Contacts and lists
Add and import contacts, group them in lists, and keep unsubscribes and bounces out of your mailings.
A contact is one person you can mail. There is one contact per email address. A list groups the people who asked for the same thing - a newsletter, offers, a club.
Contacts
Go to Contacts. Click + New contact to add one by hand, or open a contact to see their lists, the mailings they got, and what they opened and clicked.
Each contact can have:
- a first and last name, a company and a phone number
- a country and city
- tags, like "VIP" or "Trade show 2026", to pick them out later
- your own custom fields
- where they came from: added by hand, imported, a sign-up form, the API, or one of your Ellibo apps
Contact status
| Status | What it means | Gets mailings |
|---|---|---|
| Active | Can be mailed | Yes |
| Pending | Signed up, but hasn't clicked the confirm link yet (double opt-in) | No |
| Unsubscribed | Left all your lists | No |
| Bounced | The address doesn't work | No |
| Blocked | You blocked it, or it bounced too many times | No |
Unsubscribed and bounced contacts don't count against your plan's contacts. Ellibo never makes an unsubscribed, bounced or blocked contact active again by itself - not by an import, a form or another app.
Import contacts
Go to Import and upload a CSV file. You can make one from any spreadsheet with Save as CSV.
- Choose the file. The first row should hold the column names.
- Match each column to a contact field, like Email, First name or Company. Columns you don't need can be skipped.
- Choose the lists to add them to, and tags if you like.
- Tick the consent box to confirm these people agreed to get your marketing email, and say how, for example "Signed up at our shop".
- Click Import.
An address that is already a contact is filled in, not added twice. Empty cells never wipe out what you already have.
Bought or borrowed lists bring spam complaints and bounces, and sending can pause by itself. Mail only people who asked to hear from you.
Lists
Go to Lists and click + New list. For each list you choose:
- Double opt-in - new sign-ups get an email with a link to confirm their address first. They stay Pending until they click it.
- Welcome email - sent by itself when someone joins the list.
- Public - public lists show on the "manage my subscriptions" page, so people can join or leave each one. Keep internal lists, like "Staff", not public.
A contact can be on many lists. Leaving one list doesn't take them off the others.
Unsubscribes and reasons
Every mailing has an Unsubscribe link and a Preferences link in the footer. The preferences page lets people leave one list or all of them. When someone leaves, they can choose a reason. You set the reasons under Settings > Unsubscribe reasons, and the reports show how often each one is picked.
Mail providers also show their own Unsubscribe button at the top of your mailing. It works in one click.
Blocklist
Go to Blocklist to see every address that won't be mailed, and why: unsubscribed, bounced, spam complaint, or blocked by hand. You can also add an address by hand.
The blocklist is shared by every Ellibo app your business uses. Someone who unsubscribed from your marketing email is never sent marketing from any of your Ellibo apps. Their invoices and receipts still reach them.
Only take an address off the blocklist if the person asked to be mailed again.
Personal data
You can export a contact's data or delete it. See Personal data and GDPR.