Grouping Contacts (Smart List) using Tags

Smart Lists allow you to dynamically group contacts based on rules like tags. These lists automatically update as contacts meet or no longer meet your criteria, making them ideal for email campaigns, automations, and reporting.

When to Use a Smart List

Use a Smart List when you want to:

Send emails to a specific audience
Trigger automations based on contact behavior
Organize contacts without manual updates
Group contacts by service, status, or lifecycle stage

Step 1: Create or Review Tags

Tags are the foundation of Smart Lists. Before creating a list, make sure the tags you need exist.

How to Create a Tag

Go to Settings
Click Tags
Select New Tag
Enter a clear, descriptive tag name
Click Save

Tips: Core Principles for Tag Naming

Be descriptive, not clever

If someone new can’t understand the tag instantly, it’s not a good tag.
One concept per tag

Avoid mixing ideas like status + service + date in one tag.
Design for automation

Tags should clearly trigger or prevent workflows.
Use lowercase and hyphens

This keeps tags readable and consistent.

Recommended Tag Structure

category-purpose-detail

Use hyphens, not spaces or underscores.

Examples

lead-new
lead-qualified
client-active
client-inactive
onboarding-started
onboarding-complete
service-bookkeeping
service-advisory
source-referral
source-website

What to Avoid

❌ VIP
❌ Important
❌ Hot Lead
❌ 2024 Clients
❌ Michael - Bookkeeping

These are subjective, time-bound, or person-specific and don’t scale.

Step 2: Navigate to Contacts

Click Contacts from the left navigation
You’ll land on your main contact list view

This is where you can filter contacts and create Smart Lists.

Step 3: Open Filters

Click More Filters at the top of the contacts table
In the filter panel, select Tag

Filters allow you to define the logic for your Smart List.

Step 4: Define Tag Logic

Choose Has Tag
Select one or more tags from the dropdown
Click Apply

You can also:

Use Any to match contacts with at least one tag
Use All to require every selected tag
Combine multiple filters for advanced logic

The contact list will update immediately to show matching contacts.

Step 5: Save as a Smart List

With filters applied, click Save View or Save as Smart List
Name your Smart List clearly
Save the list

Your Smart List will now appear in the Smart Lists section for future use.