Targeting

Targeting controls which subscribers receive your campaign. You can send to your entire list, narrow it down with tags, or use a saved segment for precise filtering.

Send to All Subscribers

The simplest option — your campaign goes to every active subscriber in the project. This is the default when you don't configure any targeting.

Note

"Active" means subscribers with a confirmed, non-unsubscribed status. Bounced and unsubscribed addresses are automatically excluded.

Targeting with Tags

Tags are labels you attach to subscribers (like pro-user, beta-tester, or ios). When targeting by tags, you can include, exclude, and combine tags to build your audience.

Include Tags (OR Logic)

Send to subscribers who have any of the listed tags:

Include: pro-user, beta-tester

Result: Subscribers with the pro-user tag or the beta-tester tag (or both)

Include All Tags (AND Logic)

Send to subscribers who have all of the listed tags:

Include all: pro-user, completed-onboarding

Result: Only subscribers with both pro-user and completed-onboarding

Exclude Tags

Remove subscribers with specific tags from the audience:

Include: pro-user Exclude: churned

Result: Pro users who have not been tagged as churned

Tip

Exclusions are applied after inclusions. First, MailJawn builds the list of included subscribers, then removes anyone with an excluded tag.

Targeting with Segments

Segments are saved sets of rules that define an audience. Unlike tags (which are simple labels), segments can filter on subscriber fields, dates, custom fields, and more.

How Segments Work

A segment evaluates its rules at send time — it always reflects the current state of your subscriber data. If a subscriber matches the rules when the campaign sends, they're included.

Segment Rule Types

Segments support four types of rules:

Tag rules — Filter by tag presence

Operator	Meaning
has	Subscriber has the tag
not_has	Subscriber does not have the tag
has_any	Subscriber has at least one of the listed tags
has_all	Subscriber has all of the listed tags
has_none	Subscriber has none of the listed tags

Custom field rules — Filter by subscriber custom field values

Operator	Meaning
eq	Equals
neq	Not equal to
gt, gte	Greater than / greater than or equal
lt, lte	Less than / less than or equal
exists	The field has any value
not_exists	The field is not set

Date rules — Filter by subscriber date fields (subscribed_at, first_seen, last_seen, created)

Operator	Meaning
gte	On or after a date
lte	On or before a date
gt	After a date
lt	Before a date

Date values can be absolute (2026-01-01) or relative (-30d for "in the last 30 days").

Email rules — Filter by the subscriber's email address

Operator	Meaning
is / is_not	Exact match
contains / not_contains	Substring match
starts_with / ends_with	Prefix / suffix match
domain_is / domain_is_not	Match the domain part (after the @)

Combining Rules

Rules within a segment can be combined with all (AND) or any (OR) matching:

• Match all — A subscriber must satisfy every rule to be included
• Match any — A subscriber is included if they satisfy at least one rule

Example: Engaged Pro Users in the Last 30 Days

A segment with match all and these rules:

• Tag rule: has → pro-user
• Date rule: last_seen → gte → -30d

This targets subscribers who are tagged pro-user and were last active within the past 30 days.

Targeting by Specific Subscribers

For one-off sends (like a personal follow-up), you can target individual subscribers by their ID. This is primarily useful through the API or MCP tools.

Estimated Recipient Count

Before sending, MailJawn evaluates your targeting rules and shows you the estimated number of recipients. Review this number to make sure your audience looks right — if you expected 500 subscribers but see 5, double-check your tag names or segment rules.

Warning

The recipient count is an estimate calculated when you preview the campaign. The actual count at send time may differ slightly if subscribers are added, removed, or change status between preview and send.