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Dynamic Segmented audience overview
Dynamic Segmented audiences are recommended for highly specific audiences that you wish to refresh on an ongoing basis. A key benefit of dynamic audiences is continuous synchronization between your external data and the IQM platform. Updating your source file automatically refreshes the audience, minimizing manual effort.
Refer to Dynamic Segmented audience overview for more information, or continue reading to learn more about collaborating with IQM to onboard and target your own dynamic Segmented audience data.
Onboard data for a dynamic Segmented audience
Data privacy notice: Your organization remains the controller of any personally identifiable information (PII) you send. Ensure all files comply with applicable laws and your privacy policy, and refer to Data privacy measures for dynamic Segmented audiences for more guidelines that help ensure security and compliance when sharing data for dynamic Segmented audiences. |
The data onboarding process begins outside of the IQM platform, and involves delivering taxonomy and segment files to IQM using an S3 bucket shared between your organization and IQM.
Complete the following steps to onboard your data for dynamic Segmented audiences:
Prepare test files
Prepare a small taxonomy (2-3 segments) and 100-1K sample rows for each segment file format you plan to use.
Refer to File formats and schemas to ensure your taxonomy and segment files follow our formatting guidelines. Note that these guidelines differ based on whether the format is digital-ID-based or PII-based.
Contact IQM
Contact us at support@IQM.com, or reach out to your account representative, to notify us that you’d like to bring your own data for dynamic Segmented audience creation. Include the following details in your message:
Storage location: Specify an S3 region and bucket name. Choose a single region close to data sources.
Confirm the access modal: Choose between a cross-account IAM role or bucket policy. Refer to “Identity and Access Management” (IAM) templates for more details and additional support.
Share encryption details: Decide whether you’ll enable SSE-KMS (recommended for PII) or SSE-S3 encryption at the bucket level or object level. In the S3 ecosystem, a bucket represents the top-level container for storing objects, while an object represents the individual files you upload. Include the KMS key in your message, if applicable.
Register seats: Provide one or more seat IDs that are associated with your IQM accounts. Each of these accounts will gain access to the dynamic Segmented audience segments that you upload.
Determine your identifier strategy: Segmented audiences can accommodate taxonomy linked to either PII (e.g., name + address + other PII columns) or digital identity details (e.g., device IDs, cookie IDs, or IP addresses). Determine your identifier strategy and let IQM know whether you’ll choose a digital-ID-based or PII-based approach.
If you’d like to send both digital-ID and PII formats, do so in separate files, and note that processing times differ by format.
Prepare test files: Confirm that you’ve prepared at least one taxonomy file and one segment file. Do not share the files in your message; IQM will let you know when you can upload these files to the secure, shared S3 bucket.
Your message will signal IQM to create and secure a shared S3 bucket, and provide you with access details for data onboarding via file upload.
Onboard data via file upload
More on data onboarding via file upload: This section includes common AWS CLI examples for data onboarding. However, you can use any S3-compatible tool to complete this process.
CSV files are currently supported. |
Upload taxonomy and segment files to the shared bucket using the agreed-upon paths. You’ll start with the test files you prepared, then use the same paths to upload your complete segments once testing and validation concludes.
Taxonomy files must arrive before segment files. In other words, segment segment values must already exist as the id in the taxonomy for the same seat_id.
Refer to the examples below to complete the data onboarding process.
Taxonomy (CSV):
aws s3 cp taxonomy_20250115_230501.csv \
s3://<bucket>/taxonomy-uploads/seat_id=<seat_id>/taxonomy_20250115_230501.csv \
--sse AES256
Segments – digital‑ID (pipe‑delimited, no header):
aws s3 cp segments_20250115_231000.psv \
s3://<bucket>/segment-data/segments_20250115_231000.csv \
--sse AES256
Segments – PII CSV (KMS):
aws s3 cp segments_20250115_231500.csv \
s3://<bucket>/segment-data/segments_20250115_231500.csv \
--sse aws:kms --sse-kms-key-id <key-arn>
Test and validate
More on setup and processing timelines: Initial setup may take up to one week, which includes automation and testing after access to the shared S3 bucket is granted. This timeline, and the post-setup timelines described below, assume that files land before the top of the hour and pass all validation checks.
Large spikes in volume or schema changes may require more time to process. |
You’ll complete a brief testing-and-validation process before fully onboarding your desired files. This allows you and IQM to address any issues prior to delivering each segment file.
Follow these steps to complete the testing-and-validation process:
Share sample data: In the shared S3 bucket, upload the sample files you prepared: a small taxonomy (2-3 segments) and 100-1K sample rows for each segment file format you plan to use.
Share validation details (IQM): IQM reviews the details you shared to confirm header, delimiter, and type checks. Refer to Key terms and concepts: Validation check for more information on the items that are validated during this process.
Check the platform for the segments: Verify that the dynamic audience segments appear in the Create Segmented Audience portion of the Audiences app for the correct account seat. It may take up to three hours for the segments to become available in the IQM platform.
Confirm segment-targeting readiness: Create a sample audience that includes the dynamic audience segments and confirm targeting readiness. The time it takes for the audience to be ready for activation varies based on the segment delivery type: up to three hours for digital-ID-based deliveries or up to 24 hours for PII-based deliveries.
After the testing and validation process is complete, use the same paths to upload your complete segments.
Add dynamic segments to a Segmented audience
You can use the Audiences app to create one Segmented audience at a time. You’ll follow the same process as you would if you created a standard Segmented audience, but you’ll select your custom segments rather than our curated ones.
Refer to Create or manage a Segmented audience for step-by-step audience creation instructions.
Target a dynamic Segmented audience
Standard and dynamic Segmented audiences are targeted in the same way: via new or existing campaigns from the Audiences app or Campaigns app.
Refer to Assign an audience to a campaign for step-by-step audience targeting instructions.
Refresh a dynamic Segmented audience
More on audience refreshes: Note that adding a new file to the dedicated S3 bucket will create a new Segmented audience—not refresh an existing one.
When updating an existing file, notify IQM before adding or removing columns, and before changing delimiters. |
You can dynamically refresh an existing, successfully created audience to change the number of records it includes; or dynamically refresh a failed audience to correct any issues.
Adjust a segment’s record count
When you refresh an existing Segmented audience, your updates will effectively replace the segment (delta-replace). In other words, if your first upload contains 100 rows, and the second upload contains 200 rows, the segment will end up with 200 rows in total.
Follow these steps to refresh an existing audience by changing its record count:
Select a previously successful segment upload.
Modify the record count.
Confirm that the mapping, name, and column names are consistent with the existing upload. Otherwise, a new segment will be created.
Save your changes to the existing file.
The audience segment will reprocess to reflect the newly added data. Note that it may take up to three hours for the segments to become available in the IQM platform. The time it takes for the audience to be ready for activation varies based on the segment delivery type: up to three hours for digital-ID-based deliveries or up to 24 hours for PII-based deliveries.
Fix a failed audience
Follow these steps to refresh a previously failed audience by correcting any issues:
Select an audience that previously failed due to an invalid column header, combination, or file content.
Correct the file.
Refer to Validation check and File formats and schemas for additional support.
Reupload the corrected file to the same path with the same name.
The audience will reprocess to reflect the newly added data. Note that it may take up to three hours for the segments to become available in the IQM platform. The time it takes for the audience to be ready for activation varies based on the segment delivery type: up to three hours for digital-ID-based deliveries or up to 24 hours for PII-based deliveries.
Locate additional Segmented audience resources