This article covers the Exclusion List in the CRM, explaining how to add or remove contacts to prevent them from receiving emails, ensuring compliance, and protecting your sender's reputation.
In email marketing, it's important to ensure that you are only reaching out to interested contacts. The Exclusion List in the CRM helps you manage contacts who should not receive your campaigns or automation emails. This article will explain how the Exclusion List works, how contacts are added, and how to manage it effectively, so you can maintain a healthy, engaged contact list.
What is the Exclusion List?
The Exclusion List is a collection of email addresses that are excluded from receiving any future campaigns or automation emails from you. It's a vital tool for ensuring compliance with opt-out requests and maintaining a positive sender reputation.
Key Points to Understand:
- Contacts can have an "Active" status on your list and still be on the Exclusion List.
- Being on the Exclusion List does not affect a contact’s list status. A contact can remain subscribed but will not receive any communication as long as they are on the Exclusion List.
- Contacts with an "Active" status who appear on the Exclusion List are still counted in your total contact numbers but will not receive your campaigns.
How Contacts are Added to the Exclusion List
There are several ways contacts can end up on the Exclusion List:
-
Manually Added by an Account User:
You can manually add specific email addresses or those that start or end in a certain way. This doesn’t alter their active status or subscription preferences but ensures they won’t receive emails. -
Contact Unsubscribes:
When a contact clicks the %UNSUBSCRIBELINK%&ALL in an email, they are automatically added to your Exclusion List. Additionally, they will be marked as unsubscribed from all lists they were subscribed to. -
Marked as Spam:
If a contact clicks the spam button in their inbox to mark your email as spam, they are added to an internal exclusion list for compliance reasons. This contact will have an "unsubscribed" status and will not appear on your visible Exclusion List.
Accessing the Exclusion List
To manage or view your Exclusion List, follow these steps:
- Go to the Contacts menu in the CRM.
- Click on List Exclusions.
- From the Manage Exclusions page, you can add, remove, or modify email addresses in the list.
How to Add Contacts to the Exclusion List
Single Contact:
- Navigate to List Exclusions.
- Click the Add button.
- Choose whether the email should match exactly, or just begin or end with certain characters.
- Type in the email address and select whether to exclude it from all lists or specific ones.
- Click Add.
Multiple Contacts (via CSV):
- Go to Contacts > Import.
- Click Import from file and select your CSV file.
- Scroll to the bottom, select Import as Excluded from the dropdown menu.
- Click Import Now to add all contacts in the file to the Exclusion List.
How to Remove Contacts from the Exclusion List
If you need to reinstate a contact from the Exclusion List, there are two options:
Removing a Single Contact:
- Click Contacts > List Exclusions.
- Find the email address you want to remove and click Delete.
Removing Multiple Contacts:
- Click Contacts > List Exclusions.
- Select the checkbox next to each email address you wish to remove.
- Click Delete Selected, then confirm the action by clicking OK.
For contacts who have mistakenly marked your emails as spam but wish to be added back to your list, you can contact your Customer Experience Team with proof of the contact's request to be reinstated.
Using the Exclusion List in the CRM is an important step in maintaining email compliance, improving engagement rates, and protecting your sender reputation. Whether manually excluding contacts or automatically handling unsubscribe and spam requests, managing this list helps ensure your campaigns are only reaching those who want to hear from you.
By regularly reviewing and updating the Exclusion List, you can maintain a clean, engaged contact database and focus on nurturing relationships with the right audience.