Skip to main content

Dynamic Content / Segmentation

Show different content to different audiences inside the same email. Better Email handles segmentation at the module level and exports it in the right syntax for your integration, so one campaign can speak to many audiences without splitting into separate sends.

How segmentation fits together​

Three concepts work together:

  1. Recipient fields — the data points your ESP knows about each subscriber (country, tier, lifecycle stage…). The raw material for any audience rule.
  2. Saved segments — reusable audience definitions built from those fields. Define once, use across many emails.
  3. Block variants — per-module content that swaps based on conditions. This is what marketers configure inside an email.

A fourth concept ties it all together for QA: preview profiles let you preview the email as if you were a specific kind of recipient. The same profile drives the Edit, Feedback, Review, and Overview tabs of the Email Workspace.

Recipient fields​

Recipient fields are the subscriber attributes Better Email can use in rules and merge tags. They can be:

  • added manually
  • synced from an integration

Common examples include country, language, loyalty tier, lifecycle stage, and customer type. Recipient fields are scoped per integration, so the same concept (for example "tier") can map to different values in different ESPs.

For ESPs that need a specific syntax inside conditional code (like Salesforce Marketing Cloud's AMPscript), recipient fields can carry a separate value expression alongside their merge-tag value. Template authors typically set this up once and marketers don't need to think about it.

See Recipient Fields / Merge Tags for the full setup.

Saved segments​

Saved segments live in the Segments area in the top navigation. Each saved segment belongs to a specific integration and can be one of two kinds:

  • Visual — a rule built from recipient field conditions (AND/OR groups, equals, contains, etc.)
  • Code — a raw ESP snippet for cases where the platform's rule builder isn't expressive enough

The Segments overview shows your full library. From there you can create, edit, archive, duplicate, and bulk-organize segments, with a live preview of the generated ESP code for visual segments.

Saved segments are reusable — define an audience like "VIP customers in DE" once, then reuse it across emails. You can also build a rule inline on a block and Save as global segment from the editor to add it to the library without leaving the email.

Block variants​

Inside the email editor, segmentation is applied per module.

  1. Select a module.
  2. In the sidebar, open Segmentation and click + to add a variant.
  3. Define the condition for that variant in the builder. You can mix recipient field conditions and saved segments.
  4. Edit the variant's content like you would any module.

Each segmented block has:

  • one or more variants with conditions
  • an Everybody else fallback for recipients who don't match any variant

Variant order matters. Variants are evaluated top-to-bottom and the first match wins. Drag to reorder. The Everybody else fallback always sits last.

You can hide the fallback in the preview when you're focused on a specific variant — but it's still part of the exported email.

To remove segmentation from a block, delete every non-fallback variant. The block goes back to a single content state.

Preview profiles​

Preview profiles are fake recipients you can switch between while previewing the email. Each profile has:

  • recipient field values (the data the rules check against)
  • saved segment memberships (toggles for "is this person in segment X?")
  • an optional name and description

Use them to QA different audiences without sending real campaigns. The picker is in the toolbar on the Edit, Feedback, and Review tabs — and the Overview tab shows the email through whichever profile you last selected, including the inbox-style subject and preheader.

Profiles can be:

  • Email-only — tied to one specific email
  • Reusable — saved against the integration and available on any email that uses it

You can also generate starter profiles from the email's structure, with AI-suggested names and field values you can tweak.

The Everybody else option in the picker simulates a recipient who matches no segments, so you can verify the fallback content.

Profiles can also be managed from the Preview profiles page inside the Segments app, which is useful for keeping a small set of canonical "personas" you preview against repeatedly.

When segmentation is available​

Segmentation appears in the editor and Segments library only when an integration is set up for it. Two conditions need to be true:

  • The integration supports segmentation. Currently: Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Klaviyo, Braze, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Customer.io, Microsoft Dynamics Customer Insights — Journeys, and SAS Customer Intelligence 360.
  • That integration has at least one recipient field (with a usable value for segmentation) or at least one saved segment.

If neither is true yet, the Segmentation panel stays hidden in the editor and the Segments library shows guidance on what to set up first.

Betty and segmentation​

If Betty is enabled, she's aware of block variants and can help you:

  • create new variants on a block
  • set or refine a variant's condition
  • reorder or delete variants
  • create a new saved segment from a rule
  • tailor variant content to its audience

Betty uses the active preview profile as context, so she writes for whichever audience you're currently looking at.

Comments on segmented blocks​

When you leave a comment on a block that has variants, the comment remembers which variant was visible at the time. Comment pins dim on variants they don't belong to, and the Feedback tab shows a chip on the thread (for example VIP customers) so reviewers can switch to the right context before responding.

Export​

When you sync the email, Better Email wraps the variants in the ESP's native conditional syntax — AMPscript IF/ELSE for SFMC, Klaviyo's {% if %} blocks, and so on. The platform handles the syntax differences; the variant logic stays the same regardless of which ESP you ship to.

Best practices​

  • Keep segment names clear and business-readable. "VIP customers — DE" beats "segment_4".
  • Prefer saved segments over rebuilding the same rule in every email.
  • Always add a meaningful Everybody else variant — never leave critical content audience-gated.
  • Keep the number of variants on one block manageable. Too many makes QA hard.
  • Build a small set of canonical preview profiles you reuse across emails.
  • Verify the fallback by previewing with the Everybody else profile before export.