All of the contacts in your account are collectively referred to as your audience. Putting the contacts of your audience into groups helps to keep them organized and makes it a breeze to send customized content to them.
You can create as many groups as you like, and each of your contacts can be in multiple groups, just one, or none. The groups you create can be used internally for organizational purposes or, you can also customize your signup form to display the groups to your contacts, which will give them the power to self-select their interest groups — and we definitely recommend doing this.
Audience groups are used to organize contacts by anything from unique business markers, like being a donor or a volunteer, to a broader scope of things, like geography, gender, customer type, and subscription preferences.
What’s the difference between regular groups versus test groups?
There are two types of audience groups that you can create: regular and test groups. Test groups are made up of a select group of people who know they will be receiving a test of your campaign prior to doing the final send to your preferred group. For example, your test group might include colleagues who can proofread the email for typos, or stakeholders who want to see the content before it’s sent.
When choosing recipients to send a new mailing to, you will have the option to send it to a test group or a regular group in the same area. The only visible difference between the two is when you send a campaign to a test group, the email subject line is prefaced with [TEST]. Additionally, we also recommend adding the word “test” to the group name so you can more easily differentiate these from regular groups when choosing recipients to send to.
Unlike regular groups, test groups can only contain a maximum of 10 contacts, and they cannot be added to signup forms the same way that regular groups can.
How to create a group
While you can create as many groups as you’d like to, it’s also good to get into the habit of archiving groups that are no longer in use (detailed in the next section). Here’s how to add a new group to your audience:
- Open the Audience section in your account, and select Groups on the lefthand menu.
- Click the Create a group button on the right side of the page.
- Enter a name for the group, then click Create. If it is going to be a test group, you should also check the box below the name field that says: This is a test group; in which case, we also suggest adding the word “test” to the group name.
The new group will then be added to your Groups page under the Regular tab. Or, if it’s a test group, simply select the Test tab to see it.
Ways to add contacts to groups
You can add contacts to your groups in two ways:
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Via file import: When importing a file, you can add multiple contacts to an existing group or create a new group.
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Via manual import: Group membership can be assigned to individual contacts when adding a new contact.
How to archive, rename, or export a group
Archiving a group will not archive or delete any of the contacts in the group, and it will not affect the contact’s subscription status either. However, if the group you want to archive contains contacts who are not members of any other group, they will become “in limbo” and you may need to create a segment to find “in limbo” contacts at some point in the future.
If you no longer need one or more of your audience groups, you can archive them. In fact, you can archive, rename, or export a group at the same place by following these steps:
- Open the Audience section in your account, and select Groups on the lefthand menu.
- Select one or more groups to archive by checking the boxes next to the name, then click the Archive button above.
- Optionally, you can also rename your groups, or export a list of contacts in the group. To do so, click the down arrow, to the far right of the group name, then make a selection from the dropdown menu.
How to restore or delete a group
Only after a group has been archived, can you restore or delete it, here’s how:
- Click on your name in the top right corner of your account, then select Archived items from the dropdown menu.
- Select one or more groups to archive by checking the boxes next to the name, then click the Actions button above and select to Restore or Delete. Or, you can also achieve the same thing by selecting the down arrow, to the far right of the group name, then make your selection from the dropdown menu.
- Read the pop-up message carefully and then confirm your selection.
How to remove contacts from groups
You can remove contacts from a group at any time without affecting the group by following these steps:
- Open the Audience section in your account, and select Groups on the lefthand menu.
- Click on the group name you would like to edit and it will bring up the list of contacts in that group.
- Check the boxes alongside any contacts you want to remove.
- Click Actions, at the top of the list, then select Remove from group.
Optionally, you can also remove a single contact from a group via the individual’s contact record by following these steps:
- Open the Audience section in your account, and select Contacts on the lefthand menu (since it is the first option, you may not need to click on it).
- Either search for or click on the contact from the list and you will be brought to that individual’s contact record where you should click on the Edit button.
- Under the Groups section on the right, you can uncheck the group(s) desired, then click the Save button.
Facts about audience groups to remember
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You can create as many groups as you like but should also remember to archive groups that are no longer in use.
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It is most useful to add your groups to the manage preferences form so that your contacts can self-select their interest groups.
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Contacts are copied to groups, not moved. That means that a single contact can be in multiple groups if desired. They can also be in both test groups and regular groups.
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You can remove contacts from a group at any time without affecting the group.
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If you add additional email addresses to a group before any mailings using that group is scheduled to send, those addresses will be included in the scheduled send.
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Groups are controlled by segments.
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Contacts who are not a member of any group are referred to as being “in limbo”, and you may need to create a segment to find “in limbo” contacts.
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If a contact is a member of multiple groups, and you send a mailing to two or more of those groups, we will deduplicate to ensure the contact is only sent one email.