What makes up a contact
A contact needs at least one channel identity. In the dashboard, every new contact starts with an
email address.
Channel identities
A contact is one person. The ways you can reach them are separate records attached to that person, called channel identities. A contact can hold several of each, and every one carries its own status. That’s why the channel, not the contact, decides whether a message goes out: a work address can bounce while a personal address keeps receiving email.
Email and SMS campaigns send only to identities that are Verified or Unverified. Every other
status is skipped. Most new addresses start Unverified, which is a normal, sendable state; an
address becomes Verified when the person confirms it, for example by clicking a signup form’s
confirmation link.
On each channel, one identity can be marked Primary. It’s the one shown in the contacts table
and on the contact’s sidebar. You can’t change the address or number on an existing identity: remove
it and add the new one.
Telegram and iMessage identities can be stored, but campaigns can’t send to them. WhatsApp is in
early access.
Contact statuses
New contacts are Active. You set the other statuses yourself, by editing a contact or with
Archive on a selection. Use them to organize your audience: you can filter the table and build
segments on status.
A contact’s status doesn’t decide who a campaign reaches. That depends on list membership, the
status of each channel identity and the suppression list. To stop messaging someone, unsubscribe
them or suppress their address.
Tags and lists
A tag is a short label you attach to a contact, such asvip or lagos-event. A contact can
carry any number of them. Create tags on Contacts > Tags, or type a new name wherever you add a
tag. Names can be up to 100 characters and must be unique in your organization. Renaming a tag
changes it on every contact that carries it, and deleting one removes it from every contact without
touching the contacts themselves. Segment rules match tag names, so update a rule after you rename a
tag. An import only ever adds tags; it never removes one a contact already has.
A list is a group of contacts you add by hand, by import or through a signup form. Send a
campaign to a list and everyone subscribed to it is in the audience. A list is something a person
belongs to and can leave; a segment is a query over the data you hold.
See Lists for creating one, preferred channels, what the Subscribers figure
counts, and the rules on removing contacts and deleting a list.
The contacts table
Go to Contacts > All Contacts. The table shows each contact’s Name, Primary Email, Status, Last Activity and Created date. Select a name to open the contact. Above the table are three figures:
When you’re close to your plan’s contact limit, a banner tells you how many contacts are left. To
make more room, move to a larger plan. See Subscribe to a plan.
Filters
Status and Tags show how many contacts match each option.
Act on several contacts
Tick the checkboxes next to the contacts you want, or the box in the header to select the whole page. A bar appears with three actions:
Select Clear selection to start over.
Add contacts
- One at a time: select Add Contact. See Add and edit contacts.
- From a spreadsheet: select Import / Export. See Import contacts.
- From a form: people add themselves through a signup form. See Forms.
- From another provider: see Run a migration.
- From your app: use the API. See Sync contacts from your app.
Related
Import contacts
Bring an existing audience in from a CSV.
Segments
Group contacts by rules for a campaign.
Suppression list
The addresses Brudcast won’t send to, and why.