Understanding population types
Population is the name used for a collection of contacts selected to take part in a campaign, usually as recipients of email or SMS messages.
Populations used in Splio include lists (and blacklists), filters, groups, and temporary files.
Lists
Lists are subscribed populations: contacts added to a list belong to it until they are removed from that list.
Use lists to represent and identify opt-in contacts (those who have given their explicit consent to receive email). You can create a list for each opt-in type you have – such as newsletters, websites, products, etc. – to organize contacts and provide high-level targeting.
To know more about list's limitations read our guide "Storage value for lists subscriptions".
To access lists go to Data > Lists.
Blacklists
Blacklists are email and cellphone contacts who are excluded from all campaigns sent from your Splio universe.
The role of blacklists is to reduce the risk and increase the efficiency of sending campaigns: you can avoid sending email or SMS to non-existent mailboxes or phone numbers, to contacts who have complained of receiving spam, or to contacts who have unsubscribed from your base.
Filters
Filters are dynamic populations calculated according to predefined criteria.
Filter definitions can be based on field values (eg, address, contact source), and contact activity (eg, purchases, use in campaigns).
Groups
Groups are static, frozen populations extracted from a campaign that has already been sent or saved as a snapshot of an existing filter.
It is possible to apply additional criteria (eg, delivery state or contact behavior) at the creation of a group. Groups are often used to schedule a specific relaunch of a campaign, eg, to target contacts who have clicked on a specific image or link.
Extract a Campaign's recipients to a Group
To extract recipients of an action, go to Scenario > Campaigns, find your Campaign, and click on the desired Action to open it. Once there, open the Download menu from the top bar.
Now, select the Save as a group option and click the Download button at the bottom right. You can also extract a subset of the recipients of the campaign by applying criteria.
Group creation via API
You can create a group with our API, using directly the contacts' email addresses. The group size created this way is limited to 10,000 contacts.
Importing Eulerian Segments as Groups
If you are using Eulerian for your website tracking, you can use a feature allowing you to create segments in Eulerian and import them as Groups.
To enable it, first call your Eulerian representative who can activate it for you. Then contact us to activate the connection on the side of your universe.
Once the connection is properly set up and your Eulerian segments are imported, you can start using them in your campaigns.
Understanding temporary files and population calculation
Temporary files
Temporary files allow you to upload contacts without adding them to the database of your universe, eg, external targets you normally only use once.
Population calculation
Populations are calculated when they are included in a campaign as well as before the campaign is sent.
The calculation consists of two stages.
1️⃣ First, Splio removes all duplicated entries from the populations (using the email for contacts in your universe) to make sure, that each contact is only targeted once.
2️⃣ Then, Splio applies all blacklists to the population to improve deliverability and reputation.
Automatic (legacy) and trigger campaigns
In the case of automatic (using legacy campaigns in Scenario) and trigger campaigns (real-time trigger campaigns also using scenario), only the contacts that enter the filter after its creation will be used to send the campaign.
This is very important because the contacts matching the filter conditions when the filter is created will never be used, only those that fall into the filter later.