How to Use Hubspot Filter Criteria for Precise Segmentation

Hubspot offers powerful filter criteria you can use to build accurate lists, contact views, company views, and other segments without missing or duplicating records.

This guide explains how the different filter types work, how they interact with each other, and how to avoid common mistakes when combining conditions.

Understanding Hubspot Filter Groups vs. Filters

Every segmented view or list is made of two layers of logic:

• Filter groups – Logical containers combined with OR
• Filters inside each group – Individual conditions combined with AND

This structure is consistent across contact, company, deal, and ticket filters.

How filters work inside a single Hubspot filter group

Within one filter group, every condition must be met for a record to qualify.

For example, in a single group:

• Lifecycle stage is Customer
• Last activity date is less than 30 days ago

Result: only customers who were active in the last 30 days are included.

This type of logic is the same regardless of whether you are creating a list, saving a contact view, or segmenting companies in your CRM.

How multiple Hubspot filter groups combine

When you have multiple groups, each group is evaluated separately, then combined with an OR relationship.

For example, two groups:

1. Group 1: Lifecycle stage is Customer
2. Group 2: Lifecycle stage is Lead

Result: records that are either Customers or Leads are included.

If a record meets the criteria of any group, it appears in the results.

Hubspot Contact Properties and Activity Filters

There are two main types of criteria used with contacts:

• Contact property filters
• Activity-based filters

Using contact property filters in Hubspot

Contact property filters reference values stored directly on the contact record. Typical examples include:

• Lifecycle stage
• Owner
• Create date
• Country or region
• Email domain

These filters are generally straightforward and use exact, range, or date-based comparisons.

You can stack multiple contact property filters inside one group to create narrow, precise segments such as:

• Lifecycle stage is Marketing qualified lead
• Original source is Paid search
• Country is United States

This will surface only contacts who match all three properties at once.

Using activity-based filters in Hubspot

Activity-based filters look at engagements logged on the record. Common examples include:

• Marketing emails sent, opened, or clicked
• Form submissions
• Sales emails or calls
• Meetings
• Tasks and notes

These filters let you build criteria around engagement history, such as:

• Contact has submitted at least one form
• Contact has not opened any marketing email in the last 90 days
• Contact has a logged call with a specific outcome

Activity filters are crucial for nurturing campaigns, re-engagement, and sales follow-up workflows.

How Activity Filters Are Evaluated in Hubspot

Activity filters are slightly more complex because multiple activities can meet, or fail to meet, your conditions at the same time.

Single activity must meet all criteria in the same group

Within one filter group, all activity-based filters that reference the same activity type must be satisfied by a single activity record.

Example group:

• Marketing email was sent
• Marketing email was opened
• Marketing email name is Newsletter – January

Result: only contacts who have one specific email that matches all three conditions are included. It is not enough that they opened one email and were sent another; the same email must fulfill each condition.

Multiple activities can satisfy different filter groups

Because different filter groups use OR logic, separate activities can satisfy the criteria across those groups.

Example:

1. Group 1: Marketing email was opened
2. Group 2: Form submission exists

A contact who opened any email or submitted any form will be included, even if those two actions were unrelated in time or context.

Common Hubspot Filtering Scenarios

Below are practical scenarios to help you design filters more accurately.

Scenario 1: Contacts who opened any campaign email

Steps:

1. Create a new list or view.
2. Add a filter group with activity type Marketing email.
3. Set criteria such as: Marketing email was opened.

Result: all contacts who have opened at least one marketing email.

Scenario 2: Contacts who opened a specific Hubspot email

Steps:

1. Create a new list or view.
2. Add filters for Marketing email:

• Marketing email was sent
• Marketing email was opened
• Marketing email name is equal to the desired email

Result: only contacts who both received and opened that particular email.

Scenario 3: Contacts who engaged with any of several campaigns

To include contacts who engaged with multiple potential campaigns:

1. Create separate filter groups for each campaign email name.
2. In each group, use conditions such as:

• Marketing email was sent
• Marketing email was opened
• Marketing email name is the desired campaign

Result: contacts who opened any one of the listed campaign emails.

Best Practices for Building Hubspot Filters

Use these guidelines to prevent unexpected filter results:

• Start simple – Add a few filters at a time, then preview results.
• Use clear naming – Name lists and views to reflect the filter logic.
• Group activities carefully – Remember that filters in one group must be met by a single activity.
• Leverage multiple groups – Use extra groups when different patterns of behavior should qualify.
• Test with known records – Spot-check contacts or deals you already know meet the criteria.

Where to Learn More About Hubspot Filters

You can review the original documentation for detailed examples directly on the Hubspot Knowledge Base at this page on filter criteria.

For strategic CRM setups, segmentation planning, and advanced automation design, you can also explore consulting resources such as Consultevo for guidance.

By understanding how filter groups, contact properties, and activity criteria interact in Hubspot, you can build accurate lists, cleaner views, and more effective automated workflows that reflect the real behavior of your contacts and companies.

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