Seeing an “Empty Segment” error when testing or sending an email campaign—especially when you know your segment contains contacts—can be frustrating. This guide walks you through common causes and how to troubleshoot the issue.
What Causes an “Empty Segment” Error?
This error typically means that your campaign could not find any eligible contacts in the assigned segment or tag at the time of send. Even if your segment appears populated, a specific account setting may be silently filtering out recipients.
Step-by-Step Troubleshooting
Test Your Segment or Tag First
Navigate to your Segments or Tags page and run a test.
If the test returns 0 contacts, the segment itself is empty. Revisit the segment logic or the assigned tag to find out why.
If the test returns a valid contact count, continue to the next step.
Consider the Cross-Post Merging Setting
Delivra includes a setting called cross-post merging, which prevents duplicate email sends within a 24-hour period.
It checks for:
Identical from lines
Identical HTML content
Identical segments
If a match is found with a campaign sent in the last 24 hours, the platform will block the send to protect against accidental resends or over-mailing.
How to Confirm Cross-Post Merging is the Cause
Go to Analytics > Campaigns in the left navigation.
Open the Tracking Statistics report.
If cross-post merging is to blame, you’ll see the campaign listed with no sending or tracking data recorded.
To dig deeper, view the mail processing log for the campaign:
In the Tracking Statistics report, click on the Campaign ID (far left column).
In the campaign detail view, select "Log" from the left-hand menu to read more specifics about the failure.
Why This Happens
Cross-post merging helps prevent contacts from receiving duplicate messages when they appear in multiple segments assigned to the same campaign. It's a protective feature, especially useful when you're running similar automations or batch sends across overlapping audiences.
Still Need Help?
If you're unable to determine the cause of the error or need a hand troubleshooting, our Support team is happy to assist. Reach out any time by emailing support@delivra.com.
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