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Lists
Static lists you fill by hand and smart lists that keep themselves up to date from filter rules.
Workspaceabout 6 min
By the end you'll be able to
- Choose between a static and a smart list, and know why
- Build a smart list from filter rules that survives new data
- Merge other lists into one, or keep their members out
- Use lists as the audience for sends, and as workflow triggers
Walk through it
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A static list is a fixed set of members you add and remove yourself. A smart list is a saved question — "everyone who matches these rules" — and its membership changes as the data does. Prefer smart when the rule can be written down.
Good to know
- At least one rule in a smart list has to be a filter that can use an index, so large lists stay fast. The builder tells you when a rule set does not qualify.
- A list shared from another brand is read-only here, and its members open as normal records.
- Members drawn from another list arrive when this list next refreshes, not the instant someone joins the other one. Refresh it by hand if you need it up to date right now.
- Include and exclude only offer lists of the same object type, and never the list you are editing.
- A "Company › " rule on a contact list matches if ANY company that contact is connected to matches — and its negative form ("is not", "does not contain") matches contacts with no company at all, which is usually what you want but is worth checking against the count.
- Fields that name a linked record — "Loan account › ", "Collections › ", "Purchase › ", "Linked record › " — come from a connected system, and they read the same way: the rule matches if ANY linked record of that kind matches. "Not known" is the mirror of that, so "Loan account › balance is Not known" means no loan account of theirs carries a balance — which includes everyone who has no loan account at all.
- To ask the narrower question — has a record of that kind, with the field empty on it — add "Linked record › type is Loan account" next to the "Not known" rule under Match all.
- A shared list is matched by email address, because each brand keeps its own contact record for the same person. So excluding another brand’s do-not-contact list suppresses those people here, and your list still only ever contains your own contacts. Shared lists of companies or deals are not offered, as neither has a reliable identity across brands.
Common questions