How to use the Advanced Search (video)

With advanced search, you're able to find very specific groups of contacts. You can create conditions out of virtually all the data in your ActiveCampaign account, including geolocation, actions your contacts have taken, lists they are on, the status of deals, and much more. You're able to combine nearly unlimited conditions with “And” and “Or” logic until you've narrowed your list to the exact contacts you are looking for.

You can find groups of contacts so that you can create a segment, do a bulk edit, or see how many contacts match specific conditions. You can also see how many contacts opened two of your campaigns. Or, you could create a segment out of contacts that have visited a product page on your website. Or, apply a tag to all the contacts who clicked a link in one of your email campaigns.

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Creating an advanced search

1. From the Contacts overview page, click the "Search Contacts" field.
2. Click the "Advanced Search" option.
   
   
   
   
3. The segment builder will appear at the top of the page. Begin creating your condition by clicking the left-most field that says "(Select a condition...)." This will display a dropdown of condition categories:
   
   
   
   
4. Click any category listed to display its conditions, then select the desired search condition by clicking it. In this example, we want to see how many contacts have the "Engaged" tag in our account. To do that, we're going to use the "Tag" condition listed under the "Contact Details" Category.
   
   
   
   
5. Depending on the search condition you select, you may or may not need to choose an operator when defining your own search criteria. To choose an operator, click the middle field and click the operator you would like to use.
   
   Continuing with our example, we're presented with two operators to choose from— "Exists" and "Does not exist." Since we want to know how many contacts have the "Engaged" tag, we're going to choose the "Exists" operator by clicking it.
   
   
   
   
6. As the final step to creating your first search, you'll need to provide a value for your search condition. Click the field that appears to the right of the condition you've selected and click one of the options listed.
   
   
   
   To add another condition, click "+ Add another condition.” This will display another row to define another condition. Note that there is a toggle to specify whether the additional condition is added with “And” or “Or” logic:
   
   
   
   Using “And” logic would combine the conditions so that only contacts who match both conditions would match.
   
   Using “Or” logic would display contacts that match either condition.
   
   You also have the option to create Segment Groups. With Segment Groups you can combine multi-dimensional conditions with “And” and “Or” logic.
   
   For example, you might have one segment group with conditions that look for link clicks within a single campaign and then you might have another segment group that looks for link clicks in another campaign. You could display only contacts who'd clicked the links in both campaigns (with an “And”) or contacts who'd clicked either group of links (with “Or”).
   
   Learn more about how to use and/or conditions.
7. When you've finished defining your search condition(s), click the "Search" button. Contacts who meet the search conditions you defined will be listed on the Contacts page.

Creating a segment from an advanced search

After you've created the conditions that find the contacts you want to display in an advanced search, you'll have the option to save that search as a segment. A segment is a subgroup of contacts on your list that you can send highly targeted messaging to. When your contacts only receive messages that are very relevant to them, they'll be more likely to pay attention to your campaigns. This will create a positive feedback loop where your campaigns are opened more and receive more clicks. This in turn may help your deliverability, strengthen your relationship with your contacts, and will likely result in more sales.

Segments are dynamic

Your segment will update automatically as contacts meet or don't meet your segment conditions.

To save an advanced search as a segment:

1. Click the search field where it says "(X condition set)."
   
   
   
   
2. Click the "Save as segment" button.
   
   
   
   
3. A "Name this segment" modal will appear. Type the name of the segment into the field provided and click "Save."
   
   

Give your segment a descriptive name

Descriptive names will help you remember what the segment is and which contacts should be included.

The next time you go to send a campaign, during the list selection step, your saved segment will appear in your list of segments.

Saving an advanced search

After you've created the conditions that find the contacts you want to display in an advanced search, you may want to save the search conditions. This will make it easy to find this group of contacts again without having to recreate complex conditions. If you can see yourself using this search again, it's a good idea to save it.

Saved Searches are dynamic

Your saved search results will update automatically as contacts meet or don't meet your search conditions.

To save an advanced search you just created:

1. Click the search field where it says "(X condition set)."
   
   
   
   
2. Click the "Save as Search" option.
   
   
   
   
3. A "Name this search" modal will appear. Type the name of the search into the field provided and click "Save."
   
   

Give your saved search a descriptive name

Descriptive names will help you remember what the saved search is and which contacts should be included.

The next time you click into the search field, you'll see an option for “Saved Searches.” Clicking it will display a modal with the names of your saved searches listed. Clicking on the name of a saved search will display the matching contacts.

Bulk editing your contacts

Advanced search and the bulk editor work together hand-in-hand. With advanced search you can find very specific groups of contacts and with the bulk editor you can make changes to those specific contacts. For example, you might want to create a segment out of all the contacts who opened a specific campaign.

To bulk edit the contacts that were pulled in an advanced search:

1. Click the "Edit All" button to display the bulk editor.
2. The bulk editor modal will display. Here you can perform the following actions on the contacts:
   
   • Add to a list
   • Remove from a list
   • Add to automation
   • Add a tag
   • Remove a tag
   • Update fields

Learn how to edit multiple contacts with the Bulk Editor.