Contact Lists
A Contact List is a set of contacts you send to, built by uploading a file, adding a record by hand, or through the Contact API. Importing an address that is already on the list updates it rather than duplicating it, and custom fields carry your own data alongside the address.
Instructions
Navigate to Contact Lists > Create Contact List. Enter a name and click Create.
Import contacts via file: click Browse, select a CSV or Excel file (must have email column + header row). EmailElement auto-maps columns to fields. Adjust mappings as needed.
Create custom fields during import: scroll to bottom of field dropdown > Add New Custom Field > name it, choose type (String, Integer, Date, etc.). Up to 150 custom fields (25 or 50 per type).
Click Process File to start import. A contact already on the list has their data appended or updated, not duplicated - unless a Duplicate Rejection Rule covers the list, in which case a contact seen too recently is turned away instead. See step 8.
To add a single contact: click Add Record > enter email and optional fields > Add Contact.
Manage the list: Export (choose columns > Start Export > download CSV), Remove All Contacts (resets to zero), Activate/Deactivate with the slider.
Remove All Contacts empties the list and resets its record count to zero. It asks for confirmation twice and cannot be undone. It does not stop a triggered sequence that is already running for a contact. Those contacts finish the sequence, including any emails still to be sent. The same goes for removing a single contact from a list.
Duplicate Rejection Rules is a tab on the Contact Lists page. A rule has a name, a number of days and the contact lists it covers, and it turns away a contact that went onto any of those lists inside that many days. 0 days turns nobody away. A contact list can be in one rule at a time, and a list already taken shows the rule that has it. Deactivating a rule stops it turning contacts away but keeps its lists assigned to it. A contact list a rule covers cannot be deactivated until it is removed from the rule.
Related pages
- Contact List Walkthrough — every step with screenshots, covering Creating a Contact List, Importing Contacts from File, Custom Fields
- CSV Format — covers File Requirements, Column Mapping, Best Practices
- Duplicate Rejection Rules — A Duplicate Rejection Rule turns away a contact you have seen too recently
- Custom Fields — holding data about a contact that the standard fields do not
- Importing Contacts — uploading a file and mapping its columns to fields
- Seed Imports — adding seed addresses to a list