You can create your segments by:
- [Option 1] Creating them in the Segment module.
- [Option 2] Defining them in the Mapping module using UTM parameters.
Option 1: Creating an Acquisition Segment Directly in the Segment Module
Before you begin, prepare a list of UTM parameters to define your acquisition sources.
Note: You can also create segments directly within the Analysis context without leaving your analysis.
1. Go to the Segment module under ‘Analysis setup’ in the Menu and click ‘New segment’.
2. Click on 'Segments' and select 'Landing page' from the dropdown.
3. Retain the condition 'users who HAVE begun their sessions by'.
4. Select a specific page or page group. This opens the on-the-fly page selector, allowing you to define your pages. Choose the 'Page group on the fly' tab and follow the instructions for each relevant source.
Creating a SEA (SEM) Acquisition Source Segment
1. Select 'Query' from the dropdown, choose 'regex', and copy and paste the following regex into the open field:
(cpc|cpa|cpl|gclid|xtor=SEC|ppc|paidsearch|msclkid)
2. Click 'Add a Condition', then 'Apply', and finally 'Create' to save your segment to the existing segments.
Creating a Social Acquisition Source Segment
1. Select 'Query' from the dropdown, choose contains and add the medium/source related to your social parameter within a utm. For example, queries containing 'utm_medium=social'.
Note! Make sure to check all the possible ways of writing “social” as it is case sensitive. If you have multiple medium/sources, use a regex.
2. Click 'Add a Condition', then 'Apply', and finally 'Create' to save your segment to the existing segments.
Creating a Display Acquisition Source Segment
1. Select 'Query' from the dropdown, choose 'regex', and copy and paste the following regex into the open field:
(cpm|display|banner)
2. Click 'Add a Condition', then 'Apply', and finally 'Create' to save your segment to the existing segments.
Creating an Email Acquisition Source Segment
1. Select 'Query' from the dropdown, choose contains and add the medium/source related to your email parameter within a utm. For example, queries containing 'utm_medium=email'.
Note! Make sure to check all the possible ways of writing “email” as it is case sensitive. If you have multiple medium/sources, use a regex.
2. Click 'Add a Condition', then 'Apply', and finally 'Create' to save your segment to the existing segments.
Creating SEO and Direct Acquisition Segments
SEO and DIRECT segments need special treatment, as you cannot use UTMs for organic referencing. You need to use the 'Referring page' condition from the segment drop down.
- Creating SEO Acquisition Source Segment
1. Choose the condition Referring page (Users come from a url that contains a search engine) and copy and paste the following regex in the open field
(yahoo|google|yandex|duckduckgo|bing|ecosia|baidu|aol|naver|seznam|qwant)
2. To ensure all visitors in this segment are organic, exclude other acquisition sources by adding an 'AND' condition, then choose 'Segment' and in the dropdown, select 'Users who do not match'. Choose an acquisition segment to exclude. Repeat this step to exclude multiple acquisition sources
3. Click 'Add a Condition', then 'Apply', and finally 'Create' to save your segment to the existing segments.
- Creating Direct Acquisition Source Segment
1. Follow the same method as for the SEO segment, but instead of defining the landing URL containing a search engine, leave it empty.
2., Exclude other acquisition sources by adding an 'AND' condition, then choose 'Segment' and in the dropdown, select 'Users who do not match'. Choose the acquisition segments to exclude. Repeat this step to exclude multiple acquisition sources.
3. Click 'Add a Condition', then 'Apply', and finally 'Create' to save your segment to the existing segments.
Option 2: Creating an Acquisition Segment Using Mappings
To analyze the traffic from different acquisition channels that bring users to your site, you need to categorize each acquisition source in a page group within a mapping. Page groups should be defined by UTM parameters. Once an acquisition source is defined as a page group, you can create acquisition source goals and segments.
To learn more about how to create an acquisition mapping, visit this article.
Creating SEA (SEM), Social, Display, and Email Acquisition Sources from a Mapping
1. Go to the Define module, click on 'Segment', then 'New segments', or open any Analysis Context and click on 'Segments'.
2. Click on 'Segments' and select 'Page viewed' from the dropdown. Select an acquisition source page group from the Acquisition Source Mapping you created. For example, to create an Email segment, select the Email page group.
Creating SEO and Direct Segments
SEO and DIRECT segments need special treatment, as you cannot use UTMs for organic referencing. You need to use the 'Referring page' condition from the segment drop down.
- SEO Segments:
Choose the condition 'Referring page' (Users come from a URL that contains a search engine) and copy and paste the following regex into the open field:
(yahoo|google|yandex|duckduckgo|bing|ecosia|baidu|aol|naver|seznam|qwant)
2. Ensure all visitors in this segment are organic by excluding other acquisition sources. Add an 'AND' condition, select 'Segment', and from the dropdown, choose 'Users who do not match'. Select the acquisition segments to exclude, repeating this step as needed.
- Direct Traffic Segments:
1. Use the same method as for the SEO segment, but leave the landing URL field empty instead of defining it with a search engine.
2. Exclude other acquisition sources as described above.
Some use cases:
- Is my acquisition strategy effective?
- Which acquisition channel performs the best?
- Is my ROI good enough if I compare revenue spent to revenue generated?
- Do I need to reduce investment in some acquisition sources?
- Are landing pages well-chosen/optimal?
- Do behaviors change according to different acquisition sources?
- How can I optimize my pages according to the source?
Want to learn more?
- Take our University course Evaluating Acquisition segments' Performance
- Watch our webinar recording How to create Acquisiton source segments