Lists, segments and tags: which do I want?
Three ways to group people, one table showing what each can actually do.
- automations
Three ways to group the people you can email, and they are not interchangeable. Picking the wrong one is why a sequence sometimes never starts.
A list is static
A named bucket. People are put on it, by a form or by you, and they stay until removed.
A list is what an automation watches for new signups. The Joined a list trigger starts a run whenever someone is added. A few other triggers start from something else, such as an event, a booking or a checkout, but never from a tag or a segment. If you want something to happen when someone signs up, it has to be a list.
Inside the form builder, lists are called audiences. Same object, different word.
A segment is live
A saved question, like "members who cancelled" or "contacts from the webinar". It re-answers itself every time you look, so it is always current.
Great for a one-off email. Useless as a trigger, because there is no moment when somebody joins a question. A segment can also pick people by their answer to a question on one of your forms: see Make a segment from a form answer.
A tag is a label
A word stuck on a person. Useful for marking things you know: vip, refunded, came-from-instagram.
You can email everyone with a tag, and an automation can add one or check for one mid-sequence. A tag cannot start a sequence, and it cannot narrow an event trigger either. Renaming a tag carries into your saved segments, your automations and the tags your forms add. See Tags in automations: what they can and cannot do.
What each can do
Send a broadcast to it: lists yes, segments yes, tags yes.
Start an automation: lists only. Some triggers start from an event, a booking, a form or a checkout instead, but none starts from a segment or a tag.
Limit an event automation to some people: a list, on Everyone on a list, timed to an event. Never a tag.
Add or remove inside an automation: lists and tags.
Check in an if-then branch: lists and tags.
All three are on every plan, free included. Automations themselves need Creator. See Every automation trigger and what starts it for what can start one.
Common questions
Should I make a list per lead magnet?
Yes. It is the cheapest thing you can do for your future self. A list named after the thing they downloaded tells you what someone wanted. One list called Subscribers tells you nothing.
Can someone be on several lists?
Yes, as many as you like.
Why can I not delete a list?
Because something is using it: a form, a funnel signup section, or a live automation. Drry names which. Detach it there first.
Do members and contacts mix?
Yes. If a member's email matches a contact's, Drry shows one person with a Member badge, and their tags are combined.