Lists, tags and custom fields

Distro gives you three ways to organise contacts. Lists are groups you send campaigns to. Tags are labels you filter by (and can also send to). Custom fields hold extra details about each person that you can use in emails.

A contact can be in any number of lists and have any number of tags.

Lists

Create a list

1. Open People in the Outreach menu and go to the Lists tab.
2. Click New list, give it a name (for example "SaaS founders, Q4") and click Create list.

Add people to a list

• On the Email contacts tab (All contacts if you only use email), tick the people you want, choose the list in Add to list… and click Add.
• When you upload a CSV or paste addresses from a campaign's Select recipients window, Distro creates a list for that upload automatically.

Lists if you also use LinkedIn

If you use LinkedIn, the Lists tab also shows your LinkedIn prospect lists, marked "LinkedIn prospect list". They open on their own page and are managed on the LinkedIn prospects tab. Every list gets a Can reach by tag: Email + LinkedIn, Email only or LinkedIn only when everyone in it is the same, or Mixed with the split (for example "262 Email + LinkedIn · 2 Email only"). See People and the "Can reach by" tags.

Manage a list

Click a list to see its members. From there you can Remove from list for one person, Export the list as a CSV, and use the ⋮ menu to Rename or Delete list. Deleting a list never deletes its contacts: "The list is removed. The contacts in it stay in All contacts."

Tags

Create a tag

1. Open Outreach settings in the Outreach menu and go to the Tags tab.
2. Click New tag, type a name and pick a colour.
3. Click Create tag.

Apply tags

• Several contacts: on the Email contacts tab, tick them, choose the tag in Tag as… and click Tag.
• One contact: open the contact and use Add a tag… in the Tags panel. Click the × on a tag to remove it.
• Companies can be tagged on the company's page.

Filter your email contacts by a tag with the tag menu next to the search box. In a campaign's Select recipients window you can pick tags as well as lists: "Anyone in a selected list or tag gets the campaign."

Deleting a tag removes it from every contact. The contacts themselves are kept.

Custom fields

Create a custom field

1. Open Outreach settings and go to the Custom fields tab.
2. Click New field and type a Name. Distro shows the email code underneath, for example "Use in emails as {{ custom.industry }}".
3. Choose a Type.
4. For pick-list types, enter the Options, one per line or separated by commas.
5. Click Create field.

The email code and the type can't be changed after the field is created. You can still rename the field and edit its options.

Fill in custom fields

• By hand: open a contact, click Edit and fill in the fields under Custom fields.
• From a CSV: create the field first, then map a column to it during import. See Import prospects with a CSV.

Use them in emails with the email code. See Using personalization variables.

Delete a custom field

Deleting a field stops new edits and imports from capturing it. Values already saved stay on contacts until those contacts are next edited. Remove the variable from your emails as well, or the campaign won't launch.

Companies

The Companies tab under People lists organisations you're reaching out to. Click Add company and enter a Company name and an optional Website domain.

A company's page shows its linked contacts, its tags and its details. If the company has a domain, its ⋮ menu includes Never email this domain: "Every address at this domain is added to your unsubscribe list and skipped by all campaigns." See The Unsubscribed (Do Not Contact) list.