Contents
Target lists - Plugixa CRM
A target list is an audience: the people a mass email goes to.
What can be on one
Contacts, leads and accounts, on the same list. That mixture is usually what you actually want: an announcement goes to your customers and to the prospects you are still working, and neither group is complete on its own.
Add records from the list screen, or from a filtered view of contacts or leads using the mass-action bar.
Lists are explicit, not saved searches
A target list holds the records you put on it. It does not re-run a query each time you send.
That is a real trade, and it is worth knowing which side you are on: a saved search would keep itself current, but it would also mean two sends of the same campaign reach two different audiences without anybody deciding that. An explicit list is auditable - you can answer “who did we mail” a year later.
To refresh a list, filter and add again. Adding somebody already on it does not duplicate them.
Opting out is not the same as being removed
This is the important interaction, and it works the way you would hope.
Somebody who unsubscribes is not removed from your lists. The opt-out is recorded on their email address, and the audience query excludes opted-out addresses when the send is resolved.
So:
- They stay on the list, and your list stays a record of who you targeted.
- They receive nothing, from any list, not just the one they were reading.
- Adding them to a new list does not start the mail again.
See Campaigns for the three guarantees around this, and Contacts for where the flag lives.
Categories
Lists can be grouped into categories, which is worth doing once you have more than a handful - typically by region, by segment, or by the campaign that built them.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Usual cause |
|---|---|
| The send reached fewer people than the list holds | Opted-out and invalid addresses are excluded at send time, not at list time. |
| Somebody unsubscribed and is still on the list | Correct, and deliberate. The list records who you targeted. |
| Adding somebody twice | It does not duplicate them. The entry is unique. |
| A list does not update when I add contacts | Lists are explicit. Add them again after filtering. |
| An account on a list received nothing | An account’s own email address is used. If it has none, there is nobody to send to. |
| I want a list that maintains itself | Not offered, deliberately. Two sends would reach two audiences with nobody deciding that. |
What to do next
- Send to it: Campaigns and Mass Email.
- Where the addresses live: Contacts.
- Fill the list: Web-to-Lead Forms.