Smart Groups
Last updated: 23rd May, 2022
Smart Group Fundamentals
💭 What is a Smart Group?
A Smart Group is a set of filters which can be used to segment your users.
Smart Groups update in real time. This means when a new user matches the filter, they automatically get added to the group (entering the group).
When existing users un-match, they will be removed from the group (exiting).
Smart Groups enable you to:
✅ Identify key insights from your data.
✅ Segment your user-base into specific groups.
✅ Monitor changes in your database over time.
Smart Groups can also be used to trigger GoSquared Automated Messages; enabling you to send finely-targeted, personalised messages to specific segments of your user base.
📹 Watch this video tutorial to setup your first custom Smart Groups today! 🙌
The default 'Users' group
This is the default group that you'll see when you first navigate to the People section. It's a complete list of all the profiles/contacts/leads that you have stored in GoSquared, including anonymous visitors that you've had a Inbox conversation with.
You cannot delete the 'Users' group or save over it. Whenever you refresh the page it will go back to it's default arrangement of columns. If you do want to save your changes, you'll have to save them as a new Smart Group. Just click the button in the top right to save your current filtering options as a new Smart Group.
Creating a new Smart Group
In your People dashboard, just start adding filters. When you're happy with your filters, click 'Save Smart Group' in the top right hand corner and give it a name. Anybody on the team can create, delete and modify Smart Groups.
Saved Smart Groups will appear in the sidebar.
Adding filters
To start filtering, go the the People tab and click the '+ Add a filter` button. The list of users that match the filter will update as you adjust it.
You can filter based on any property or event that you track. By default GoSquared Analytics will track lots of properties for you (such as number of visits, location etc) that will already be available for filtering.
If you're tracking custom properties, the filtering options available depend on the type of data each property is.
Combining filters:
AND filters will only find users that match all of the filter conditions
OR filters will find users that match any of the filter conditions.
⚠️ NB. If you are combining ‘negative’ filters, then we would recommend using the ‘AND’ rather than ‘OR’ function.
If, for example, you wanted to create a Smart Group to exclude any users with the email address ‘GoSquared’ or ‘GoCircled’, you would use the following filters:
‘Email does not contain [gosquared.com]’ AND ‘Email does not contain [gocircled.com]’.
A common mistake would be to use the ‘OR’ function for this purpose. The ‘OR’ function would be best use for combining ‘positive’ filters.
If, for example, you wanted to create a Smart Group of only users with the email address ‘GoSquared’ or 'GoCircled, you would use the following filters:
‘Email contains [gosquared.com]’ OR ‘Email contains [gocircled.com’.
Adding columns
When you add a filter, the column for that property/event will be added automatically. You can selectively add and remove columns using the settings cog on the left, or the + button on the right hand side.
Sorting a list of users by a column
You can sort a list of users by clicking on the head of column that you want to sort by. Depending on the data type of the column you can sort by:
- Number – click to switch between ascending and descending order.
- Text – click to switch between alphabetical or reverse alphabetical order.
- Date/timestamp – click to switch between chronological or reverse chronological order.
Re-arranging columns
Drag and drop columns to change the arrangement. You can also adjust the width of a column if it is too wide/narrow.
Saving your Smart Group
After you've added filters and tweaked your columns – just hit the 'Save Smart Group' button in the top right hand corner. Give it a name and hit Save.
Saved Smart Groups will appear in the sidebar with the number of users currently in the group next to it – it could take a few mins for the number of users to update when you first save the group.
Deleting a Smart Group
All your groups are listed in the sidebar under the People section. Just hover over a Smart Group and click the red 'x' to delete the group. Deleted groups cannot be recovered. Deleting a Smart Group only deletes the filter configuration, it does not delete the users within the group.
You cannot delete the 'Users' group.
Actions and Engage
The 'Actions' button in the top right hand corner will reveal a list of actions you can take on the users in this group. A lot of the options will only become available after you've saved the group This could be as simple as exporting the list to use in another application, or triggering an Engage flow in a 3rd party app using our integrations.
Guide to email notifications.
Guide to exporting profiles.
Guide to Automated Messages.
🎓 Next Steps
🚀 Ready to setup your first Smart Groups & Automated Messages? Check out our Setup Guide here! 🚀
Are there any questions you can’t find answers to? Let us know!