The New Way to Use Segments in Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys

Organizing your leads or contacts into segments is a key part of targeted marketing activities. In Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys, you can target specific audiences for marketing messages by creating segments based on filters you choose.

I recently trained some of our clients to show them how to set up and use segments in their Dynamics 365 solution.

In this article, I’ll explain more about segments and how to create them. Note that we’ll focus on the new way of creating segments in Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys, not the old way of creating segments in Outbound Marketing. However, there are similarities between the new and old way.

Table of Contents

• What Are Segments in Dynamics 365 Customer Insights?
• What’s the Difference Between a Segment and a Marketing List?
• Where Do I Find Segments in Customer Insights – Journeys?
• How to Create a Segment in Customer Insights – Journeys
• How to Create the Filters for Your Segment

Note: There are now five different Dynamics 365 apps that serve various CRM needs, including Dynamics 365 Sales, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, and more. You may also see these products referred to as “Customer Engagement” or “CE” apps.

What Are Segments in Dynamics 365 Customer Insights?

A segment consists of a defined group of customers, such as leads, contacts, or profiles, from Customer Insights data. Segments are created based on attributes like demographics (e.g. age, location, and interests), transactional data such as purchases, or behavioral data like the pages the customer browsed on your website. Segments are used to tailor communications and marketing efforts to specific audiences.

What’s the Difference Between a Segment and a Marketing List?

In Microsoft’s older Marketing module, before the existence of the Marketing app, we used marketing lists to group contacts and leads. These lists were typically made and updated manually. Segments in Customer Insights – Journeys use rules or filters, like age, prior purchases, and website activity, to build and update lists automatically.

 

Where Do I Find Segments in D365 Customer Insights – Journeys?

To access Segments, you need to go to your Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys app, where you will find Real-time journeys.

Segments used to be found in Outbound Marketing. As of June 2025, the Outbound Marketing module has been removed, and at some point in the future, it will likely disappear for people still using the module.

Follow these steps to find Segments in D365 CRM:

Step 1: Click on your app in D365 CRM

Step 2: Select “Customer Insights – Journeys”

Step 3: You should now be in “Customer Insights – Journeys”

Step 4: Make sure you’re in the “Real-time journeys” area

Step 5: Select “Segments”

What If I Can’t Find Customer Insights – Journeys in My Apps?

If you cannot find Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys you may be missing a security role, or the app may not be installed, or you may have to purchase the license. In this case, you’ll need to see your systems administrator and get assigned a security role, install the app, or purchase a license.

How to Create a Segment in D365 CRM

The following steps will let you create a segment in D365 CRM:

Step 1: Click on “New Segment”

Step 2: Give your segment a descriptive name. In this case, we want to look at recently created leads. We want the name to be descriptive, as you will search through the segment names when creating your journey.

Note: In this scenario, our audience would be a “Lead” instead of a “Contact.”

Step 3: Click “Create.”

Note: If you have cross-geographical data flow consent enabled, you can use Query Assist, which is powered by Copilot AI, to help generate your segment.

Step 4: Now select the attributes you want to use to filter your leads for your Segment. You will find attributes to filter in “Elements” on the right side, beneath “Lead” or “Related tables.”

With that, your segment is created and now you can begin connecting it to your real-time journeys.

How to Create the Filters for Your Segment

Now that you have the framework to create your segment, you can start adding the logic for the filters required to determine the leads in your journey.

In this scenario, we want to look at leads that were recently added, so the first criterion to add is leads created in the last two weeks.

Step 1: Type “created” (without the quotes) in the search field.

Step 2: Click to expand “Target Audience – Lead.”

Step 3: Click “Created On” under “Lead.”

Step 4: This will add “Group 1” to your segment.

Step 5: Now select the filters you need. In this case, choose “Is on or after” > “Relative date” > “14 days ago.”

Step 6: Save your segment.

Step 7: Click “Ready to use.”

Now your filters have been created. Make sure to visually check the records to make sure you have selected the group of leads or contacts you intended.

Note that, if you got an error that says, “Publishing failed”, that’s likely because the system can’t find any records. When there are data records for the Segment to access, this error will not occur.

How Do I Know I’m Using the Correct App for Segments?

If the new segment you created looks like the area highlighted in yellow in the screenshot below, you are using the older Outbound Marketing app. If you’re using the old Outbound Marketing app, we recommend that you contact a Dynamics 365 CRM Partner to update to Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys.

Become More Focused and Productive in Dynamics 365 CRM

Dynamics 365 CRM applications have a wide range of functionality and customization options to help your team better focus their attention, manage relationships with customers, and spend more time on high-value work. For instance, involving Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Data would allow you to easily create highly targeted segments based off rich datasets sitting inside or outside of Dynamics 365 CRM.

Are you looking for Dynamics 365 CRM support, training, implementations, or integrations? Learn more about our work as a Dynamics 365 CRM Partner.