An audience filter is a list of rules and one choice: every rule must hold, or any one is enough. That choice can multiply or divide your audience. Watch the count as you build the filter, and you'll know who a send or a test will reach before anything goes out.
This series has three parts. This one builds a filter. Part 2 looks at who the filter targets before you sample, and part 3 saves audiences for reuse.
The examples follow Retro Revival, a fictional vintage clothing shop, with made-up numbers. Its contact list has a genre and a decade column, as set up in Import subscribers with the attributes you'll test on.
Rules and one match mode
You'll find the same filter builder on an email's Send page (Audience filter), in a recurring send, in a journey's branch and in an experiment's Audience & sample step. Each rule names a field, an operator and a value, such as "genre equals Rock–Alternative". Above the rules, pick the match mode:
- Match ALL rules (and): a contact must meet every rule. Each rule you add can only shrink the audience.
- Match ANY rule (or): one rule is enough. Each rule you add can only grow it.
The same two rules, two audiences
Retro Revival has 46,320 eligible subscribers. 11,240 of them have "Rock–Alternative" as their genre, and 14,870 have "1990s" as their decade. The two rules give very different audiences depending on the match mode:
| Filter | Contacts |
|---|---|
| genre equals Rock–Alternative | 11,240 |
| decade equals 1990s | 14,870 |
| Both rules, Match ALL rules (and) | 6,420 |
| Both rules, Match ANY rule (or) | 19,690 |
AND keeps only the 6,420 who like both: the audience for a grunge collection. OR takes anyone who likes either, which counts the 6,420 once: 11,240 + 14,870 − 6,420 = 19,690. The figure shows how the AND filter narrows the eligible list to the people Retro Revival targeted.
- In the list50,874
- Eligible46,320
Left out
- Unsubscribed or bounced · 2,870
- No marketing consent · 704
- Verified invalid address · 612
- Hasn't confirmed their subscription · 236
- Opted out of this email's topic · 98
- Missing or malformed address · 34
- Targeted6,420
Rock–Alternativeand1990s
- In the experiment4,000
- Arm A · 10% off · 2,000
- Arm B · Free shipping · 2,000
| Stage | Contacts |
|---|---|
| In the list | 50,874 |
| Eligible | 46,320 |
| Targeted | 6,420 |
| In the experiment | 4,000 |
| Left out: Unsubscribed or bounced | 2,870 |
| Left out: No marketing consent | 704 |
| Left out: Verified invalid address | 612 |
| Left out: Hasn't confirmed their subscription | 236 |
| Left out: Opted out of this email's topic | 98 |
| Left out: Missing or malformed address | 34 |
| Arm A · 10% off | 2,000 |
| Arm B · Free shipping | 2,000 |
Watch the count while you build
In an experiment's Audience & sample step, the Audience counts update as you edit the filter: In the list, Eligible, Targeted. Targeted is the number your rules produce, after eligibility. On a Send page, Apply filter to selection ticks the matching contacts in the recipient list below, so you can see and check them before you send.
Add one rule at a time and watch the number. A count that drops to a handful usually means a typo in a value, or a rule that only fits a few people. A count that barely moves means the rule adds little.
Pick the right operator
- equals compares the whole value, without caring about capitals. Use it for columns holding one value, such as a favourite genre.
- contains matches part of a value. "contains Rock" also matches "Punk Rock", so prefer equals where you can.
- does not equal and does not contain also match contacts with no value in that field. Add "is not empty" with Match ALL rules (and) if blanks shouldn't count.
- is empty and is not empty find contacts with or without a value, which is handy for finding gaps to fill.
- greater than, at least, less than and at most compare numbers as numbers, and dates written as 2026-10-15 in date order.
Rules don't have to read a column. Depending on where you use it, the builder also offers groups such as Behavior (opened, clicked, purchased, optionally within the last N days), Email verification and Deals. They combine with field rules under the same match mode.
One match mode per filter
A filter has one match mode for all its rules, with no brackets. "Rock–Alternative AND (1990s OR 1980s)" can't be written as a single filter. Two ways around it:
- Add a column that groups the values. A
decade_groupcolumn with "80s–90s" for both decades turns the OR part into one rule, so the filter becomes two rules joined by AND. - Turn the OR into AND with exclusions. If decade only takes a few values, "decade does not equal 1970s" and "decade does not equal 2000s" together leave the 1980s and 1990s. Remember that does not equal also keeps blanks, so add "decade is not empty".
Getting started
Open a draft experiment's Audience & sample step, pick the contact list and add your first rule. Add the second, switch between Match ALL rules (and) and Match ANY rule (or), and watch Targeted change. When the audience is right, read part 2 to see who's in it before you draw a sample.