Natural Lists

Natural Lists are a main repository for your users, who are typically added to these lists deliberately upon acquisition, on your import from another system, or through one-time Audience Builder queries with users sourced from existing Natural Lists.

They can be used as source lists for Smart Lists, as the audience for email sends, as suppression lists (of users to exclude from a send), and for reporting. They differ from Smart Lists, which continue to dynamically update (add/remove) users based on your chosen criteria.

There are three ways to create a Natural List and various ways to manage the users on a Natural List. The methods for both are described below.

Create a Natural List and Add Users

There are three ways in which you can create a Natural List:

  • On the Lists page, click Create New List
  • Use the List API
  • Generate a Natural List of a custom segment of existing users with Audience Builder

Note that the first two methods will result in an empty list that you will then need to populate with users. Further instructions for each list creation method are below.

Regardless of the method you use to create a Natural List, you will need to indicate whether it is a Primary or Secondary List.

My Lists Page

  1. Under the Users menu in the UI, select Lists.
  2. Click the Create New List button.
  3. Enter a Name and choose whether the list will be a Primary or Secondary List

    You cannot use a dollar sign ($) in list names.

  4. Click Create List.
  5. You can now add users via a CSV upload or using the Job API.

List API

Use Audience Builder

  1. Under the Users menu in the UI, select Audience Builder.
  2. Choose the Generate List button.
  3. Select the Source List from which you will create the new Natural List.
  4. You can optionally use criteria to include only a segment of the existing source list based on user profile data. (See Using Audience Builder.)
  5. To include a random subset of matching users--typically used for cohort analysis--enter a Random Selection Size. Otherwise, leave this field empty. For further information, see Split a List.

Manage Natural List Membership

Once you have created a Natural List and performed an initial upload of users (if needed) via CSV upload or the API, there are several ways to continue to add or remove users, as needed:

  • Via additional CSV uploads or the API
    • Each method allows the simultaneous addition/modification of user var data
    • Use the User API to programmatically add/remove/update individual users, as needed
    • Use the Job API to programmatically add/remove/update groups of users in bulk (via CSV or other data structures)
  • Automatically, with user actions on signup and opt-in preference forms (including those provided by your Hosted Pages) or social-media acquisition methods
  • Manually, via your direct input on the Lists page, after clicking a list name. This method is limited in its functionality and scalability, and is typically not recommended.

For details on each method, see Adding Users to Sailthru and Sailthru Lists.

List Tracking and Reporting

For any Natural List or Smart List that you mark as a Primary List, you can benefit from detailed reporting on user engagement, list growth, and other list details. For details, see List Reports.