Create a List Maintenance Program

A List Maintenance Program automatically updates contact fields based on rules you define. Use this when you need ongoing, repeatable updates without manually editing contacts or re-importing data.

Before you begin

Before creating a List Maintenance Program, confirm that:

• The list or segment contains the correct contacts
• The field or fields you plan to update already exist
• You understand how often the update should occur

Because maintenance programs update live contact data, it’s important to be clear about scope and intent before running the program.

Create a new List Maintenance Program

To create a List Maintenance Program:

1. Go to Automation.
2. Select List Maintenance Programs.
3. Click New Program.

You’ll be guided through steps to define the source, conditions, and updates.

Select the source list or segment

The source defines which contacts are evaluated by the maintenance program. You can select either:

• A Marketing List, or
• A Segment created from a list

Using a segment allows you to limit updates to a specific subset of contacts without creating additional lists.

Define the maintenance conditions

Conditions determine when a contact should be updated. Each contact in the source is evaluated against these rules.

Conditions can be based on:

• Existing field values
• Date or time-based logic
• Previous activity or status

Choose how fields are updated

When defining updates, you choose both the field to update and how the value should be changed when conditions are met.

Depending on the field type, common update options include:

• Set to a specific value
  Replaces the existing value with a defined value.
• Clear the value
  Removes the existing value from the field.
• Increment or decrement
  Increases or decreases a numeric value, such as a counter.
• Set to Behavior Score
  Updates the field based on the contact’s calculated behavior score.

Choose update actions carefully. If multiple programs update the same field, the most recent update will overwrite earlier values.

Review and run the program

Before running the program, review the source, conditions, and update actions carefully.

When the program runs, the source list is temporarily locked while updates are applied.

During this time:

• Contacts cannot be imported into the list
• Other updates to the same list may be paused

The lock is released automatically once the program completes. How long this takes depends on the size of the list and the complexity of the rules.

After the program has run

After completion:

• Updated values remain in place until changed again
• The program can be paused, edited, or run again if needed
• Overlapping programs should be reviewed to avoid conflicting updates