Guide to segmenting your audience for higher engagement in OneSignal

So you want more people to actually care about your push notifications. Good call. If you're using OneSignal, audience segmentation is one of the few things that reliably boosts engagement—when you do it right. This guide is for folks running apps, sites, or newsletters who are tired of blasting the same message to everyone and hoping for the best.

Let’s break down how to actually make segmentation work in OneSignal—without losing your mind or getting buried in pointless options.

Why Bother Segmenting? (And When It’s Not Worth It)

Before you start carving up your audience, ask yourself: Is it even worth it?

  • Segmentation pays off when:
  • Your audience is large enough that different groups really do want different things.
  • You have at least a few clear user behaviors, attributes, or locations you can use for targeting.

  • You’re willing to write more than one message.

  • Skip it (for now) if:

  • Your list is tiny (a few hundred users).
  • You don’t have much data on who your users are or what they do.
  • You’re just getting started and need to see what sticks first.

If you’re in the “should do it” camp, read on.

Step 1: Understand What OneSignal’s Segmentation Can Actually Do

OneSignal isn’t magic, but it’s flexible. Here’s what you can use to segment your audience:

  • User Data: Anything you’re tracking—think signup date, app version, platform (iOS/Android/Web), language, etc.
  • Tags: Custom key-value pairs you (or your backend) assign to users. Super useful for tracking things like “paid_user: true” or “favorite_category: sports”.
  • Location: Based on IP or device data (accuracy varies).
  • Activity: Last session, last message opened, number of sessions, etc.

Pro tip: Don’t go nuts trying to track every possible thing. Start with a couple of the most meaningful attributes or actions, and expand if you see results.

Step 2: Figure Out What Actually Matters to Your Users

Forget what marketing blogs say—most segmentation is useless if it’s based on vanity data. Focus on things that actually change what someone wants to hear from you.

Useful segmentation ideas: - Platform: iOS vs. Android vs. Web. Notifications behave differently. - Location: Time zones, countries, or cities (if relevant). - User activity: Power users vs. folks who haven’t opened your app in a month. - Purchase status: Paid vs. free users. - Interests or preferences: Only if you reliably collect this data.

Stuff to ignore (for now): - Device model (unless you’re in hardware support). - “Age” or “gender” unless it’s central to your content. - Overly granular interests you can’t actually act on.

Reality check: If you can’t write a different message for a segment, don’t bother creating it.

Step 3: Start Simple—Set Up Your First Segments in OneSignal

You don’t need to architect the perfect system. Get something working and improve from there.

How to create a segment in OneSignal

  1. Log in to your OneSignal dashboard.
  2. Go to the “Audience” tab, then “Segments.”
  3. Click “Add Segment.”
  4. Choose your filters.
  5. Pick from built-in ones (platform, language, etc.) or use tags you’ve set up.
  6. Example: “Last session more than 30 days ago” for a re-engagement campaign.
  7. Name your segment clearly.
  8. “Inactive 30d - Android” beats “Segment 1.”

Don’t overthink it: Two or three segments is plenty to start. You can always add more.

Step 4: Tag Users (The Right Way)

Tags are OneSignal’s secret weapon, but they only work if you actually send them from your app or backend. This can be as simple or as complex as you want, but here’s how to keep it sane:

  • Start with a handful of tags. Example: paid_user, region, last_purchase_category.
  • Update tags at key moments. When someone subscribes, buys, or takes a unique action, update their tags.
  • Don’t set and forget. Check your tags every month or two—sometimes they break, or your app changes.

If you’re not technical: Loop in your developer for help with setting up tags. It’s a few lines of code.

Step 5: Write Messages That Actually Matter (And Test Them)

You can have the world’s fanciest segments, but if you send the same generic message to all of them, what’s the point?

  • Tailor your message. Even a small tweak (“Miss you!” vs. “Check out what’s new”) can make a difference.
  • Test before scaling. Try different messages for different segments. See what actually moves the needle.
  • Track results. Open rates and click rates by segment are more useful than overall averages.

Don’t chase vanity metrics: High open rates are nice, but if nobody takes action, rethink your approach.

Step 6: Avoid the Common Pitfalls

Here’s where most people waste time or shoot themselves in the foot:

  • Too many segments. If it takes you ten minutes to pick which one to send to, you’ve gone too far.
  • Forgetting to update segments. Your audience changes—so should your segments.
  • Not measuring impact. If segmenting hasn’t improved engagement after a few campaigns, pause and reassess.
  • Sending too often. Just because you can send a notification to each segment every day doesn’t mean you should.

Pro tip: Ask yourself, “Would I be annoyed if I got this notification?” If yes, rethink the message or the segment.

Step 7: Rinse, Repeat, and Keep It Manageable

Segmentation isn’t a one-and-done thing. It’s more like cleaning out your fridge—do it regularly, or things get gross.

  • Review segments every quarter. Prune what you don’t use.
  • Experiment, but don’t overcomplicate. Add a new segment only if you have a real reason.
  • Automate where you can. Use OneSignal’s automated segments (like “Inactive Users”) for routine campaigns.

Real Talk: What Works, What Doesn’t

  • Works: Segments based on user behavior (recent activity, purchases, churn risk). Clear, focused messaging.
  • Doesn’t: Overly broad segments (“all users in the USA”). Segments you never actually use.
  • Ignore: Any “pro tip” that takes more work than the payoff justifies. Shiny features (“AI segmentation!”) that add complexity with no clear benefit.

Keep It Simple—And Iterate

You don’t need a PhD in analytics to get more out of OneSignal’s segmentation. Start small, send better messages, and watch what actually works. If it helps, keep it. If it doesn’t, scrap it. The best segmentation is the one that makes your users happy to hear from you—not the one that looks impressive on a dashboard.

Now go send something people actually want to open.