This article covers how to send a mass email to a Contact List and how to use the Create Segment tool when you need more control over who receives it.
For a standard send to a single list, no segmentation is needed. The Create Segment tool is for situations where you want to combine multiple lists, remove duplicates, or narrow the audience before sending.
How to Send a Mass Email to a Contact List
Click the + button in the upper right corner of the navigation bar.
Select Mass Email.
Under Who is it going to?, choose one or more Contact Lists.
Under Your email, choose your template and review the email.
Click Send now.
Click Send Mass Email to confirm.
For scheduling, test sends, and verifying addresses, see Sending Mass Emails.
Key Notes
The email count shown at the send step reflects contacts on the list who are active for emailing - not the total list size. Bounced, unsubscribed, and suppressed contacts are excluded automatically.
If the same contact is on more than one selected list, they receive the email once. Duplicates are removed automatically on the Send an Email page.
You can send a test to yourself before sending to the full list using Send test to me.
For larger or higher-risk sends, VipeCloud offers an Advanced Mass Email option that drips emails out one per minute and lets you pause mid-send if issues appear. This is recommended when sending to new or unverified lists. See: Mass Emailing Best Practices
How to Combine and Deduplicate Contact Lists (Create Segment)
The Create Segment tool lets you combine one or more contact lists into a new, deduplicated contact list. If a contact appears on more than one of the lists you select, they will only appear once in the new list.
This is the primary way to deduplicate contacts across multiple contact lists in VipeCloud. You can also optionally narrow the segment before it is created - removing or including contacts based on engagement history, list membership, or contact field values.
This feature works entirely with contact lists and is separate from filter views. Filter views are rules-based and update automatically as contact data changes. Everything described in this article creates static contact lists only. Your original contact lists are never modified.
Sending to more than one Contact List from the Send an Email page already removes duplicates, so a segment is not needed just to avoid duplicate sends. Create a segment when you want a combined list to keep and reuse, or want to narrow the audience by engagement, list membership, or contact fields.
How to Combine and Deduplicate Contact Lists
If your goal is simply to merge two or more lists into one without duplicates, no additional configuration is needed.
Click Contacts in the left sidebar.
Click Contact Lists.
Check the checkbox to the left of each contact list you want to combine.
Click the X Selected dropdown that appears at the top of the table.
Select Create Segment from Selected.
Enter a name for the new combined list.
Click OK.
VipeCloud will create a new contact list containing all contacts from the lists you selected. Any contact that appears on more than one of the selected lists will be included only once. Your original lists are not changed.
Use this when you want a single combined list to keep and reuse.
How to Create a Filtered Segment from the Contact Lists Table
Use this method when you want to combine lists and also narrow the result before a new list is created. All filtering options are optional - use only what applies to your situation.
Click Contacts in the left sidebar.
Click Contact Lists.
Check the checkbox to the left of each contact list you want to include.
Click the X Selected dropdown.
Select Create Segment from Selected.
Enter a name for the new list.
Expand any of the optional filter sections below and configure as needed.
Click OK.
The new contact list will process in the background. Refresh the page if it does not appear immediately.
Remove if on Other Lists
Excludes contacts who also appear on one or more lists you select. This is the most commonly used option.
Use this when you want to suppress contacts who have already received a specific communication. For example, if you sent a campaign last month to a list called "March Outreach," select that list here and those contacts will not be included in the new segment - even if they are on one of the lists you are combining.
You can select multiple suppression lists. Any contact found on any of the selected lists will be excluded.
Remove by Engagement
Excludes contacts based on how they have previously interacted with your emails. Expand Remove by Engagement and check any of the following:
Received - removes contacts who were sent an email from you
Opened - removes contacts who opened an email from you
Clicked - removes contacts who clicked a link in an email from you
Replied - removes contacts who replied to an email from you
You can check multiple options. Any contact matching at least one checked condition will be excluded. Note: Reply data requires Inbox Sync to be active.
Include by Engagement
Includes only contacts who have interacted with your emails in a specific way. This is the inverse of Remove by Engagement - use it when you want to send to engaged contacts only. Expand Include by Engagement and check any of the following:
Received - includes only contacts who were sent an email from you
Opened - includes only contacts who opened an email from you
Clicked - includes only contacts who clicked a link in an email from you
Replied - includes only contacts who replied to an email from you
You can check multiple options. Only contacts matching at least one checked condition will be included. Note: Reply data requires Inbox Sync to be active.
Filter by Contact Fields
Limits the segment to contacts who match specific field values. Use this when you only want to reach a subset of the combined lists based on data stored on their contact records - for example, contacts in a specific city, or contacts with a particular custom field value.
Expand Filter by Contact Fields and add one or more rules. You can use any standard field or custom field in your account. Multiple rules narrow results further - contacts must match all rules to be included.
Key Notes
All options are additive. You are creating a new list - your original lists are never modified.
Contacts who have bounced, unsubscribed, or been suppressed are automatically excluded regardless of any options applied.
If you use both Remove by Engagement and Include by Engagement, remove conditions are applied after include conditions. A contact excluded by Remove will not appear in the final list even if they qualified under Include.
The resulting contact list is static. If the original lists change after the segment is created, the new list will not update automatically. Recreate it when you need a fresh version.
How to Create a Segment During a Mass Email Send
This happens on the Send an Email page. When a send combines more than one Contact List, uses a filter view, or leaves people out, VipeCloud saves the final recipients as a new list you can reuse.
Click the + button in the upper right corner of the navigation bar.
Select Mass Email.
Under Who is it going to?, choose one or more Contact Lists.
In Recipient preview, uncheck anyone you want to leave out.
In Save these recipients as, enter a name for the new list.
Finish the email and click Send now.
The Send an Email page does not have engagement or other-list filters. To use them during a send, start the send from an email template, choose your Contact Lists, and click Filter Contact Lists instead of Preview Send. The options are the same as in the Contact Lists table method above.
Key Notes
Duplicates across the selected lists are removed automatically. Each person receives the email once.
The saved list is kept in Contact Lists under Send Filters and can be reused for future sends.
Engagement and other-list filters are only available through Create Segment, or through Filter Contact Lists when sending from an email template.
Why Does My Segment Show 0 Contacts?
A segment only includes contacts from the lists you check at the start, minus anyone removed by the options you set. It shows 0 contacts when:
The starting lists do not hold the contacts you expected. Checking your existing lists does not add contacts who are not on them. To start from everyone, see How to Create a Segment From All Contacts above.
Every contact on the starting lists is also on a list selected under Remove if on Other Lists.
The engagement or contact field options exclude everyone left on the starting lists.
The segment is still processing. Refresh the page and check the Contact Lists table again.
Bounced, unsubscribed, and suppressed contacts are always excluded, so a starting list made up only of those contacts also results in 0.
Common Mistakes
Skipping Apply Filters during a mass email send. When using the Filter Contact Lists modal during a send, you must click Apply Filters before clicking Save and Preview Send. If you skip this step, the engagement options will not be applied.
Not refreshing after clicking OK. The segment processes in the background. If you do not see it immediately, refresh the page and check the Contact Lists table.
Expecting the segment to update automatically. The resulting contact list is static. Changes to the original lists after the segment is created are not reflected. Recreate the segment when you need a current version.
Using reply options without Inbox Sync. Reply data is only available if Inbox Sync is active. The Replied option will not reflect accurate data if Inbox Sync is off.
Trying to create a segment from all your contacts without a contact list which contains all of your contacts. Create Segment from Selected only includes contacts who are on the lists you check. Contacts who are not on any of those lists are never added. To start from every contact in your account, for example all contacts minus a few lists, first save all your contacts to a new contact list, then create the segment from that list.