Lists & Contacts Overview

The Lists & Contacts module is the foundation of Mumara Campaigns. Before you can send any email campaign, you need contacts organized into lists. This section covers everything you need to know about managing your subscriber database.

Core Components

Component	Description
Contact Lists	Containers that organize and store your contacts
Contacts	Individual subscribers with email addresses and profile data
Custom Fields	Additional data fields to store subscriber information
Segments	Dynamic groups based on filters and criteria
Suppression Lists	Block lists to prevent sending to specific addresses

How It Works

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                         CONTACT LISTS                             |
|                                                                   |
|    +--------------+    +--------------+    +--------------+       |
|    |  Newsletter  |    |  Customers   |    |    Leads     |       |
|    |     List     |    |     List     |    |     List     |       |
|    +------+-------+    +------+-------+    +------+-------+       |
|           |                   |                   |               |
|           v                   v                   v               |
|    +------------------------------------------------------+       |
|    |                      CONTACTS                        |       |
|    |   Email + Custom Fields (Name, Company, Country...)  |       |
|    +------------------------------------------------------+       |
|                              |                                    |
|            +-----------------+-----------------+                  |
|            |                 |                 |                  |
|            v                 v                 v                  |
|    +-------------+    +-------------+    +-------------+          |
|    |   Segment   |    |   Segment   |    |   Segment   |          |
|    |  (Opened)   |    |  (Country)  |    |  (Active)   |          |
|    +-------------+    +-------------+    +-------------+          |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

Contact Lists

A contact list is where you store and manage your subscribers. Each list can have:

• A unique name and group assignment
• Sender name and email configuration
• Assigned custom fields (profile fields)
• Bounce email handling settings

You can organize lists into groups for better management, especially when handling multiple clients or campaigns.

Contacts

Contacts (also called subscribers) are the individual email addresses stored in your lists. Each contact has:

• Email address (required)
• Custom field values (First Name, Last Name, Company, etc.)
• Status flags: Active/Inactive, Confirmed/Unconfirmed, Subscribed/Unsubscribed
• Bounce status: Not Bounced, Soft Bounced, Hard Bounced
• Engagement data: Opens, clicks, delivery status

Custom Fields

Custom fields (also called profile fields) let you store additional information about your contacts beyond just email addresses. Common fields include:

• First Name, Last Name
• Company, Title
• Phone, Mobile, Fax
• City, State, Country, Zip Code
• Birth Date

You can also create your own custom fields with different types: Text, Numeric, Dropdown, Checkbox, Radio, Date, or JSON.

Segments

Segments are dynamic, virtual lists created by filtering contacts based on specific criteria. Unlike static lists, segments automatically update as contacts match or unmatch the filter conditions.

Segment filters include:

• Contact status (active, confirmed, bounced, unsubscribed)
• Custom field values
• Engagement data (opened, clicked, never sent)
• Geographic data (country, state, city)
• Device data (browser, operating system)

Suppression Lists

Suppression lists prevent emails from being sent to specific addresses. There are three types:

Type	Purpose
Email Suppression	Block specific email addresses
Domain Suppression	Block entire domains (e.g., competitor.com)
IP Suppression	Block contacts based on IP address

Suppression can be applied globally (affects all lists) or to specific lists only.

Contact Statuses

Understanding contact statuses is important for maintaining list hygiene:

Status	Description	Impact
Active	Contact can receive emails	Included in campaigns
Inactive	Contact is disabled	Excluded from campaigns
Confirmed	Double opt-in verified	Receives emails normally
Unconfirmed	Awaiting confirmation	May be excluded based on settings
Unsubscribed	Opted out of list	Cannot receive emails to this list
Soft Bounced	Temporary delivery failure	May retry delivery
Hard Bounced	Permanent delivery failure	Excluded from campaigns
Suppressed	On suppression list	Blocked from receiving emails
Spammed	Marked email as spam	Should not receive emails

Quick Start Guide

1. Create a Contact List

Navigate to Lists → Contact Lists → Add Contact List and configure:

• List name
• Group (optional, for organization)
• Sender name and email
• Profile fields to collect

2. Add Contacts

You can add contacts in several ways:

• Manual entry: Add one contact at a time
• CSV Import: Bulk import from a file
• Web Forms: Collect signups from your website
• API: Integrate with external systems

3. Organize with Groups

Create groups to organize related lists:

• By client or brand
• By campaign type
• By geographic region
• By product line

4. Create Segments

Build targeted audiences using filters:

• Contacts who opened a specific campaign
• Contacts in a specific country
• Contacts who haven't purchased recently
• Contacts with a specific custom field value

5. Maintain List Hygiene

Keep your lists clean by:

• Removing hard bounces automatically
• Managing unsubscribes
• Using suppression lists
• Running deduplication

Best Practices

List Organization

• Use descriptive names: "Newsletter Subscribers - 2024" instead of "List 1"
• Group related lists: Keep client or campaign lists together
• Set appropriate sender info: Use recognizable sender names and verified domains

Contact Management

• Validate on import: Enable email validation to catch typos
• Use double opt-in: Confirm subscriptions for better engagement
• Respect unsubscribes: Never re-add unsubscribed contacts
• Clean regularly: Remove inactive and bounced contacts

Segmentation

• Start simple: Begin with basic filters before complex combinations
• Test segment counts: Verify your segment returns expected results
• Save reusable segments: Create templates for common filters
• Update periodically: Re-count segments before major campaigns

Suppression

• Suppress complainers: Add spam complainers to global suppression
• Block competitors: Suppress competitor domains
• Import industry lists: Add known bad addresses before campaigns
• Sync regularly: Keep suppression lists updated

Next Steps

• Contact Lists - Learn how to create and manage lists
• Contacts - Add and import subscribers
• Custom Fields - Configure profile fields
• Segments - Build targeted audiences
• Suppression Lists - Manage block lists