Subscribers

What Is a Subscriber

A subscriber is a person who has opted to receive communications from your organization. 

You must have a valid email address for each subscriber to whom you send emails. For subscribers who receive SMS and voice messages, you need a telephone number for each subscriber. You can also track additional information about subscribers using profile and preference attributes. You can use the subscriber key to identify your subscribers.

You store email subscriber information in lists or data extensions. You must store SMS and voice subscriber information in data extensions. You can create as many lists and data extensions as you need to segment your subscribers. You populate the information in the lists and data extensions when you import subscribers using the import subscriber wizard or the import activity, create a subscriber in the user interface, or otherwise add subscribers to your account, such as through a Smart Capture form. The system processes the information and adds it to your account according to the parameters that you set up.

You can use groups and data filters to segment subscribers. When you send a message, you select the list, data extension, and/or groups to receive the message.

How To Add a Subscriber Manually

The Create Subscriber wizard walks you through the steps of defining an individual subscriber. When done with that subscriber, you'll have the option of creating another individual subscriber with the same attribute selections if desired.

To add an individual subscriber, follow these steps:

1. In the navigation pane, click Subscribers.
2. To add this subscriber to a specific list, click the My Lists folder and then, in the workspace on the right, double-click the desired list.
3. In the list workspace's toolbar, click the Create Subscriber button, which opens the Create Subscriber wizard.
4. Click Next in the wizard's introductory dialog box.
5. Complete the Identify Subscriber dialog box that appears next, as follows:

6. When done with the Identify Subscriber dialog box, click Next.

Note: If the email address you entered already exists in your account, a prompt appears with the option for you to view the existing subscriber's properties. If you want to continue with the process of creating this new subscriber, you need to enter a different email address for your new subscriber.

7. In the next dialog box that appears, expand the My Lists folder to view the lists defined in your account.
8. Select the check box beside each list to which you want to add this subscriber.

If you opened the wizard from a particular list, that list is selected already. You can deselect it if desired.

Note: Every subscriber is added to your master All Subscriber list. You can leave all other lists deselected if you do not want to add the subscriber to any of your accounts' lists.

9. Click the Finish button when done choosing lists.

You now have the option of creating another individual subscriber.

• If you want to start with a copy of the profile and preference attributes you just defined for the previous subscriber, select the Use attribute values from previous subscriber check box, and click the Create button.
• To start from scratch, leave the check box deselected and click the Create button.

If you're finished creating new subscribers, click the Finish button to exit the wizard.

Your new subscriber now exists in your All Subscribers list and in any lists you selected in the wizard.

Note: The subscriber is not automatically added to groups. If the subscriber's profile or preference attributes would make the subscriber eligible for a rule-based group, you'll need to refresh the group in order for the subscriber to be added to the group.

How To Import Subscribers Into a List

Before you can import a file, you must first create a list and create the import file.

To import the subscribers from your import file, follow these steps:

1. In the navigation pane, click Subscribers.
2. Click the My Lists folder.

If you've created a list subfolder under My Lists in which you want to import the new subscribers, click that subfolder.

3. In the list workspace, double-click the desired list (or select the list and then click the Open List button in the toolbar).
4. In the selected list's toolbar, click the Import button, which opens the Import Subscriber wizard.
5. Click Next in the wizard's introductory dialog box.
6. Read the content of the Opt-in Certification dialog box that appears next. If you have verified that every subscriber in your import file has agreed to receive emails from you, select the I agree check box, and click Next.
7. Complete the Identify Source File dialog box that appears next, as follows:

8. Click the Next button in the Import Subscriber Wizard dialog box.

The application reads the import file, which may take several moments depending on the size of the file.

Note: The data in the import file is not yet brought into your account.

The Map Attributes dialog box appears next. This dialog box consists of two sections:

9. If a field from your import file has not been mapped for you to an attribute, map it as follows:
   1. Click the field in the Source section. (Whether you're viewing the header row labels or a row of actual subscriber data in the Source section when you click the source field is unimportant. In either case, you're mapping all data from that column of your import file to the attribute.)
   2. Click the corresponding attribute in the Destination section.
   3. Click the Map button.

The column of data is now mapped to the attribute, as indicated by the grayed-out value in the Source section and the Mapped From value in the Destination section.

You also have these additional options:

• Remove a single mapping: To unmap an attribute from the import file field to which it's currently mapped, click the attribute row in the Destination section and then click the Unmap button.
• Remove all current mappings: If you want to remove all the current mappings (that is, delete all values from the Mapped From column in the Destination section), click the Clear Map button.
• Return to the original mappings: If you want to undo all changes you've made to the default mappings (the mappings that were in place when you first opened this dialog box), click the Default Map button.

Any fields still displayed in black font rather than gray in the Source section represent data that isn't imported.

10. When satisfied with your mappings, click the Next button at the bottom of the dialog box.

Note: Any attributes that have been defined as required must be mapped to fields in your import file. You can't continue with the wizard until these fields are mapped.

The Confirm Mappings dialog box appears next, summarizing your selected mappings and the number of columns (fields) and records (subscribers) in your file that the application attempts to import.

11. If you want to be notified when the import is complete, select the Email me upon import completion check box and enter your email address in the Email address field. Your email notification also includes a log of any subscriber records that could not be imported.
12. Click the Begin button.

The application begins the process of importing your data. How long the import takes depends on the size of your import file.

The final dialog box of the wizard appears.

For best practices and tips on creating and executing the import file, see Imports.

How To Search for a Subscriber

Click All Subscribers in the navigation pane and then click the Search button in the All Subscribers toolbar to open the Search Subscribers dialog box.

1. You can narrow your search to a single list if desired by clicking the Browse button and choosing a list.
2. Click the Search where drop-down list to choose from the supported search fields.
3. In the Is equal to field, enter the subscriber's data for the selected search field:

4. Click the Find Now button.

The application scans your subscribers for one or more matches. When the search is finished, the results appear in the lower half of the dialog box.

5. Select the desired subscriber in the search results and click one of the buttons above the search results:

• View Properties: Open the Subscriber Properties dialog box for this subscriber.
• Export: Open the Export to a File wizard A series of dialog boxes where each dialog box represents one step in a task you need to complete. , which exports this single subscriber's data to a file.

See also the instructions for exporting an entire list.

• Delete Subscriber: Delete the subscriber.
• Move/Copy: Open the Copy Subscriber dialog box, in which you can add the subscriber to another list.

6. Click the Close button to exit the Search Subscribers dialog box.

How To Access Subscriber Properties 

You can access a subscriber record (the Subscriber Properties dialog box) from any of the following locations, all of which are in the Subscribers section of the navigation pane.

Once you've located the subscriber in the list or group workspace, select the subscriber and click the View Properties button in the workspace toolbar.

How To View or Modify Subscriber Data 

You can view subscriber data and modify the subscriber as needed from the Subscriber Properties dialog box. No matter where you access the Subscriber Properties dialog box from, the changes you make take effect throughout the application.

Open the Subscriber Properties dialog box to do the following:
 

How To Delete a Subscriber

To remove a subscriber from your all of your lists, click the subscriber in the list workspace and click the Delete Subscriber button in the workspace toolbar.

Note: The subscriber no longer appears on any of your lists, including the All Subscribers list. If you import a list that includes this subscriber (or if you manually add the subscriber back in), the subscriber reappears on your lists. If you want to ensure that you do not send any emails to this subscriber in the future, use the Unsubscribe feature instead of deleting the subscriber, which prevents the subscriber from being imported into the system accidentally.