Documentation Center

Distribution Lists

A Distribution List contains a list of Contacts that define the recipients of a Mailing. You can create Static or Dynamic Distribution Lists.

Static Distribution List
A Static Distribution List contains a fixed list of Contacts to send a mail to. A Static Distribution List only changes if you explicitly add or remove Contacts. You can add Contacts to Static Distribution Lists manually, or from the results of a Contacts search.
The advantage of a Static Distribution List is that it has a high level of detail containing very specific Contacts. The disadvantages are that the amount of effort needed to create the list tends to be greater (than Dynamic Distribution Lists) as you have to manually add Contacts to the list, and the maintenance effort needed to keep the list up-to-date is high is as changes are not automated.
Static Distribution Lists are recommended for small lists that rarely change.
Dynamic Distribution List
A Dynamic Distribution List contains a dynamic list of Contacts to send a mail to. The Contacts in a Dynamic Distribution List are derived from the Contacts in an Address Book that meet the criteria defined by the Dynamic Distribution List filter. The Contacts included in the list therefore change dynamically as and when you modify the filters or a Contact’s details or Keywords change.
You can base a Dynamic Distribution List on a Segment, Address Book or Dynamic Address Book (and on Dynamic Distribution Lists through search) to create a chain of filters in which case each filter in the chain further refines the selection. For more information, refer to Contact filtering.
A Dynamic Distribution List has the advantage that the development effort needed to create the list is relatively low and the maintenance effort needed to keep it up-to-date is minimal as changes to the Distribution List are automatic (although you may want to change the filtering criteria). However, the level of detail is low because the selection method is coarse (contains general Contacts).
For example, you can create a Dynamic Distribution List based on the Keyword filter “Potential Customers”, in which case all Contacts tagged with this Keyword are added to the list. If a Contact’s Keyword changes from “Potential Customers” to “Customer” they are automatically removed from the list.