Describe the group you want to reach once, and Eventrac keeps that group up to date for you, ready whenever you need it.
What is a segment?
A segment is a saved audience: a group of people who match a set of rules you choose. For example:
Everyone who has run a half marathon with you
People who haven't entered any of your events for two years
People who have only entered one of your events
Think of it like a saved search. You set the rules once, such as "entered a half marathon", and Eventrac finds everyone who matches.
Segments stay up to date automatically. When someone new matches your rules, they're added. When someone no longer matches, they drop out. So your audience is always current, with no lists to rebuild.
Why use segments?
Sending the same email to everyone isn't always the best approach. A first-timer, a loyal regular and someone you haven't seen for years all want to hear different things. Segments help you:
Send emails people actually want to read. Relevant messages get opened and clicked more.
Keep people on your mailing list. Fewer irrelevant emails means fewer people unsubscribe.
Win back past participants with a personal "we miss you" message.
Promote the right event to the right people, such as your trail race to trail runners.
Save time. Build an audience once and reuse it again and again.
Customer or participant segment?
Eventrac has two main kinds of segment. Which one you need depends on what you're trying to do.
Customer segments are for marketing. They look across everyone who has ever dealt with you, over all your events and years. Use them to promote events, win people back or build loyalty.
Example: everyone who has completed a half marathon with you in the past.
The simple rule
Promoting or marketing? Use a customer segment.
Organising an event? Use a participant segment.
This guide focuses on customer segments, as they're the most useful for email marketing.
Looking for ideas? See Useful Email Marketing Segments to Get You Started for customer segments, and Useful Participant Segments to Get You Started for participant segments.
What about the other options? When you create a segment, you'll also see options such as Orders, Donations, Members and Subscribers. These let you build audiences from other parts of your account. Most organisers start with customer or participant segments, and you'll find a quick guide to all the options under "Choosing an entity type" below.
How to create a segment
Start with one question: who needs to receive this message? If you're promoting your 10k, there's no reason to email people who only ever do your marathon.
Then build your segment:
Go to the area of Eventrac that relates to the people you want to reach, such as CRM > Customers, All Sign Ups, Event Sign Ups, Sales Orders or Donations. Open Segments and click New Segment.
Give it a clear name and description, so you know who's in it at a glance.
Choose your entity type, which is what the segment is built from (see below). For marketing to your wider audience, choose Customers. To reach people who've done something specific, such as donating or buying from your shop, choose the matching option, such as Donations or Orders.
Add your filters, the rules people must match, such as "entered a half marathon" or "last entry more than 12 months ago".
Save your segment.
Once saved, you can choose your segment whenever you create a new email.
Choosing an entity type
The entity type is simply what your segment is built from: people, bookings, donations and so on. It decides which filters you can use, so pick the one that best matches the group you want to reach.
Entity type | Choose this to segment… | Example |
Participants | People entered into an event | Everyone running the 10k |
Orders | Individual purchases or bookings | Orders that used a discount code |
Donations | Donations made through your events | Donations over £50 |
Customers | People who have bought from you | Customers who booked two or more events |
Members | People with a membership | Members whose membership expires this month |
Subscribers | People subscribed to your communications | Newsletter subscribers |
Marketing Contacts | Contacts you can market to | Contacts who opted in to marketing |
Good to know: one person can appear in more than one entity type. For example, if someone buys an entry for themselves and a friend, that's one customer and one order, but two participants.
Adding filters
Filters are the rules that decide who's in your segment. Each one is made of three simple parts:
Field: what you want to check, such as Event, Registration Category or Status
Operator: how you want to compare it, such as "is" or "contains"
Value: what you're comparing it to, such as Half Marathon 2026
Put together, a filter reads just like a sentence: Event is Half Marathon 2026. You can add as many filters as you need.
Choosing an operator
The operator is the word in the middle of your filter. Here's what each one does:
Operator | What it does | Example |
is | Matches the value exactly | Status is Confirmed |
is not | Leaves out anyone with that value | Status is not Cancelled |
contains | Matches if the value appears anywhere | Email contains @nhs.net |
does not contain | Leaves out anyone where the value appears | Team name does not contain Test |
is empty / is not empty | Checks whether something has been filled in | T-shirt size is empty |
greater than / less than | Compares numbers or amounts | Donation amount greater than 50 |
before / after | Compares dates | Registration date after 01/01/2026 |
Combining filters
You can use more than one filter to make your audience more specific. How you combine them changes who's included:
Filters in the same group must all be true. "Entered a half marathon" + "hasn't entered for over 12 months" finds only half marathon runners you haven't seen for a year.
An "or group" means either can be true. "Entered a 10k" or "entered a half marathon" finds people who've done either.
Tip: start simple. One or two filters is often all you need. You can always add more later.
Ready-made ideas to try
Here are some customer segments organisers use again and again. For the exact filters to use, plus more ideas, see Useful Email Marketing Segments to Get You Started. For segments to help run a specific event, such as reminding people about add-ons or sending race-specific information, see Useful Participant Segments to Get You Started.
Win back lapsed participants. Customers who haven't entered for over 12 months. Send a "we miss you" email, perhaps with a returning runner discount.
Turn first-timers into regulars. Customers who have only entered one event. Invite them back with a friendly next-step suggestion.
Reward your most loyal fans. Customers who have entered three or more events in the last 12 months. Give them first access to entries or an exclusive offer.
Promote the right event. Customers who have entered a 10k. Tell them about your new 10k, or suggest they step up to a half marathon.
Tip: name your segments so it's obvious who's in them. "Lapsed – no entry in 12 months" is much more useful than "Segment 3".
What to do next
Use your segment as the audience for your next email campaign. Because segments stay up to date, you can reuse the same one every season without rebuilding it. See Turbo Charge Your Marketing Lists.