Engagement Studio manual›Segments›Reaching inactive users
Built in Engagement Studio for now. This approach uses activity (last visit and join date), which you can't yet use in user segment rules in your community. Activity rules are on the roadmap. Until then, build these segments in Engagement Studio's own segment builder. For all other segments, see Creating segments.
The activity filters in segment creation are based on members visiting the platform. But often you want to reach the members who have not visited: because they never activated their account, or because they haven't been active for a while, for example in the last 60 days.
Engagement Studio tracking is designed to register positive actions, such as page visits, because those are easy to identify. It can't directly find contacts who didn't do something, but there is a simple workaround: a two-segment approach. First you create a segment of members who are active by your criteria, then a second segment that excludes all of them. Here is how to set up the two most common cases.
1. Members who have never been active
To find members who have never visited your platform, build two segments.
Segment 1: Active users (visited the platform at least once)
- Email → is known
- Visited any URL → (leave blank). This means "has visited at all".
- Save the segment with a description such as "Contacts who have visited the platform at least once".
Segment 2: Never active users
- Email → is known
- Segment membership → Not in → Active users (the segment you just created)
- Save it with a description such as "Contacts who have never visited the platform".
Tip: to avoid sending "never active" messages to brand-new members too early, add:
- Date identified → Less than or equal → "-7 days"
This leaves out members who registered in the last 7 days, so you only include those who registered more than 7 days ago. If they still haven't visited after 7 days, they join this segment automatically.
2. Members who were active, but not in the last 60 days
For members who were active once but have dropped off:
Segment 1: Active in the last 60 days
- Email → is known
- Visited any URL (date) → Greater than or equal → "-60 days"
This captures all known contacts who visited your platform in the last 60 days.
Segment 2: Inactive for 60+ days
- Email → is known
- Segment membership → Not in → Active in the last 60 days
This segment contains known members who haven't visited the platform in at least 60 days.
Both segments update automatically (on a schedule), so members move between them by themselves. When someone hasn't visited for 60 days, they move into the "inactive" segment; when they visit again, they move back.
Summary
Because Engagement Studio only tracks positive actions, this two-segment approach is the most reliable way to follow inactivity. It keeps inactive members cleanly separated, and lets you see members move between "active" and "inactive". That movement is a useful way to measure the effect of your reactivation campaigns over time. For more ready-made segments, see the segment recipes.
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