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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Customer experience | Sales, Customer Insights,... / Customer Insights Segm...
Customer experience | Sales, Customer Insights,...
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Customer Insights Segmentation

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Posted on by DM-23121845-0 4

I am trying to create an email segment group in Customer Insights manually, preferably by uploading a CSV file. However, it seems the system only allows segment creation based on attributes. Is there a workaround for this? Alternatively, does this mean that all email addresses must first be entered as a Lead or Contact in the system to be included in a segment?

 

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Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys
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  • Verified answer
    Daivat Vartak (v-9davar) Profile Picture
    Daivat Vartak (v-9d... 7,833 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at
    Customer Insights Segmentation
    Hello DM-23121845-0,
     
    You're correct. Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys (formerly Dynamics 365 Marketing) segments are primarily based on attributes (fields) of existing records in your Dataverse environment (Contacts, Leads, Accounts, etc.). There's no direct "upload a CSV to create a segment" functionality.
     
    This means all email addresses must indeed exist as Contacts or Leads (or potentially Accounts if you're targeting business accounts) within Dynamics 365 before you can use them in a segment.
     
    Here's a breakdown of why and what your options are:
     
    Why Attributes are Used:
    Segments in Dynamics 365 are designed for dynamic, ongoing marketing automation. They're meant to identify groups of people based on evolving criteria (e.g., "Customers who purchased in the last 3 months," "Leads who visited a specific webpage"). This requires the system to continuously evaluate records based on their attributes. A static CSV upload wouldn't allow for this dynamic behavior.
     
    Workarounds and Best Practices:
    1. Import the CSV as Contacts or Leads: This is the recommended and most common approach.
      • Import Wizard: Use the Data Import Wizard in Dynamics 365 to import your CSV file as Contacts or Leads. Map the columns in your CSV to the corresponding fields in Dynamics 365 (e.g., Email Address, First Name, Last Name).
      • Data Validation: Ensure your CSV data is clean and correctly formatted before importing to avoid errors.
      • Duplicate Detection: Configure duplicate detection rules to prevent creating duplicate records during import.
    2. Create a Static Segment After Import: Once the data is imported, you can create a static segment.
      • Segment Type: Choose "Static segment" when creating the segment.
      • Add Members: You can manually add the imported Contacts or Leads to the static segment. However, this defeats the purpose of automation and is only suitable for very small, unchanging lists.
    3. Create a Dynamic Segment After Import (Recommended for Ongoing Campaigns):
      • Segment Type: Choose "Dynamic segment."
      • Define Criteria: Define segment criteria based on attributes of the imported Contacts or Leads. For example, you could create a segment of "Contacts where the 'Import Source' field equals 'CSV Import - [Date]'" (assuming you add an "Import Source" field during the import process to tag these records).
      • Benefits: This allows you to easily target these imported contacts and also allows the segment to dynamically update if any of the imported records are later modified.
     
    Example Import Strategy:
    Let's say your CSV has columns like "Email," "First Name," "Last Name," and "Signup Date."
    1. Create Custom Field (Optional but Recommended): Create a custom field on the Contact entity called "Import Source" (text field).
    2. Import Wizard: Use the Import Wizard to import your CSV as Contacts.
    3. Field Mapping: Map "Email" to Contact's "Email Address," "First Name" to "First Name," "Last Name" to "Last Name," and "Signup Date" to Contact's "Created On" (or a custom "Signup Date" field if you prefer). Importantly, map a static value like "CSV Import - 2024-07-26" to the "Import Source" field.
    4. Create Dynamic Segment: Create a dynamic segment with the criteria "Contacts where Import Source equals 'CSV Import - 2024-07-26'."
    This approach is much more efficient for ongoing campaigns because it avoids manual segment updates.
     
    In summary, importing your CSV data as Contacts or Leads is the necessary first step. Then, using dynamic segments based on attributes of these imported records is the best way to leverage the automation features of Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys.
     
    If my answer was helpful, please click Like, and if it solved your problem, please mark it as verified to help other community members find more.
    If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me.
     
    My response was crafted with AI assistance and tailored to provide detailed and actionable guidance for your Microsoft Dynamics query.
     
    Best Regards,
    Daivat Vartak
  • GO-03011609-0 Profile Picture
    GO-03011609-0 10 on at
    Customer Insights Segmentation
    @Daivat Vartak, I like your answer, however I have a few questions about this point you mentioned:
     
    Create a Dynamic Segment After Import (Recommended for Ongoing Campaigns):
    • Segment Type: Choose "Dynamic segment."
    • Define Criteria: Define segment criteria based on attributes of the imported Contacts or Leads. For example, you could create a segment of "Contacts where the 'Import Source' field equals 'CSV Import - [Date]'" (assuming you add an "Import Source" field during the import process to tag these records).
    • Benefits: This allows you to easily target these imported contacts and also allows the segment to dynamically update if any of the imported records are later modified.
    When I create a new segment I can't choose "Dynamic segment", only if the audience is Contacts or Leads. What do you mean with this?
    I have also been looking for the field "Import Source" which doesn't seem an out of the box field, is that correct?
  • Farhad Malegam Profile Picture
    Farhad Malegam 20 on at
    Customer Insights Segmentation

    In Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys, segments are based on attributes of Contacts or Leads, and CSV uploads to create segments just aren't directly supported. To include email addresses, import the data in the CSV first as Contacts or Leads using the Data Import Wizard, mapping fields such as email and name. You can also tag your imported records with a custom attribute, for example "CSV Import Tag," and then build a dynamic segment off of that tag. Otherwise, you could leverage a Static Marketing List in Dynamics 365 Marketing, which can import this CSV to a segment. Segmentation requires all email addresses to be existing Contacts or Leads.

    Kind regards,

    Sydney Digital Agency

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