When you create a new project, it is populated with a list titled "Main List". You can create additional lists, but it is usually best to keep your contacts in just one list. The reason is that each list is completely separate. If a contact in List A unsubscribes or updates their information, it has no effect on contacts in List B, even if they share the same email address. Prefer using groups and smart groups to organize the contacts in your list.
To create a new list:
- Navigate to the Contacts tab
- Click + in the toolbar
- Choose New List
Properties of a List
Use the inspector to view and edit properties of your list, including:
- Notes: These are for your own use
- Forms: You can create email sign-up forms or custom unsubscribe and preference forms
- Advanced: Edit the number of custom fields that contacts in this list have; edit the "key" that tells Direct Mail how to identify duplicate contacts in this list.
Custom Fields
By default, each contact in a list has five custom fields that can be used to save any kind of data (customer ID numbers, zip codes, etc.). Custom fields can be used to:
- Personalize email campaigns
- Organize or segment your list
You can use the inspector to change the number of custom fields (up to 30) and/or rename the custom fields:
- Select a list
- In the inspector, expand the Advanced section
- Choose the number of custom fields
- Click Rename Custom Fields
Reducing the number of custom fields does not destroy any data saved in those custom fields, it just hides the fields in Direct Mail's user interface.
Deduplication Key
By default, Direct Mail considers any contacts in a list that share the same email address to be duplicates of each other. In other words, the list's deduplication key is the email address. This key is used when resolving duplicates in your list, sending campaigns (to prevent duplicate emails to the same person), and when importing contacts (to handle updating existing contacts).
The default key of "email address" is appropriate for most use cases. However, if you'd like to use a different key to deduplicate contacts (e.g. a customer ID number), you can change the deduplication key:
- Select a list
- In the inspector, expand the Advanced section
- Select "Email Address" and press the delete key on your keyboard
- Click + and select one or more fields that should be used as the key instead