What is a “universal segment” and when is it appropriate?

A universal segment is everyone on your list, or at least everyone who meets basic eligibility criteria like being subscribed and not suppressed.

It's appropriate for messages that genuinely apply to all recipients:

Critical service announcements. Your terms changed. Your platform is down. Your pricing is updating. Everyone needs to know.

Major company news. You've been acquired. You're launching something transformative. You're shutting down a product line everyone uses.

Legally required communications. Privacy policy updates. Security breach notifications. Compliance disclosures.

But universal sends should be rare. The moment you think \"everyone should see this promotion,\" question the assumption. Is it really for everyone, or are you just avoiding the work of segmentation?

Most \"universal\" campaigns would perform better as targeted sends. The convenience of reaching everyone rarely outweighs the cost of diluted engagement and reputation erosion. Save the universal segment for messages that truly have no audience boundary.