Recipient lists define who a mailing is sent to.
There are three ways to make a recipient list:
Create a new query: Make a query inside the mailing
Import a query: Bring in a query built outside the mailing
Upload a spreadsheet: Upload a CSV or spreadsheet file directly as a recipient list
Create a new query
To create a recipient list in a mailing:
Select Edit Recipient Lists.
Select New Query.
Configure the following settings:
Name: Enter a name for the query.
List Type: Select Include or Suppression List to include or exclude query results from the recipient list, respectively.
Type: Configurable Joins
Category: Records
Query Base: Select a base for the query. The query base selected should represent the intended recipients.
Select Save.
Live queries
When a mailing list is generated using the Build Query option, the query will be saved as a live query (sometimes called a Tracking Query). This means two things:
Slate runs the query when the mailing sends. For example, a mailing scheduled for Friday has 20 international students in its query results on Monday. Ten more matching records are added on Wednesday. When the mailing sends on Friday, the query includes all 30 records.
By default, Slate will store the execution history when a query is run, and each record will only be included once.
The 30 records above would then be stored and would not be included the next time the mailing runs. If the Deliver campaign is an Ongoing campaign, the message will only be sent to new international records that entered Slate since the last message was sent.
Configuring the query
See also: Getting Started with Configurable Joins
Add exports to the query. These exports are available in the message content as merge fields. For example, you will need to add an email address export to your recipient list query so that it will be available as a merge field for you to add into the Recipient field when editing your mailing.
Add filters to the query to identify the specific segment of records you want to send this mailing to (or to identify the segment of records that should not receive it if you are building this query as a Suppression List).
Queries built for recipient lists are provided a 5-minute processing window, so you will need to make sure the query you build can process within that window. For more information about how to build efficient queries, visit the Troubleshooting Queries article.
Creating more than one query
Multiple recipient lists can be created for a single mailing. For example, if you need two recipient lists from different query bases (such as one list for prospects and one for applications), you can make a separate query for each on the same mailing.
Upon sending the mailing, all active recipient list queries will be evaluated during the selected delivery windows, and the mailing will be sent to all recipients who meet the criteria for at least one of the recipient list queries.
By default, Slate will only send the mailing once per email address, so best practice when using multiple recipient list queries is to try to build them so that a record could only fall into one of them.
Multiple Recipient Lists can also be included for Suppression purposes.
Things to consider
Ensure your export labels match. When multiple lists are used for recipients, export fields in all lists must match. For example, if one list is built from a Live Query and uses an email address export called “Email,” all additional Live Queries must rename their email address exports to “Email” as well.
The same is true of headers when uploading spreadsheets to use as recipient lists. If multiple spreadsheets are uploaded, all headers must match across spreadsheets.
The user and base of a recipient list query cannot be changed once the query is created. If you need to change either one, you will need to build a new recipient list.
Some query bases can return multiple objects for the same person. For instance, if an applicant already received a mailing using an Application-scoped Recipient List, and then started a new application, they will receive the mailing again because each application is stored in Slate as a separate object.
Import a query
Queries that are saved in the Deliver > Templates folder within the Query Tool in your database and have the “Sharing” setting checked can be imported as a recipient list query into a Deliver message.
If a query already exists that can be imported as a live query into your Deliver mailing, then you will see the “Import Query” button as an option when creating a new recipient list.
If the button does not appear, but you want to use a query from the Query Tool as your recipient list, take the following steps:
If the query does not yet exist in the Query Tool, create it and save it to the Deliver > Templates folder. If that folder does not yet exist, you can create a new folder called “Deliver” and the sub-folder called “Templates” when creating the query.
If a query was created previously that should be used in a recipient list, either move it to the Deliver > Templates folder or make a copy of it and place the copy in this folder.
Once a query is saved in this folder, the “Import Query” button will appear as an option when adding recipient lists to your Deliver mailing. Select Import Query on the Recipient Lists page of the Deliver message and select the desired query from the list.
By adding a query as a recipient list in this manner, the imported query becomes a "live" query and can be adjusted as necessary for the message.
📝 Reminder
The “Sharing” setting must be checked on the query in the Query Tool in order for it to be available as an imported query for your recipient list in Deliver.
Upload a spreadsheet
Uploading a spreadsheet for use as a Recipient or Suppression List is possible for those situations where it is unavoidable. However, this option is discouraged because the mailing will not be linked to the Person Records for the recipients, making troubleshooting difficult.
Recipients imported via spreadsheet will not have the mailing associated with their record, thus preventing future querying on data around the receipt of the mailing or filtering on records that were included in a mailing.
A mailing that uses an uploaded spreadsheet cannot be resent a second time using the same uploaded spreadsheet.
Spreadsheet Recipient Lists are only stored in Slate for 60 days. If an ongoing mailing is scheduled for more than 60 days after the date the spreadsheet was uploaded, the mailing will no longer send to those recipients. However, Slate will retain Deliver Statistics for mailings after the spreadsheet is deleted.
To upload a spreadsheet as a recipient list:
Make sure that your spreadsheet includes headers. Each header title will become the name of a merge field in your mailing, so use computer-friendly headers with no special characters or spacing.
From the Deliver message, select Edit Recipient Lists.
Select Upload Spreadsheet from the recipient list options.
Drag files from your device or use the Add Files button to select the spreadsheet from your device.
After you add the spreadsheets, select Start Upload.
📝 Each uploaded spreadsheet becomes a separate recipient list. Slate does not combine the spreadsheets.
When the upload finishes, the window closes and the spreadsheet file name appears in the recipient lists.
Select the file name to review its upload date, row count, and available merge fields.
Set List Type to Include (the default) to use the spreadsheet as a recipient list, or to Suppression List to exclude its recipients from the mailing.
📖 Further reading