Overview

Staying in touch with your customers is an important part of any marketing plan. The contact database is made up of individual contacts that represent an individual person or business and contains specific contact information. This information includes each contact's name, address, city, state, and phone number.

With Zift123, you can target specific segments of your existing contacts to create contact lists. Once your list is built, you can deliver content using campaign activities such as email and print media. Created lists are available for reuse and may be used as the basis for new lists. In this article, we provide directions for uploading a new file or adding contacts to an existing list.

You can configure your account so that only contacts who have been marked as Authorized to receive communications will receive emails you send from Zift123. This is the best practice for creating clean GDPR compliant mailing lists. Learn more about Sender Permissions and Best Practices for Contact Lists.

Prerequisites

You should be familiar with the following topics before continuing:

• Zift123 Username
• Zift123 Password

When you send an opt-in email, all contacts added to your list will immediately receive the opt-in confirmation email. Do not proceed if you are not ready for your contacts to receive the opt-in email!

Content

• How to Set-up Global Opt-In for Contact List
• Adding New Contacts to an Existing Contact List
• Requesting Global Opt-In for Existing Contacts

 

How to Set Up Global Opt-In for Contact Lists 

Creating a New List of Contacts with Global Opt-in

1. Update Settings > Company Profile > Opt-In Authorization. Opt-in authorization is required for a contact to be sent an email requesting they opt-in to your mailings. You will be prompted for Opt-in Confirmation when importing a list or creating an individual contact. When this setting is On, a menu option is available, Contacts > Opt-In Authorization.
2. Update Confirmation Email with personalized information at Contact Lists > Opt In for new list > Confirmation Email.
3. From Contact Lists > Selected List > List Details > Import Contacts, select one of the following Opt-in Confirmations:
1. Opt-In Authorization with a status of Active.
2. Send the opt-in authorization email to all new contacts in the file. Use this option if you are importing or creating a list. Contacts will be listed as Pending until they respond. If they select "Yes", they will receive emails in the future.
3. Add new contacts and do not email them. The status will be pending. No email is sent until you take additional action to opt-in your contacts.
4. Verify that the file uploads. After your list is uploaded, you can review the status in List Details.
   1. Active includes addresses that can be contacted.
   2. Pending includes addresses that are not confirmed.
   3. Unsubscribed includes addresses removed by the user.
   4. Invalid includes bounced addresses.
   5. Spam includes email addresses where recipient removed the message and marked as unsolicited.

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Adding New Contacts to an Existing Contact List

1. Update Settings > Company Profile > Opt-In Authorization. Opt-in authorization is required for a contact to be sent an email requesting they opt-in to your mailings. You will be prompted for Opt-in Confirmation when importing a list or creating an individual contact. When this setting is On, a menu option is available, Contacts > Opt-In Authorization.
2. Update Confirmation Email with personalized information at Contact Lists > Opt-In for new list > Confirmation Email.
3. From Contact > Contact Lists, select a Contact List. In the List Details view, select Add Contact > File Import.
4. Browse for your upload file.
5. Choose the Send opt-in confirmation email to all new contacts listed in the file import.
6. Select Import.
7. Map your contacts to the correct contact field.
   1. Explicitly opted in with you online - Each recipient subscribed to your list online and opted in for one or several types of mailings.  For example, recipients may opt-in by clicking one or more subject-related checkboxes that were unselected by default. Co-registration on a partner’s site is OK as long as there are separate opt-in options for each list, and it is clear to users that they are subscribing to your list. If you haven’t sent the recipient an email in over 6 months, we recommend a reintroduction message reminding them what they subscribed to and when.
   2. Explicitly opted in with you offline - Each recipient completed your offline form or survey or participated in your contest and gave you their express permission to be contacted by email about a specific subject(s). For example, recipients may opt-in by ticking an empty checkbox.
   3. Gave you their business card at an event - If, when giving you a business card, the recipient makes it absolutely clear that he or she would like to be added to a list with a particular subject matter, then you have permission. We recommend an introductory message reminding them what they subscribed to and when.
   4. Explicitly opted in for the subject you are contacting them about - When opting in, the nature of the mailings should be made clear to the recipient. For example, a person who requests product updates does not imply they wish to receive a general newsletter or promotional mailing.
   5. Email address copied from the Internet or another source - Someone publishing an email address online, in a directory, or on a business card doesn’t mean that they’ve given permission to be added to your mailing list.
   6. No email sent to recipient’s address in over two years - You should be in contact with recipients yearly at a minimum.
   7. Email address obtained from a third party - If you purchased, rented, borrowed or otherwise acquired a list from another party—even if it’s an opt-in list—the recipients didn’t give their permission to hear from you specifically.
   8. The recipient is a customer but hasn’t opted in - Just because someone is your customer doesn’t give you explicit permission to send them email marketing messages. They would first have to opt-in for the specific subject about which you are contacting them.
   9. Email address is generic and used by several people - You cannot send the email to generic email addresses like sales@domain.com, info@domain.com, or webmaster@domain.com because they are often role-based and the users of such addresses change frequently. The only exception to this rule is if you know the recipient and are sure that it is their permanent individual email address.
   10. Email address is a distribution list or mailing list - You cannot send the email to any address that forwards to more than one person because it is impossible to determine whether all recipients have given permission, and there is no way for them to unsubscribe individually.
8. After your list is uploaded, you can review the status in List Details.
   1. Active includes addresses that can be contacted.
   2. Pending includes addresses that are not confirmed.
   3. Unsubscribed includes addresses removed by the user.
   4. Invalid includes bounced addresses.
   5. Spam includes email addresses where recipient removed the message and marked as unsolicited.

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Requesting Global Opt-In for Existing Contacts

1. From Contact > Contact Lists, select a Contact List > Membership Rules, and select the fields Contact Fields > In Contact List > is > choose your Contact List.
2. Scroll down and choose the second option to Send opt-in confirmation email to each new member when they are added to this list through membership rules.
3. Select Set Membership Rule.

 

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Continue Getting Started with Contacts

Upload Files to Create a Contact List Add a Single Contact to a Contact List About Sender Permissions Set-up Opt-in Confirmation Emails for a Contact List Add Dynamic Membership Rule