SegmentAudiencesCreating an Audience

Creating an Audience

This guide walks through the process of creating an audience in SignalSmith, from naming to activation.

Prerequisites

Before creating an audience, ensure you have:

  • At least one entity type defined in your schema (e.g., User, Account)
  • At least one trait computed for that entity type (optional but recommended — audiences are most useful when filtering on traits)
  • A connected warehouse with accessible warehouse tables

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Start the Audience Builder

Navigate to Segment > Audiences and click Create Audience. You can also start from an audience template by clicking Use Template on the templates page.

Step 2: Set Basic Properties

FieldDescriptionRequired
NameA descriptive name for the audience (e.g., “High-Value Customers - Q1 2025”)Yes
DescriptionA brief explanation of what this audience represents and how it will be usedNo
Entity TypeThe entity type to segment. This determines which traits and attributes are available for filtering.Yes
TagsOptional labels for organizing audiences (e.g., “marketing”, “retention”, “high-value”)No

Step 3: Build Filter Conditions

The filter builder is where you define who belongs to the audience. You construct conditions by combining trait and attribute filters with AND/OR logic.

Adding a condition:

  1. Click Add Condition
  2. Choose a field source: Trait or Attribute
  3. Select the specific trait or attribute column
  4. Choose an operator (e.g., greater than, equals, contains)
  5. Enter the comparison value

Example — High-value customers who purchased recently:

FieldOperatorValue
lifetime_value (trait)Greater than500
days_since_last_purchase (trait)Less than30
email (attribute)Is not null—

By default, all conditions within a group are combined with AND logic. To switch to OR, click the logic toggle on the group header.

Nesting groups:

For complex logic, click Add Group to create a nested group. This allows expressions like:

(lifetime_value > 500 AND order_count >= 3)
OR
(days_since_last_purchase < 7 AND total_revenue > 200)

See the filter builder reference for full details on nesting, grouping, and all available options.

Step 4: Estimate Size

Before proceeding, click Estimate Size to get an approximate count of how many entities match your conditions. The estimation runs a fast sampling query and returns a count within seconds.

Use this to sanity-check your audience:

  • Is the size what you expected?
  • Too large? Add more restrictive conditions.
  • Too small? Loosen conditions or check that the referenced traits have been evaluated.
  • Zero members? Verify that the traits referenced in your conditions have been evaluated and contain data.

Step 5: Preview Members

Click Preview to see a sample of entity records that match your audience definition. The preview returns up to 100 sample members with their key attributes and trait values.

Review the preview to confirm:

  • The right types of customers are being captured
  • Trait values are populated and reasonable
  • No unexpected records are included

Step 6: Configure Schedule

Set how often the audience membership should be re-evaluated:

ScheduleWhen to Use
ManualOne-time audiences or audiences you evaluate on demand
HourlyReal-time use cases where membership needs to stay fresh
DailyMost common choice — balances freshness with warehouse cost
WeeklyStable audiences that don’t change frequently
Custom CronWhen you need a specific schedule (e.g., every 6 hours, weekdays only)

The audience schedule should align with or follow the evaluation schedules of the traits it depends on. If a trait is evaluated daily at 6 AM, schedule the audience evaluation for after 6 AM.

Step 7: Save

Click Save to create the audience. SignalSmith will:

  1. Validate the filter conditions
  2. Compile them into SQL
  3. Execute the full audience query against your warehouse
  4. Materialize the membership list
  5. Record the initial member count

The audience is now live. You can view it in the audiences list and see its member count, evaluation status, and last evaluated timestamp.

Step 8: Activate (Optional)

To send the audience to a destination, create an audience sync. You can create multiple syncs to send the same audience to different destinations.

Editing an Audience

To modify an existing audience:

  1. Navigate to the audience detail page
  2. Click Edit
  3. Modify the filter conditions, schedule, or properties
  4. Click Save

After saving, SignalSmith re-evaluates the audience with the updated conditions. The membership list is fully recomputed.

⚠️

Changing audience conditions will affect all active audience syncs. Members who no longer qualify will be removed from destinations on the next sync run (for mirror-mode syncs).

Duplicating an Audience

To create a copy of an existing audience (useful for creating variations):

  1. Navigate to the audience detail page
  2. Click the … menu and select Duplicate
  3. The audience builder opens pre-filled with the original conditions
  4. Modify the name, conditions, or schedule as needed
  5. Click Save

Deleting an Audience

To delete an audience:

  1. Navigate to the audience detail page
  2. Click the … menu and select Delete
  3. Confirm the deletion

If the audience has active syncs, you must remove or pause those syncs before deleting the audience.

Next Steps

OverviewFilter Builder