Browsing behaviour reveals what your contacts are genuinely interested in — even before they add anything to their basket. By capturing this activity with the Dotdigital Tag, you can build WebInsight segments that highlight real intent. These segments power relevant campaigns, trigger timely automations, and personalise messages to match visitor interests.
Whether someone explores a product category, spends extra time on key pages, or returns to view new arrivals, their actions create opportunities for you to reconnect while interest is high. Combined with datasets like CartInsight or OrderInsight, browsing data enables you to guide contacts toward the next step, whether that's a purchase, a repeat order, or another engagement.
This use case builds on the abandoned cart email program. See Recover lost sales using abandoned cart emails to learn more.
Use case
Imagine you run an ecommerce store and want to reconnect with visitors who browsed your seasonal offers but did not make a purchase. With web behaviour tracking and WebInsight, you can identify these contacts, build a segment around their browsing activity, and send them a targeted campaign. This approach helps you re‑engage potential customers, increase conversions, and deliver timely, personalised content.
Before you start
You need:
Dotdigital Tag installed and active on your site.
See Add the Dotdigital Tag to learn more.WebInsight data available in your Dotdigital account. It is is automatically populated when tracking is active, but you must enable this in Tag settings.
Learn more in Web behavior tracking with Dotdigital Tag.Familiarity with creating segments, email campaigns, and programs in Dotdigital.
Step-by-step guide to creating a browsing segment
Step 1: Create the segment in WebInsight
Go to Audience > Segments and select NEW SEGMENT.
Name the segment, for example, Browsed Autumn Offers, and choose a folder.
Drag an Insight data block into the Include area.
Select the block to open the Insight data settings.
From the dataset dropdown, choose WebInsight.
Step 2: Define rules
Set contact filter types, such as:
Number of visits - for example, visited /autumn_offers page ≥ 2 times.
Total time - for example, total time ≥ 180 seconds.
Average duration - for example, ≥ 60 seconds per visit.
Set transactional filters, such as:
page_url starts with /autumn_offers
duration_seconds >= 60
Select OKAY to apply the rule, then SAVE.
Select VIEW to preview matching contacts.
Use duration_seconds >= 60 to avoid counting accidental clicks as engagement.
Step 3: Use the segment as audience when sending campaign
Go to Campaigns > Email and create or open a campaign.
Add personalised content using dynamic or recommendation blocks linked to browsing history.
In the Send step, choose your segment as the audience.
Send or schedule the campaign.
Step 4: Use the segment in a program
Create or open a program.
Learn more in Create a program.Add a Delay node for timing.
Add a Decision node > Present in selected segment.
Choose COPY EXISTING and select the segment created earlier.
Configure actions to:
Send a follow‑up email
Add to another program
Update contact preferences
Select SAVE & ACTIVATE.
Summary
By combining the Dotdigital Tag with WebInsight, you can act on accurate, behaviour‑based insights. These segments can power email, SMS, or automation programs across your account. Beyond page views, track ecommerce data and custom events for advanced targeting opportunities.
Validate the segment before launching the campaign
Validate the segment before launching the campaign
Before you send or schedule your campaign, run a validation check to make sure your segment reflects your intended audience.
Why this matters:
Validation helps catch issues such as contacts being included who have already purchased, or an engagement threshold that’s too broad or too narrow.
To validate:
Preview segment results
In Audience > Segments, select VIEW on your segment.
Review the contact list. Check that these contacts truly match your targeting criteria.
Cross‑check with order activity
Open your OrderInsight dataset and filter for recent purchases related to the browsed products or category.
Verify those purchasers are excluded from your browsing‑only re‑engagement campaign.
Spot‑check individual contacts
For a few sample contacts, visit their Insight data profile and confirm their WebInsight event history matches your rules.
Adjust filters if needed
Tighten or loosen thresholds (duration_seconds, visit count, timeframe) to ensure the segment size and intent are correct.