# Lists

Organise contacts into targeted mailing lists.

## What are lists?

Lists are named collections of contacts that you want to send email campaigns to. A campaign
in SendBeam is sent to all subscribed contacts, to one list, or to one segment, and lists are
the primary way to organise your audience for broadcasting messages.

Think of a list as a mailing list in the traditional sense — a group of people who have
opted in to receive a specific type of communication from you. Lists are explicit: a contact
is either a member or they are not.

> Membership is simple: a contact is on a list or not. Whether they actually receive a campaign sent to the list depends on their **contact status** (only **Subscribed** contacts are mailed) and, on a double opt-in list, on whether they have **confirmed** by clicking the confirmation email.
> 

## Lists vs tags vs segments

SendBeam gives you three ways to group contacts. Each serves a different purpose, and
understanding the difference helps you keep your audience organised effectively.

| Feature | Lists | Tags | Segments |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Purpose** | Subscription-based opt-in groups | Lightweight labels for filtering | Dynamic groups based on rules |
| **Membership** | Explicit — added by hand, by form or via the API | Explicit — by hand, in bulk, by automation or via the API | Automatic — evaluated each time it is used |
| **Tracks opt-in?** | Yes — double opt-in confirmation per list | No | No |
| **Used in campaigns** | Yes — as the campaign audience | No — use automation triggers and conditions | Yes — as the campaign audience |
| **Double opt-in** | Supported per list | Not applicable | Not applicable |

In practice, lists represent *what someone signed up for*, tags represent
*what you know about them*, and segments represent *a calculated audience* at any
point in time.

## When to use lists

Lists work best when contacts are actively choosing to receive a particular type of content. Common use cases include:

- **Newsletter subscribers** — a weekly or monthly digest that readers opt in to from your website or sign-up form.
- **Product updates** — customers who want to hear about new features, releases, or changelogs.
- **Event attendees** — people registered for a webinar, conference, or virtual event who should receive reminders and follow-ups.
- **Promotional emails** — contacts who have specifically opted in to receive offers and discounts.
- **Onboarding sequences** — new users enrolled in a welcome email flow through the *List Joined* automation trigger.

> Keep your list names descriptive and audience-focused. A name like **"Weekly Newsletter"** or **"Product Announcements"** is far more useful than "List 1" — both for you and for subscribers who manage their own preferences.
> 

## Contacts and multiple lists

A single contact can belong to any number of lists simultaneously. For example, a contact
might be subscribed to your *Weekly Newsletter*, your *Product Updates* list,
and your *Beta Testers* list all at once.

Each list membership is tracked independently, which means:

- Removing a contact from one list does not affect their membership in other lists.
- Double opt-in confirmation is stored separately for each list, so a contact may be confirmed on one list and still awaiting confirmation on another.
- Clicking the unsubscribe link in any email sets the contact's status to Unsubscribed, which stops all campaigns and automation emails to them, whichever list they came from.
- You can view all lists a contact belongs to from their contact profile page.

> Deleting a list is permanent. All membership records for that list are removed. The underlying contacts themselves are **not** deleted — they remain in your workspace and on any other lists they belong to.
>

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Source: https://sendbeam.io/docs/lists