Configure Audience Targeting
Define which users see an experience by combining properties, events, segments, and interaction history into targeting rules.
Table of Contents
What is audience targeting?
Audience targeting determines who sees an experience. When a user is identified, Appcues checks whether they match the conditions you set. If they do — and page targeting also matches — the experience fires.
Choose a targeting scope
On your experience's Settings page, under Audience, pick one of three options.
All users
Every identified user qualifies. No conditions needed.
Users in a segment
Select a saved Segment from the dropdown. All users in that segment qualify.
To exclude a segment instead, choose Specific users, add the segment, and set the condition to doesn't match.
Specific users
Build custom conditions using any combination of the filters below.
Available targeting filters
| Filter | What it targets | Example |
|---|---|---|
| User property | Auto-properties or custom properties on the user (role, plan, created_at, etc.) | plan_type equals Trial |
| Group property | Account-level properties sent via Appcues.group()
|
company_size is greater than 50 |
| Language | The user's browser language | language equals Spanish |
| Flow | Whether the user has seen or completed a Flow | Onboarding Tour has been seen |
| Mobile Flow | Whether the user has seen, completed, or dismissed a mobile Flow | Mobile Welcome has been completed |
| Pins | Whether the user has interacted with a Pin | Feature Pin has been interacted with |
| Banners | Whether the user has seen or dismissed a Banner | Maintenance Banner has been dismissed |
| Checklist | Whether a Checklist is not started, in progress, completed, or skipped | Setup Checklist is completed |
| Event | Whether a tracked event has occurred | Invited Teammate has occurred |
| Segment | Whether the user matches or doesn't match a saved segment | Enterprise Users matches |
| Emails | Status of emails sent via Workflows (delivered, opened, clicked, etc.) | Welcome Email has been opened |
| Push notification | Status of push notifications sent via Workflows | Re-engage Push has been sent |
For a deep dive on property comparators (equals, contains, starts with, occurrence, list membership, etc.), see Target by User & Group Property.
Advanced targeting options
Some filters display a Show options button that lets you add granularity:
- Count: "Event X has occurred more than 3 times"
- Recency: "Event X has occurred in the last 7 days"
- Date range: "Event X occurred after 2025-01-01"
These options are available on event, Flow, and interaction-based filters.
Use multiple conditions (All vs. Any)
Add multiple conditions and choose how they combine:
-
All (AND) — the user must satisfy every condition. Example:
plan is TrialANDOccupation is CookANDrole isn't Admin.
-
Any (OR) — the user only needs to satisfy one condition. Example:
Occupation is CookORplan is Trial.
Logic groups
For more complex rules, use logic groups to nest AND/OR logic. Each group evaluates independently, and then groups combine at the top level.
Example: The user must have Moonwalk as their Dance Move AND Jackson as their Last Name. Additionally, they must be on a Paid plan OR their ID must contain Appcues. The top-level operator is ALL, and the bottom two conditions are in an OR group.
Watch out: multiple negative conditions with OR
If you combine negative conditions (like "doesn't equal") with Any, nearly all users will qualify. That's because a user only needs to fail one of the negatives to match.
Example: "NPS score doesn't equal 3" OR "NPS score doesn't equal 7" qualifies almost everyone, because any score other than 3 passes the first condition.
Fix: Use ALL instead. With All, the user must pass every negative condition — meaning they can't have any of the excluded values.
Targeting examples
Here are common patterns to get you started.
Welcome flow for new trial admins
Target users who signed up recently, are on a trial plan, and have an admin role:
plan_type equals Trialfirst_seen_at occurred less than 7 days agorole equals admin- Operator: All
Feature feedback survey
Target users whose account has access to a beta feature:
-
beta_feature_enabled equals true(group property) -
feature_x_used has occurred(event) - Operator: All
Onboarding nudge for inactive users
Remind new users who haven't completed a key action:
first_seen_at occurred more than 2 days agoplan_type equals TrialInvited Teammate has not occurred- Operator: All
Lifecycle nudge for feature adoption
Encourage existing users to try an underused feature:
first_seen_at occurred more than 30 days agoCreated Segment has not occurredPublished Flow has occurred at least 2 times- Operator: All
Encourage repetitive behavior
Nudge new users who aren't using a core feature frequently enough:
first_seen_at occurred less than 14 days agoUploaded Document has not occurred at least 3 times in the last 7 days- Operator: All
If targeting isn't working
- Check the user's eligibility. Go to Users in Studio, search for the affected user, and open the Eligibility tab to see which conditions pass or fail.
- Verify property values. Property values are case-sensitive. "Trial" and "trial" are not the same. Check the user's profile or the Properties page in Studio to confirm exact values.
- Check All vs. Any logic. Make sure you're using the right operator for your intent, especially with negative conditions.
Still stuck? Contact support@appcues.com with the experience URL from Studio, the affected user's User ID, and a screenshot of your audience targeting settings.