Objective
This article explains how to determine how often Engage Audiences are scheduled to run and pull in updated data. It also clarifies how warehouse-connected features (like Linked Audiences or SQL Traits) interact with your data warehouse, specifically addressing whether a Snowflake query executes just once per run or once for each member in the audience.
Product
Segment Engage
Environment
Segment Console
User Account Permission/Role(s) Required
Workspace User/Owner
Procedure
How often your audience runs depends entirely on the type of audience you have built. You can determine the audience type by looking at its setup and icon in the Segment Console:
- Standard Real-Time Audiences: If your audience is based solely on standard events and traits without time-windows (indicated by a lightning bolt icon next to the name), it does not have a set schedule. It computes and updates continuously in real-time as new event data flows into Segment.
- Standard Batch Audiences: If your audience uses time-window conditions (e.g., "performed Order Completed in the last 30 days") or funnel conditions, it is a batch audience. Segment automatically schedules batch audiences to run and pull in updated data once every 8 hours.
- Linked Audiences: If your audience uses the Data Graph to query your data warehouse directly, the schedule is fully customizable. You can find and edit this by navigating to your Linked Audience, clicking the Settings tab, and viewing the Run Schedule.
- SQL Traits: If you are using a SQL Trait as a condition inside an audience, the SQL Trait itself runs on a custom schedule that was defined during the trait's initial setup (typically up to every 12 to 24 hours).
A common question is whether an audience query hits a warehouse like Snowflake once to run the query, or once for each member in the audience.
- Standard Engage Audiences: Standard real-time and batch audiences do not query your warehouse at all. They compute entirely within Segment's internal databases using the event data ingested into your workspace.
- Linked Audiences and SQL Traits: When Segment runs an audience or trait that does pull data directly from your warehouse, it executes the SQL query against DW exactly once per scheduled run.
- Bulk Query Execution: Segment does not run the query individually for each member. Instead, it sends a single bulk query to your warehouse. The DW processes that query and returns the entire list of users who meet the criteria all at once. This ensures that Segment is highly efficient and does not overwhelm your warehouse's compute resources or trigger rate limits.
Additional Information
Additional information can be found at: