companies, tickets, and custom objects) based on shared characteristics or behaviors. Segments offer improved performance, easier management, and a consistent experience across HubSpot tools. They’re designed for real-time, dynamic grouping. They let you easily organize your data to target the right audiences, automatically and in real time! 

Available to Everyone: Create Segments 

How to Set Up Segments 

1. Navigate to the main menu and select “Segments.”
2. Click “Create segment.”
3. Choose which object you want to segment (i.e. which records you want shown in your segment)—such as contact, company, deal, or a custom object.
4. Set your criteria (for example, “Contact has filled out a form in the past 30 days”).
5. Give your segment a clear, descriptive name.
6. Click “Save.”

Check out this resource on how to create segments for further instructions and here’s a helpful resource on determining fiter criteria for more info. If you learn best through videos here’s a course from our Academy on Understanding Segmentation in HubSpot. 

Why create a Segment?

• To quickly target the right people for a marketing campaign (like sending a promo to engaged contacts).
• To personalize outreach, such as following up with leads who downloaded an eBook.
• To keep data organized. Automatically grouping contacts by traits or behaviors (like region, industry, lifecycle stage, or recent activity).

Available to Paid Customers: Use AI to generate filters and descriptions in segments

Use the power of AI to find the correct filters to refine your records and to set a description that explains which records are included. 

Benefits of AI in Segments 

• Enhanced Descriptions and Clarity: AI can generate clear, purpose-driven descriptions for each segment. This helps teams understand why specific records are included, improving collaboration and reducing confusion.

• Time and Resource Savings: AI streamlines the process of building and updating segments, reducing manual effort and freeing up time for creative or strategic work.

• Effortless, Accurate Segmentation: AI can automatically generate precise filters, making it easy to create complex segments without manual setup. This means non-technical marketers can quickly find exactly the audience they want. 

To create segments using AI: In the Generate segment filters with AI text box, enter a description of the types of records you want to include in the segment.

To generate a segment description based on the filters: Below the Description field, click Generate with AI. To adjust the description, manually enter changes or click Regenerate.

Edit segment filters with AI: Click Edit filters in the segment editor. In the top right, click Generate filters with AI. In the right panel, add a description of the records you want to include in the segment, then click Generate filters.

As of November 2025, you can use AI in contact, company, deal, ticket, custom object, cart, and order segments with the following filters:

• Current object properties
• Associated object properties
• Segment memberships

For contact-based segments, you can also filter by the following:

• Form submissions, excluding refinements (i.e. criteria used to further narrow down the filter, such as when the form was submitted)
• Ad interactions
• Email subscriptions
• Marketing emails
• Page views, excluding refinements (i.e. criteria used to further narrow down the filter, such as the page viewed)

Learn more about using AI to generate filters and descriptions in segments here! 

Available to Marketing Professional and Enterprise Customers: Access insights and AI recommendations for all segments

Use AI suggestions to create or activate segments: 

Leverage intelligent AI suggestions for types of segments to create based on certain goals. Identify and create new segments with a click of a button. Quickly uncover high-impact audiences and launch campaigns in less time with AI-powered segment suggestions.

Leverage Segment Insights 

Segment insights in HubSpot are analytics and recommendations built into the segments tool. They help users understand how each segment is performing and suggest ways to improve or activate segments. Insights can include details like segment size, engagement trends, and AI-driven recommendations for creating or using segments more effectively in your marketing.

Segment Insights help you instantly understand which audience groups are most important, active, or ready to receive a campaign so you can spend less time analyzing and more time taking action.

Learn more about Access insights and AI recommendations for all segments here. 

Watch this video and Try It For Yourself: HubSpot Segmentation for Precision Audience Targeting! 

In conclusion, segments represent a major step forward in how we manage and leverage customer data in HubSpot. By combining dynamic, real-time grouping with the power of AI, we are making it easier than ever to achieve precision audience targeting and launch more effective, personalized campaigns. My recommendation to all users is to take a few minutes today to check out your existing lists (now segments) and explore the AI features available to you!