> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.mediarithmics.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.mediarithmics.io/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/target-your-audience-based-on-criteria.md). # Define your audience based on criteria Turn what you know about your users into an audience, and choose between stored data and live activity. ## Your goal Turn criteria - who these users are, what they did, what a model says about them - into an [audience segment](/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference.md#what-an-audience-segment-is) you can activate, analyse, or automate on. ## Expected outcome Your audience is saved as a segment and fills with the users who match your criteria. Once it has been computed, you can send it to your partner platforms, analyse it, or use it to trigger an automation. ## When this is useful Your audience is everyone who has been in contact with your ecosystem - sites, apps, physical stores. mediarithmics gathers that user data from all your sources into one view. Criteria-based targeting is how you cut that view into audiences that a campaign, an email, or an analysis can act on. ## The one decision that shapes everything else

If your criteria are	Build it	Recomputed
Anything held in your datamart - profiles, past events, imported attributes, scores	from stored data, as a Query segment	On the segment's evaluation period, by default daily
Behaviour that must be acted on as it happens, in the current browsing session	from live user activity	Continuously, or in near real time

The two are not exclusive. A live-activity mechanism usually needs a stored-data segment somewhere behind it - as an automation's entry condition, or as the panel a campaign targets. ## Prerequisites * A datamart with data in it, and a schema that indexes the fields you want to query. Schema work is documented in the **Setup & Monitor** section, under *Design your data model & schema*. * For the [Standard Segment Builder](/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference/segment-builders/standard-segment-builder.md), at least one audience feature and one template. * For anything you intend to activate, a segment that stays [persisted](/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference.md#counting-is-not-persistence), as it is by default. ## The other routes into an audience Not every audience comes from criteria. Explore other ways to create audiences:


Import your audience	The list is already decided in your information system - load it.	Import your audience from an external source
Collect users from a tagged page	The criterion is "loaded this page" - place a pixel.	Collect users from a tagged page
Expand your audience with Lookalike	You have the audience you want, and need more of it.	Expand your audience with Lookalike

## Verification Whichever route you take, the segment is doing its job when: * The user count is in the order of magnitude you expected. See [Check your audience reach and stats](/audience-and-activation/analyze-your-data/check-your-audience-reach-and-stats.md). * Enough of those users carry the identifier you intend to activate on. See [identifier coverage](/audience-and-activation/activate-your-audiences/track-a-feed-stats-and-troubleshoot.md#the-three-numbers-that-matter). * No alert is open on it. See [Alerts](/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference/segment-capabilities.md#alerts). ## Related pages


Segment reference	The object, its properties, and the counting-versus-persistence rule.	Segment reference
Enforce compliance on your audience	Attaching processing activities before the segment is used.	Enforce compliance on your audience

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