Lists and segmentation

Lists and segments are how you organise contacts for targeted campaigns, personalised content, and focused sales outreach. Without proper segmentation, you send the same message to everyone - and generic messages convert poorly.

This chapter clarifies the difference between lists, segments, and views (many HubSpot users confuse them), walks through setting up subscription types for email compliance, creates active lists (true segments based on behavioral and demographic criteria), and builds filtered views for daily work.

Proper segmentation transforms HubSpot from a contact database into a targeting engine. Let's build the segments that power effective campaigns.

HubSpot has three ways to group contacts: static lists, active lists (segments), and views. Each serves a different purpose.

Static lists explained

Static lists are fixed collections of contacts. Once you create a static list and add contacts to it, the list doesn't change automatically. You manually add or remove contacts.

Use static lists when:

• Importing contacts for a one-time campaign (webinar attendees, trade show leads)
• Creating a historical record ("All contacts from Q1 2024 campaign")
• Testing campaigns on a specific subset before broader rollout

Create a static list: Navigate to Lists > Create list > Contact-based > Static list. Name it clearly ("Webinar Attendees - 2024-11-15"). Click "Save list." Now manually add contacts by searching and selecting them, or by importing a CSV.

Static lists don't update when contacts' properties change. If someone joins the list as a Lead but later becomes a Customer, they remain in the list as-is.

Active lists (segments) explained

Active lists are dynamic segments. You define criteria (filters), and HubSpot automatically adds/removes contacts as they meet or stop meeting those criteria.

Use active lists when:

• Targeting contacts based on current state ("All MQLs in Tech industry")
• Building nurture campaigns that adapt to contact behavior ("All leads who haven't engaged in 30 days")
• Creating audiences for ads ("All customers from UK with >£50k contract value")
• Segmenting by any attribute that changes over time

Create an active list: Navigate to Lists > Create list > Contact-based > Active list. Name it clearly ("UK Tech MQLs"). Add filters:

• Country is United Kingdom
• Industry is Technology
• Lifecycle stage is Marketing Qualified Lead

Click "Save list." HubSpot now evaluates all contacts continuously. As contacts meet these criteria, they automatically join the list. As they stop meeting criteria (e.g., progressed to SQL), they automatically leave the list.

Active lists are true segments - they adapt to changing data.

Views explained

Views are saved filters that appear in your contacts, companies, deals, or tickets index pages. They don't create separate lists; they filter what you see in the HubSpot interface.

Use views when:

• Creating workspace views for daily work ("My open leads," "Unassigned MQLs," "Deals closing this month")
• Sharing filters with team members (create a view, others can select it from dropdown)
• Quickly accessing commonly used filters without creating formal lists

Create a view: Navigate to Contacts > Contacts. Click "Add view" dropdown > "Create new view." Name it ("Unassigned MQLs"). Add filters:

• Lifecycle stage is Marketing Qualified Lead
• Contact owner is unknown

Save the view. Now anyone on your team can select this view from the dropdown to see unassigned MQLs.

Views are for interface convenience, not for campaign targeting or automation.

When to use each type

Use static lists for one-time campaigns and historical records.

Use active lists for ongoing segmentation, targeting, and automation.

Use views for daily work and team collaboration.

Most of your HubSpot usage will center on active lists. They're the core segmentation tool.

Before sending marketing emails, configure subscription types to give contacts control over what emails they receive. This maintains GDPR/PECR compliance and reduces unsubscribe rates.

Creating subscription types

Subscription types let contacts choose which emails they want to receive: newsletter, product updates, event invitations, promotional offers.

Navigate to Settings > Marketing > Email > Subscriptions. You'll see "Subscription Types."

HubSpot includes one default type: "Marketing Information." Rename this or create additional types that match your email categories.

Click "Create subscription type." Name it clearly:

• Blog updates
• Product announcements
• Event invitations
• Educational content
• Special offers

For each subscription type, provide a description that contacts see on the subscription preferences page: "Receive our weekly blog digest with growth tactics and case studies."

Decide whether each subscription type should be "Active" (contacts receive by default) or "Inactive" (contacts must opt-in). For GDPR compliance, most subscription types should be inactive by default unless contacts explicitly opted in.

Legal compliance considerations

Different regions have different email marketing laws:

GDPR (EU/UK): Requires explicit opt-in for marketing emails. You cannot assume consent. Contacts must actively check a box or click a link indicating they want to receive emails. Pre-checked boxes don't count.

PECR (UK): Similar to GDPR for email. Requires opt-in unless there's a "soft opt-in" exception (existing customer relationship).

CAN-SPAM (US): Requires opt-out mechanism (unsubscribe link) but doesn't require opt-in. You can send marketing emails to business contacts without prior consent as long as you provide an unsubscribe option.

Configure HubSpot to respect these laws. If your audience is primarily EU/UK, set subscription types to "Inactive" by default and only add contacts to them when they explicitly opt in (checkbox on form, double opt-in confirmation, etc.).

Managing preferences

HubSpot automatically generates a subscription preferences page where contacts can manage their subscriptions.

Navigate to Settings > Marketing > Email > Subscriptions. At the bottom, you'll see "Subscription preferences page URL." This link goes in every marketing email footer automatically.

Customise the preferences page: Click "Edit page" to add your branding, adjust copy, and change layout.

Contacts who click "Manage preferences" in your email footer see this page. They can:

• Unsubscribe from specific subscription types (but stay subscribed to others)
• Unsubscribe from all marketing emails
• Update their email address
• Update their communication preferences

This granular control reduces hard unsubscribes (opting out of everything) because contacts can simply mute the email types they don't want while staying subscribed to content they value.

Unsubscribe management

When someone unsubscribes, HubSpot marks them as "unsubscribed from marketing emails." You cannot send marketing emails to unsubscribed contacts without manually re-subscribing them (which you should only do if they explicitly request it).

Sales emails (one-to-one emails sent by sales reps) are not affected by marketing unsubscribes. Sales can still email unsubscribed contacts. But bulk sales emails (sequences sent to multiple contacts) respect marketing unsubscribe status.

View unsubscribed contacts: Create an active list with filter "Unsubscribed from all email" is True. This shows everyone who's opted out. Don't market to this list.

Re-subscribing contacts: Only do this if they explicitly request it (e.g., "I unsubscribed by mistake, please re-add me"). Navigate to their contact record > Communications tab > Unsubscribed from all email > Edit > Set to False. They're now re-subscribed.

Now build the active lists (segments) that power your campaigns.

Segmentation criteria and logic

Effective segments combine demographic and behavioral criteria:

Demographic: Who they are (job title, company size, industry, location)Behavioral: What they've done (pages viewed, emails opened, forms submitted, content downloaded)

Example segments for B2B:

Engaged leads not yet MQL:

• Lifecycle stage is Lead
• Lead score is between 20 and 50
• Last marketing email click date is within last 30 days
• Use case: Nurture campaign to push them toward MQL threshold

Disengaged MQLs:

• Lifecycle stage is MQL
• Last marketing email open date is more than 60 days ago
• Last page view date is more than 60 days ago
• Use case: Re-engagement campaign or move to nurture track

UK enterprise prospects:

• Lifecycle stage is any of: Lead, MQL, SQL
• Country is United Kingdom
• Number of employees is greater than 500
• Use case: Targeted ABM campaign for enterprise segment

Recent demo requests:

• Form submission: Demo Request form (or any form with "demo" in name)
• Form submission date is within last 7 days
• Use case: Sales alert workflow to ensure immediate follow-up

Building complex segments

Use "AND" and "OR" logic to refine segments.

"AND" logic: Contacts must meet all criteria. Example: "Lifecycle stage is MQL AND Industry is Technology AND Lead score is greater than 60."

"OR" logic: Contacts must meet at least one criterion. Example: "Form submitted any of: eBook download, Webinar registration, Demo request."

Combine AND/OR logic with filter groups. In HubSpot list builder, each row of filters uses AND logic. Multiple filter groups use OR logic between groups.

Example: "Engaged Tech MQLs or Engaged Finance MQLs"

• Filter group 1: Lifecycle stage is MQL AND Industry is Technology AND Last email open is within 30 days
• Filter group 2: Lifecycle stage is MQL AND Industry is Finance AND Last email open is within 30 days

Contacts in either group join the list.

Testing your segments

After creating a segment, verify it contains the right contacts.

Check total count: Does the number make sense? If you expect 500 MQLs and your segment has 50, your filters might be too restrictive. If it has 5,000, your filters might be too broad.

Spot-check members: Click into the list and open 10 random contacts. Verify they actually meet your criteria. If you see contacts who shouldn't be there, your filters are misconfigured.

Export and review: Export the list to CSV. Review in a spreadsheet. Sort by different properties to understand composition. Are all industries represented? Are all regions present? Does lead score distribution look right?

Adjust filters until the segment contains exactly who you need.

Segment-based automation triggers

Once segments exist, use them to trigger automated campaigns.

Example workflow: "Nurture Disengaged MQLs"

• Enrollment trigger: Contact is member of list "Disengaged MQLs"
• Wait 1 day
• Send email: "We've missed you - here's what's new"
• Wait 5 days
• If email opened: Send email with case study
• If email not opened: Remove from workflow (they're not engaging)

This workflow automatically nurtures contacts in your "Disengaged MQLs" segment, adapting based on their engagement.

Create workflows in Automation > Workflows, using "Contact is member of list" as enrollment triggers. More on workflows in Chapter 3.

Views organise your workspace for efficient daily work.

Setting up filtered views

Navigate to Contacts > Contacts. The default view shows all contacts. This isn't useful for most roles.

Create role-specific views:

For SDRs:

• View: "My new leads" - Filters: Contact owner is [current user], Lifecycle stage is Lead, Lead status is New
• View: "My MQLs to contact" - Filters: Contact owner is [current user], Lifecycle stage is MQL, Last contacted is more than 3 days ago

For marketing managers:

• View: "Unassigned MQLs" - Filters: Lifecycle stage is MQL, Contact owner is unknown
• View: "High-value prospects" - Filters: Lifecycle stage is any of (MQL, SQL, Opportunity), Annual revenue is greater than £500k

For customer success:

• View: "My active customers" - Filters: Contact owner is [current user], Lifecycle stage is Customer, Contract end date is after Today
• View: "At-risk customers" - Filters: Lifecycle stage is Customer, Last engagement date is more than 90 days ago

Click "Add view" > "Create new view." Name it clearly. Add filters. Toggle "Share this view with all users" if you want others to see it. Save.

Saving custom views

After creating views, they appear in the view dropdown. Team members select relevant views based on their role and current task.

Create views for common scenarios:

• Leads to assign
• Contacts with missing information (phone number unknown, company unknown)
• Recent form submitters (last 24 hours)
• Bounced email addresses

Views don't replace active lists. Views are for interface navigation; active lists are for segmentation and targeting.

Sharing views with team

When creating a view, toggle "Share this view with all users" to make it available team-wide.

Best practice: Create a set of standard views for each role:

• SDRs get views focused on new leads and outreach tasks
• AEs get views focused on opportunities and follow-ups
• Marketing gets views focused on campaign performance and MQL flow

Document which views each role should use. Include this in onboarding for new team members.

Views for different team roles

Sales roles:

• My leads (owned by me, lifecycle stage is Lead)
• My open opportunities (owned by me, lifecycle stage is Opportunity)
• Stale leads (owned by me, last contacted more than 14 days ago, no activity)

Marketing roles:

• Recent MQLs (lifecycle stage is MQL, created date within last 7 days)
• Email bounces (email hard bounced or invalid)
• Unsubscribed contacts (unsubscribed from all email is True)

Management roles:

• Unassigned records (contact owner is unknown across all lifecycle stages)
• High-value accounts (annual revenue greater than threshold)
• Overdue follow-ups (last contacted more than X days ago, open deal exists)

Each view answers a specific question or supports a specific workflow. Don't create views just for the sake of having them - create views that your team will actually use daily.

Your segmentation infrastructure is now complete. You understand the difference between lists, segments, and views, and you've configured subscription types for email compliance. Active lists power your targeted campaigns with precise segmentation criteria, and views organise your workspace for efficient daily operations.

Segmentation transforms mass marketing into targeted, relevant communication. The more precisely you segment, the higher your engagement and conversion rates. As you learn what resonates with different segments, refine your lists and create new segments that capture emerging patterns in your audience.

Next, we'll configure lead routing to ensure MQLs reach the right sales rep at the right time.