Testing your segments

Testing is crucial when creating segments! Adopt the habit to always test your segments before publishing, regardless the simplicity.

The segment tester is optimized for message generation*, meaning it's purpose is to find out how many contacts in a database that will receive a message or content using the segment in combination to selected channel. Contacts that for some reason is not available in a channel, e.g. have unsubscribed from SMS, will not be included in the result when testing a segment within the SMS channel. 

* Segments in Scheduled exports will not adopt to this optimization but provide results regardless of channel status.

Testing options

In Symplify there are two ways for testing a segment:

• Count how many matches
  This test will provide the number of receivable contacts matching your segment at the moment. Depending on your list size and the complexity of your segment, the time for testing a segment with this method will vary.
• See who matches
  This test will provide contact previews of those matching the segment (so that you can take a closer look) but will stop processing when your selected sample size is reached.
  
  

How to test a segment

To test your segment, click the Test button in the upper right corner and select the testing method you want.

Count how many matches

1. Select a channel or cross channels
   Only contacts that are reachable in that specific channel will be included in your target group.
   E.g. if you select Email, contacts should have an email address, be subscribed to the email channel and not be bounced.
   You can also select to test cross channels, which will not consider channel specific requirements. Cross channel testing is similar to how Campaign Manager and Journey enters contacts in a flow.
2. Select test type
   1. Select a project if you want to test your segment with project settings. This option will automatically add any project segment and engagement filter settings.
      If you're using the feature Temporary blocking, blocked contacts will also be excluded from your result when choosing this test type.
   2. Do a raw test
      The raw test will run the segment as is (for the selected channel), without the additional filtering mentioned above (2.1).
3. Select the list you want to run the segment on.
4. Continue to start the test.

See who matches

1. Select the channel you want to use for your segment test (your sendout).
2. If you want to test your segment through a project (including project segment and engagement filter settings), select your project (or just do a raw test without any additional filtering). 
   If you're using the feature Temporary blocking, blocked contacts will also be excluded from your test result when testing through a project.
3. Select the list you want to run the segment
4. Choose the target size of your test in the dropdown. 
5. Continue to start the test.

You can either download the sample group or click on View contact to verify the matching contacts.