Ian Jamieson

If you work with Cvent regularly—especially in a marketing operations or event‑tech role—you’ll know that clean, purposeful data is everything. Segments sit right at the heart of that. They’re one of the most powerful ways to organise, target, and activate your event audiences, yet they’re often under‑used or misunderstood. So let’s break them down in a practical, no‑nonsense way.

What Are Segments in Cvent?

Segments in Cvent are dynamic audience groups built from your contact database. Think of them as smart filters that automatically pull in people who match specific criteria—job titles, registration status, geography, attendance history, custom fields, and more.

Unlike static lists, Segments update themselves. If someone new meets the criteria, they’re added. If someone no longer qualifies, they drop out. That makes Segments ideal for ongoing campaigns, automated journeys, and anything where accuracy and relevance matter.

How to Create a Segment

Creating a Segment in Cvent is straightforward once you know where to look:

1. Navigate to Contacts → Segments This is your hub for building and managing all audience groupings.
2. Select “Create Segment” Give it a clear, descriptive name. Future‑you will thank you.
3. Choose Your Data Source Most Segments are built from the Contact database, but you can also use event‑specific data depending on your setup.
4. Define Your Criteria This is where the magic happens. You can filter by:
   • Contact fields (e.g., country, job role)
   • Event participation (e.g., registered for X, attended Y)
   • Custom fields
   • Email engagement
   • Date‑based logic (e.g., “registered in the last 30 days”)
5. Preview and Save Always preview. It’s the quickest way to catch unexpected logic issues.

Once saved, your Segment becomes a living audience that updates automatically.

Best Practice Tips

A few habits make Segments far more effective:

• Name with purpose Include the logic in the name: “UK Attendees – Last 12 Months” beats “Segment 14”.
• Keep criteria simple Over‑engineering leads to confusion. If you need complexity, break it into multiple Segments and combine them.
• Use Segments for automation They’re perfect for triggered emails, reminders, and post‑event follow‑ups.
• Review regularly Your data evolves. Your Segments should too.
• Align with your CRM If you’re syncing with Salesforce or Marketing Cloud, make sure your Segment logic complements—not contradicts—your CRM segmentation strategy.

Segments are one of those features that quietly transform your event marketing when used well. They keep your targeting sharp, your automation clean, and your reporting meaningful. And once you start using them properly, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without them.