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Segment Query definition

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Note

Dynamics 365 Marketing and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights are now Customer Insights - Journeys and Customer Insights - Data. For more information, see Dynamics 365 Customer Insights FAQs

New Customer Insights - Journeys customers receive real-time journeys features only. For more information, see Default real-time journeys installation.

Important

This article only applies to outbound marketing, which will be removed from the product on June 30, 2025. To avoid interruptions, transition to real-time journeys before this date. More information: Transition overview

Dynamic segments are based on segment query (msdyncrm_segmentquery). You can define a segment query by combing groups of logical expressions, each of which results in a set of contacts. Each group establishes a path through one or more entities that ends at the Contact entity (the order matters).

This topic showcases different elements that define a segment query.

PROFILE

This is the base expression for the query which selects all the profiles with a given profile type. The profiles matching the query are the target profiles for the segment.

Syntax PROFILE(profile_type_name)

Note

Queries using UNION, MINUS, INTERSECT or SEGMENT functions should select the same profile type.

SEGMENT

Expression to access all the profiles that belong to a segment.

Syntax SEGMENT(segment_name)

TRAVERSE

Expression to move in the graph using the relationship type provided as a parameter. Optionally an expression can be applied for the current edges to filter the ones that don't meet the conditions.

Syntax TRAVERSE(relationship_type_name, FILTER(condition))

INTERACTION

Expression to select all the profiles linked to interaction. Similar to PROFILE expression where queries can be run only on a single interaction. Interaction can be used with FILTER and HAVING expression but not with TRAVERSE expression. The link_type_name value is mandatory.

Syntax INTERACTION(interaction_type_name, link_type_name)

HAVING

A conditional expression that is used on aggregated interactions. Calculation window is an optional parameter. It defines the time sliding period for computation. The default value is Lifetime. More information Usage Limitation.

Syntax HAVING(condition, calculation_window)

FILTER

Expression applied for the current node to filter the ones that don't meet the conditions. More information: Usage Limitations

Syntax FILTER(condition)

NOT

A conditional expression that is used to filter out the results that match the given condition.

Syntax NOT(condition)

DISTINCT

An Expression that can be called on a node or edge collection to get a distinct set.

Syntax DISTINCT()

COUNT

An expression that can be called inside HAVING expression, for grouping conditional expression.

Syntax COUNT()

AVG

An expression that can be called inside HAVING expression, for grouping conditional expression.

Syntax AVG(propertyName)

MIN

An expression that can be called inside HAVING expression, for grouping conditional expression.

Syntax MIN(propertyName)

MAX

An expression that can be called inside HAVING expression, for grouping conditional expression.

Syntax MAX(propertyName)

SUM

An expression that can be called inside HAVING expression, for grouping conditional expression.

Syntax SUM(propertyName)

UNION

An expression that can be used to join the results of two queries.

EXCEPT

An expression that can be used to remove the results from the second query from results from the first query.

Note

Both queries should select the same profile type as target profile.

INTERSECT

An expression that can be used to select only results returned from both queries.

Note

Both queries should select the same profile type as target profile.

DATETIMEUTCNOW

An expression used to get current date and time (minutes precision) in UTC.

DATE

An expression used to get a date specified by the parameters.

Syntax DATE(year, month, day, hour, minute, second, millisecond)

DATEDIFF

Expression used to get a difference between two dates.

Syntax DATEDIFF(datePart, date, date)

DATEADD

An expression used to add a given number of years/months/days/ to a given date.

Syntax DATEADD(datePart, number, date)

ISNULL

An expression to determine if the property is NULL.

Syntax ISNULL(propertyName)

ISNOTNULL

An expression to determine if the property is not NULL.

Syntax ISNOTNULL(propertyName)

propertyName CONTAINS stringValue

String function determining whether the property contains a given substring.

propertyName STARTSWITH stringValue

String function determining whether string property starts with a given substring.

propertyName ENDSWITH stringValue

String function determining whether string property ends with a given substring.

Grammar

Grammar definition describes how you can use the query language.

Dynamic Segment

dynamicSegmentDefinitionQuery = simpleProfileSegmentDefinition | compoundProfileSegmentDefinition | interactionSegmentDefinition

Static Segment

staticSegmentDefinitionQuery = profileFunction | profileFunction.filterFunction | profileFunction.orderByFunction.skipFunction.takeFunction.selectFunction | profileFunction.filterFunction.orderByFunction.skipFunction.takeFunction.selectFunction

Rules

Function Value
simpleProfileSegmentDefinition profileFunction or profileFunction.traverseQueryList
profileFunction PROFILE(identifier)
traverseQueryList traverseQueryList.traverseQuery or traverseQuery
traverseQuery traverseFunction or filterFunction
traverseFunction TRAVERSE(identifier) or TRAVERSE(identifier,filterFunction)
filterFunction FILTER(propertyCondition)
propertyCondition comparisonCondition or notFunction or logicalCondition or stringComparisonCondition or nullFunction
comparisonCondition valueExpression comparisonOperator valueExpression (valueExpression comparisonOperator valueExpression)
valueExpression booleanValue or string or number or aliasedIdentifier or dateDiffFunction or dateAddFunction or dateFunction or dateTimeUtcNowFunction or arithmeticOperation
booleanValue True or False
aliasedIdentifier identifier or identifier.identifier
dateDiffFunction DATEDIFF(datePart,valueExpression,valueExpression)
datePart YEAR MONTH DAY HOUR MINUTE SECOND MILLISECOND
dateAddFunction DATEADD(datePart,number,valueExpression)
dateFunction Date(/year/ number, /month/ number, /day/ number) or Date(/year/ number, /month/ number, /day/ number, /hour/ number) or Date(/year/ number, /month/ number, /day/ number, /hour/ number, /minute/ number) or Date(/year/ number, /month/ number, /day/ number, /hour/ number, /minute/ number, /second/ number) or Date(/year/ number, /month/ number, /day/ number, /hour/ number, /minute/ number, /second/ number, /millisecond/ number)
dateTimeUtcNowFunction DATETIMEUTCNOW()
nullFunction nullFuctionKeyword
nullFunctionKeyword ISNULL or ISNOTNULL
arithmeticOperation numericExpression arithmeticOperator numericExpression (numericExpression arithmeticOperator numericExpression)
numericExpression number or aliasedIdentifier or arithmeticOperation
arithmeticOperator + or - or * or /
comparisonOperator == or != or > or >= or < or <=
notFunction NOT(propertyCondition)
logicalCondition propertyCondition logicalOperator propertyCondition (propertyCondition logicalOperator propertyCondition)
logicalOperator &&, OR
stringComparisonCondition alisedIdentifier stringComparisonOperator string (aliasedIdentifier stringComparisonOperator string)
stringComparisonOperator CONTAINS or STARTSWITH or ENDSWITH
compoundProfileSegmentDefinition setOperation
setOperation setExpression setOperator setExpression (setExpression setOperator setExpression)
setExpression segmentFunction or simpleProfileSegmentDefinition or setOperation
segmentFunction SEGMENT(identifier)
setOperator UNION or INTERSECT or EXCEPT
interactionSegmentDefinition interactionFunction.havingFunction or interactionFunction.filterFunction.havingFunction
interactionFunction INTERACTION(identifier,identifier)
havingFunction HAVING(aggregationFunction comparisonOperator number, calculationWindowFunctionExpression) or HAVING(aggregationFunction comparisonOperator number)
aggregationFunction countFunction or sumFunction or avgFunction or minFunction or maxFunction
countFunction COUNT()
sumFunction SUM(identifier)
avgFunction AVG(identifier)
minFunction MIN(identifier)
maxFunction MAX(identifier)
calculationWindowFunctionExpression daysCalculationWindowFunction or monthsCalculationWindowFunction or yearsCalculationWindowFunction
daysCalculationWindowFunction UTCDAYS(number)
monthsCalculationWindowFunction UTCMONTHS(number)
yearsCalculationWindowFunction UTCYEARS(number)
orderByFunction ORDERBY(orderByArgumentList)
orderByArgumentList orderByArgumentList,orderByArgument or orderByArgument
orderByArgument aliasedIdentifier or aliasedIdentifier sortDirection
sortDirection ASC or DESC
skipFunction SKIP(number)
takeFunction TAKE(number)
selectFunction SELECT(propertyList)
propertyList propertyList,aliasedIdentifier or aliasedIdentifier

Usage Limitations

HAVING

Condition forbidden

Function Operator Value
COUNT () >=, != Positive integer
>=, !=, >, ==, <=, < Negative numeric
Non-integer value
== 0
SUM (identifer) No limitation No limitation
AVG (identifier) No limitation No limitation
MIN (identifier) No limitation No limitation
MAX (identifier) No limitation No limitation

FILTER(condition)

PROFILE and SEGMENT have no limitation for FILTER(condition). The filter has the only limitation in INTERACTION segment. No support of Date, DATEDIFF, DATEADD, DATETIMEUTCNOW, CONTAINS, STARTSWITH, ENDSWITH.

Examples

  1. Create a segment for leads that participated in Campaign 1 and that opened any email from this campaign but have not clicked on it.

    SegmentOnProfilesInCampaign = PROFILE(Campaign).FILTER(Name == 'Campaign 1').TRAVERSE(ActivityContactProcessed_Campaign) SegmentOnEmailOpened = INTERACTION(EmailOpened, EmailOpenedLeadLink).FILTER(Name == 'Campaign 1')).HAVING(COUNT()>0) SegmentOnClicked = INTERACTION(EmailClicked, EmailClickedLeadLink).FILTER(Name == 'Campaign 1')).HAVING(COUNT()>0)

    Result

    SEGMENT(SegmentInCampaign) UNION SEGMENT(SegmentOnEmailOpened) EXCEPT SEGMENT(SegmentOnClicked)

  2. Filter on all the subscriptions that sent from an email marketing campaign, but without registrations in a specific marketing event.

    SegmentOnProfilesInCampaign =PROFILE(Campaign).FILTER(Name == 'Campaign 1').TRAVERSE(EmailSubscriptionSubmit_Campaign) SegmentOnProfilesWithoutRegistration =PROFILE(CampaignEvent).FILTER(Name == 'Even1').TRAVERSE(CampaignEventRegistration_CampaignEvent)

    Result

    SegmentOnProfilesInCampaign EXCEPT SegmentOnProfilesWithoutRegistration

  3. Find all contacts from leads where the lead date is after the end date of the campaign (of the lead’s marketing context)

    PROFILE(Campaign).TRAVERSE(ActivityLeadProcessed_Campaign).FILTER(StartDate > '2017-03-30')

  4. Create a segment for all the credit card customers whose credit card(s) are expiring in the next 30 days to send them a notification email.

    PROFILE(CreditCard).FILTER(DATEDIFF(day, ExpirationDate, DateTimeNowUtc()) < 30).TRAVERSE(HavingCreditCard)

  5. Create a segment on all the company customers with at least one active Purchaseditem pi such as pi.Product=CreditCard and pi.expirationDate < [month from today] (parametric query relative to TODAY so that a marketer can set up automated campaigns via rolling queries).

    PROFILE(Contact).FILTER(NumberOfActivePurchasedItems > 0 && Product == 'CreditCard' && DATEDIFF(month, ExpirationDate,DATETIMEUTCNOW()) < 1)

  6. Create a segment with all contacts that have not clicked on any link in email 12345 in the last week.

    SegmentOnProfile = PROFILE(Contact)SegmentOnClicked = INTERACTION(RedirectLinkClicked, RedirectLinkClicked_ContactLink).HAVING(COUNT()>0, UTCDAYS(7)).FILTER(EmailId=='12345')

    Result

    SEGMENT(SegmentOnProfile) EXCEPT SEGMENT(SegmentOnClicked)

  7. Filter on preferred activity type of some kinds of sports and select a specific range of age.

    PROFILE(Activity).FILTER(ActivityType == 'Football').TRAVERSE('SubscribedToActivity').FILTER(Age > 20 && Age < 35)

  8. Lead the campaign Always Active and Grade in 5to10k or higher. Add members from Fitness Challenge to 100. Intersect with the list of ColorRun signups. Exclude all the existing members (regular + trial).

    SegmentOnProfilesFromAlwaysActiveAndFitnessChallenge = PROFILE(Campaign).FILTER(Name == 'Always Active' || Name == 'Fitness Challenge to 100').TRAVERSE (ActivityContactProcessed_Campaign).FILTER(Grade == '5to10k') SegmentOnProfilesFromColorRun =PROFILE(Event).FILTER(Name == 'ColorRun').TRAVERSE(SignedToEvent) SegmentOnProfilesWithMembership =PROFILE(Membership).TRAVERSE(InSubscription, FILTER(Status == 'Active'))

    Result

    SEGMENT(SegmentOnProfilesFromAlwaysActiveAndFitnessChallenge)INTERSECT SEGMENT(SegmentOnProfilesFromColorRun)EXCEPT SEGMENT(SegmentOnProfilesWithMembership)

  9. Segment all the contacts that have unsubscribed in the last 1 month.

    PROFILE(Subscription).TRAVERSE(InSubscription, FILTER(DATEDIFF(month, SubscriptionEndDate, DATETIMEUTCNOW()) 1))

  10. Segment all the contacts who are Marketing Managers or Sales Managers Or Finance managers belonging to Hi tech firms in the US West region with greater than 10 billion revenue and total orders of 1 billion in the last year.

    PROFILE(Campaign) .FILTER(Market == 'Hi tech' && Revenue > 10000000000 && NumberOfOrders > 1000000000).TRAVERSE(ActivityContactProcessed_Campaign).FILTER(Position =='Marketing Manager' || Position == 'Sales Manager' ||Position == 'Finance Manager')

  11. Segment all contacts part of the Silver Tier campaign that received Event X email but did not register.

    SegmentOnProfile = PROFILE(Campaign).FILTER(Name == 'Silver Tier').TRAVERSE(ActivityContactProcessed_Campaign) SegmentOnEmailDelivered = INTERACTION(EmailDelivered,EmailDelivered_Campaign).FILTER(CampaignName == 'Silver Tier')).HAVING(COUNT()>0) SegmentRegisteredInEvent =INTERACTION(CampaignEventRegistration,CampaignEventRegistration_CampaignEvent).FILTER(Name == 'Event X')).HAVING(COUNT()>0)

    Result

    SEGMENT(SegmentOnProfile).UNION(SegmentOnReceivedEmail).EXCEPT(SegmentRegisteredInEvent)

  12. Segment all the contacts whose emails have soft bounced more than 10 times in the last month.

    INTERACTION(EmailSoftBounced, EmailSoftBounced_ContactLink).HAVING(COUNT()>10, UTCMONTHS(1))

  13. Segment all the male contacts living in USA between ages 15 to 25 and income is greater than $50K.

    PROFILE(Contact).FILTER(Sex == 'M' && Country == 'USA' && Age >= 15 && Age <= 25 && Income > 50000 )

  14. Segment all the CEO contacts having accounts that bought product Xgenerator.

    PROFILE(Contact).FILTER(Position == 'CEO').TRAVERSE(HavingAccount).TRAVERSE(Ordered).FILTER(Name == 'Product Xgenerator')

  15. Segment all the contacts part of the campaign ThankYou Mkt segment but have an open service ticket with high priority or medium priority ticket for more than a month.

    SegmentWithImportantServiceTickets = PROFILE(ServiceTicket).FILTER(State == 'Opened' &&(Priority == 'High' || Priority == 'Medium') && DATEDIFF(month, DATETIMEUTCNOW(), StartDate) > 1)).TRAVERSE(HasServiceTicket)

    Result

    SEGMENT(SegmentWithImportantServiceTickets)INTERSECT SEGMENT(ThankYouMktSegment) Segment all customers whose birthday is within the next month PROFILE(Customer).FILTER(DATEDIFF(month,Birthday,DATETIMEUTCNOW())

  16. Segment all contacts who unsubscribed after the campaign started.

    PROFILE(Contact).FILTER(Unsubscribed > CampaignStartDate)

  17. Segment all the events that contain run in the name field.

    PROFILE(Event).FILTER(Name CONTAINS 'run')

  18. Segment all the events whose names end with run.

    PROFILE(Event).FILTER(Name ENDSWITH 'run')

  19. Segment all the customers without address.

    PROFILE(Customer).FILTER(ISNULL(Address))