Advanced
Advanced Audience targeting
Version 1.0 · Last updated 2026-05-27
Basic Audience targeting (context, behavior, profile) covers most cases. The three patterns here cover the rest: routing campaign traffic, reading state from your stack, and asking customers directly when nothing else works.
Key concepts
URL parameter targeting
Build an Audience from utm_source, utm_campaign, utm_content, or any custom query string parameter. Use the contains condition over equals to handle trailing slashes and tracking suffixes.
Cookie targeting
Build an Audience from cookies your application sets. Requires whitelisting in Account settings. Cookie must not be httpOnly. Match by existence or by value.
Self-segmentation
Ask the customer directly through a component. Each answer assigns the customer to a different Audience. Useful when no behavioral or profile signal is available.
Membership duration
For all three patterns, set how long the customer stays in the Audience after qualifying. Align to the relevance window of the signal.
Audience order
First-match-wins logic. Place narrower Audiences above broader ones.
What you can do here
- Build Audiences from UTM tags and custom query parameters
- Whitelist and read application cookies
- Set up self-segmentation components
- Link self-segmentation answers to Audiences
- Combine URL, cookie, and behavior conditions with AND or OR
When to use it
- You run paid campaigns and want to personalize for each campaign
- Your application sets a cookie that distinguishes customer types
- You need a signal you do not currently have, and you can ask the customer for it
- You are running a one-off campaign that needs its own experience
When not to use it
- The customer is already in a CRM or product analytics system. Use Living Context instead and target from there.
- The targeting feels intrusive. Self-segmentation works only when the question is helpful, not when it feels like a survey roadblock.
How it works
URL and cookie conditions run on every page load. The platform reads parameters and cookies, evaluates against your Audience definitions, and assigns the customer to the matching Audience for the configured duration. Self-segmentation runs through a component you place on a page; the customer’s click assigns them.
Frequently asked questions
How do I target a specific UTM source?
Open **Train > Audiences > Create audience**. Add a condition: URL parameter > utm_source > contains > your-source. Use contains rather than equals.
How do I whitelist a cookie?
Open **Account and billing > Account settings > Cookie whitelist**. Add the cookie name. Make sure the cookie is not set with `httpOnly`.
How do I target by cookie value?
Add the condition: Cookie > is set > cookieName=value. The Audience matches when the cookie has exactly that value.
How do I set up self-segmentation?
Create the matching Audiences first. Then build a component with primary and secondary buttons, each one set to **Join audience** for the corresponding Audience. Place the component where the question fits naturally.
Why is my UTM Audience not matching?
The condition is probably set to equals, and the URL has a trailing slash that breaks exact match. Switch to contains.
Can I combine URL parameters and cookie targeting?
Yes. Add both conditions to the same Audience. Pick AND if both must match, OR if either is enough.
How do I target a specific UTM source?
Open Train > Audiences > Create audience. Add a condition: URL parameter > utm_source > contains > your-source. Use contains rather than equals.
How do I whitelist a cookie?
Open Account and billing > Account settings > Cookie whitelist. Add the cookie name. Make sure the cookie is not set with httpOnly.
How do I target by cookie value?
Add the condition: Cookie > is set > cookieName=value. The Audience matches when the cookie has exactly that value.
How do I set up self-segmentation?
Create the matching Audiences first. Then build a component with primary and secondary buttons, each one set to Join audience for the corresponding Audience. Place the component where the question fits naturally.
Why is my UTM Audience not matching?
The condition is probably set to equals, and the URL has a trailing slash that breaks exact match. Switch to contains.
Can I combine URL parameters and cookie targeting?
Yes. Add both conditions to the same Audience. Pick AND if both must match, OR if either is enough.
