Contacts, lists, and segments

Open Contacts to manage contact records, lists, segments, and suppressions. Brand audiences are managed separately and are used for generation rather than email delivery.

Know the difference

• Contact: a person record with an email address, traits, activity, and eligibility state.
• List: an explicit group used for membership and broadcast inclusion.
• Segment: a rule-based group calculated from contact data or activity.
• Brand audience: a persona/context used during planning and generation; it is not a recipient group.
• Suppression: a rule or state that prevents delivery.
• Sendable count: the number left after audience rules and delivery eligibility are applied.

Add contacts

From the Contacts tab, choose Add Contact for one person or Import CSV for a file up to 10 MB. The import moves through Upload, Map Columns, and Import. During mapping, you can:

• map one column to the required Email field
• map or skip other columns, or create a custom field
• choose Update existing or Skip existing for duplicate emails
• set the imported contacts to active, unsubscribed, bounced, or complained
• add the imported contacts to a list

Contacts can also arrive from forms, Application Sources, and Salesforce. An import cannot clear an existing unsubscribe or stronger suppression for the same address.

Create a list

1. Open Contacts → Lists.
2. Choose New List.
3. Enter a name.
4. Add contacts manually, through import, or through a connected flow.
5. Open the list to see its contacts before selecting it in a broadcast or automation.

Create a segment

1. Open Contacts → Segments.
2. Choose New Segment.
3. Add a condition using the available contact fields or activity.
4. Choose Calculate to see how many contacts currently match.
5. Choose Save Segment.
6. Wait for the calculated membership to be ready before using it for a send.

When you edit an existing segment, Preview tests the unsaved conditions and Save & Recalculate saves them and updates membership. Choose Recalculate to refresh membership without changing the saved conditions.

Use lists and segments in a broadcast

In a broadcast’s Setup tab, add at least one included list. You can then include segments or add excluded lists and segments. CopyLoop prevents the same group from being directly included and excluded.

The audience section shows the calculated recipient count. Unsubscribed contacts, hard bounces, complaints, manual suppressions, and undeliverable addresses are not included in the sendable result.

Diagnose a count mismatch

If the count differs from the list or segment total, open the selected groups to check membership, then check excluded groups and Suppressions. For a segment, make sure its latest conditions were saved and recalculated. The broadcast reports a readiness issue if an included group was deleted or is still being calculated.

See Contact status and suppressions or Connect with Webhooks or the Developer API.