Managing and Maintaining Marketing Lists

  • Updated

Once you have a Marketing List, you’ll often return to it to add data, review activity, create audiences, or keep it organised over time. This article explains the actions available on an existing Marketing List and when you would typically use them.

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  • Most list actions are available from the list actions menu.
  • You can add, update, export, and segment contacts without recreating the list.
  • Using segments instead of additional lists helps keep data organised.
  • Some options appear only if integrations, such as a CRM, are enabled.
Try it like this: Use one primary Marketing List as the source of truth for an audience, then return to that list to update data, create segments, and review activity as needed.

Where to find list actions

Most management actions are available from the list actions menu. You can access this menu from Lists > Marketing Lists by selecting the list you want to work with.

The options you see depend on your account configuration and enabled integrations.

Add or update contacts in a list

As new data becomes available, you may need to add contacts to a list or update existing records.

Common ways to do this include:

  • Importing new or updated contacts from a file
  • Appending contacts from another list
  • Receiving data through scheduled imports or integrations

These options let you keep a list current without creating a new one each time data changes.

Review mailing history

You can view the mailing history for a Marketing List to see which messages have been sent to it.

This is useful when:

  • Troubleshooting sends or delivery questions
  • Confirming which audiences were used for past campaigns
  • Avoiding unintended duplicate sends

Create audiences from an existing list

Instead of creating multiple lists for different audiences, you can build targeted groups from a single Marketing List.

From a list, you can:

  • Create segments to target subsets of contacts based on rules
  • Generate A/B splits for testing and experimentation

This approach keeps contacts centralised while still allowing flexible targeting.

Export list data

You can export data from a Marketing List when information is needed outside of Act-On.

Common reasons to export include reporting, audits, or sharing data with other teams or systems.

CRM-related actions (if enabled)

If your account is connected to a CRM, additional options may be available on your Marketing Lists.

These options allow you to:

  • Push list data to the CRM
  • Control how Act-On and the CRM stay in sync

The exact options depend on your CRM integration and user permissions.

Keeping lists organised over time

As your use of Marketing Lists grows, keeping them organised becomes increasingly important.

To reduce confusion:

  • Reuse existing lists when possible
  • Avoid creating new lists for minor variations
  • Use segments to handle targeting and filtering

A more centralised approach makes it easier to understand where contacts are stored and how they are used.

What’s next?

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