Social Pinpoint manages a number of built-in subscriber lists of people who have expressed interest in a certain project or area of interest. These lists are used to determine which Members will receive various email campaigns sent from the platform.
Lists are automatically created and managed by Social Pinpoint, with Members being added or removed dynamically through the Follow functionality, opting in on the signup form, adjusting their preferences in their User Profile, or clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of a campaign email.
This process ensures that consent to receive various communications is respected when campaigns are sent.
The Lists created and managed by the platform can be viewed by going to the Dashboard, clicking on Emails from the menu and then selecting Lists from the righthand side.
System Default Lists
By default there are five list types included in Social Pinpoint:
Project - A list for each public project created on the site. Members can subscribe or unsubscribe to this list via the Follow functionality.
Interest - A list for each category of interest used on the site (e.g transport, parks and open space, arts and culture, etc.). Members can subscribe to this list on the registration form when they first signup, and adjust their preferences later within their user profile.
Location - A list for each location of interest used on the site (e.g transport, parks and open space, arts and culture, e.g.). Members can subscribe to this list on the registration form when they first signup, and adjust their preferences later within their user profile.
Newsletter - A list of Members who have indicated they want to receive general communications such as a Newsletter on the signup form. Members can adjust their preferences to be on this list from within their user profile.
Member List - A system wide list of all Members on the site, regardless of their notification consent. This list should generally only be used for emergency purposes.
At the top of the Lists section, lists can be quickly filtered by the ‘All’, ‘Projects’, ‘Categories’ and ‘Locations’ tabs.
The two sitewide lists (‘Newsletter subscribers’ and ‘Members’) can be found under the ‘All’ tab.
Creating Lists
Site Users also have the ability to create or import custom lists, segment existing lists to combine them into new lists or create lists from feedback tools (Premium only). This will expand your ability to manage lists from external sources such as off-line lists or existing mailing lists to reach even more people.
Custom list
Creating custom lists allows you to manage contacts from multiple sources and promote your engagements to different community segments.
To create a custom list:
Navigate to the Emails area of the Dashboard and select ‘Lists’
Click the ‘Create List’ button at the top-right of the page
Creating a new list using the member segments option will allow you to create rules to combine existing lists (e.g Project or Interest)
The Create an empty list and add contacts manually option will allow you to either import via csv or manually input contacts
Select Next then give your list a Name and Description
Select Save List
If you chose to add contacts manually you will now see an empty list table. To begin importing contacts select the Manage Subscribers dropdown menu then either Add Subscriber to manually enter the users or Import Contacts to import via csv.
Segmented list
Creating Segmented Lists
Segmented lists allows you to curate your campaign audience by pulling together specific groups of members from various sections of your site. This targeted approach ensures that your communications reach your target audience!
You can segment your audience based on:
Members interested in specific categories of interests
Members who follow particular projects
Members who have an interest in specific locations
Members who belong to specific User Groups you've created
To create a segmented list, follow these steps:
Navigate the Dashboard > Emails
Select 'List' and proceed with creating a new list
Opt for 'Create the new list using member segments' and click 'Next'
Fill in the necessary details for your list (Name and description)
Consent Type, it is important to choose an appropriate consent as this will ensure that your members receive communications aligned with their preferences, whether from their registration or following a project.
Build the list, for example if you are creating a segment list for a project update, select the 'Domestic Animal Management Plan' this action will automatically include all the followers of this project in your segmented list.
Add more conditions to further refine your list, by selecting '+ Add condition' and adjust the necessary conditions.
Once you've configured your segmented list, click 'Save List'
⭐ List from feedback data
You can now create an email list of members who have submitted feedback
to your project. With this new feature, you can more efficiently send email campaigns to your community users during or at the end of an engagement.
To create an email list from feedback data, you must first set up your participation tool to collect the necessary information - currently creating a list from feedback data is supported on all participation tools excluding the Social Map tool.
When setting up your participation tool, collect your community members' email addresses by using a preset question (Form tool) or member attribute (all other participation tools) and use a separate question/member attribute to collect consent to send community members emails about the project in question.
Ex: for the project below, you might use a a checkbox or multi-choice question asking "Do you agree to receive email updates about the Public Health Awareness Campaign?"
Go to the Reports > Results.
'View Results' of the feedback you'd like to use.
Select Data > Export Results > Show Filters.
Apply the necessary filters to only include those who gave consent.
From Export Results > Select 'Email list'.
You can choose to create a new list or merge it with an existing list.
💡 User Tip: A user can only view custom lists they have created.
If you don't have an email field on your feedback tool, it would use the Member's Email - which is the email address the user used to sign up on your site.
Apply the necessary Optional Fields you'd like to include on the lists.
Select 'Export'.
⚠️ As part of this new feature it will mean that community members
will now have visibility over the names and descriptions of your email
lists
in order to unsubscribe from them. We recommend that you please
review all email lists names and descriptions for their appropriateness
for public consumption.
🎯Key actions & information
To view the subscribers of a specific list, click the link on the list name. This will display a view of the list showing all list subscribers and their associated data including ‘ Email Address’, ‘Username’, ‘First Name’, ‘Last Name’, ‘Date Added’ and ‘Member’ status.
List data can be exported from the platform as a .csv file. This is useful for manually editing, cleaning, and merging lists, or importing them into third-party services.
To view and export a list:
Navigate to the Emails area of the Dashboard and select ‘Lists’ from the left-hand panel to view available lists
Find the target list and click the List Name to view the list
Click the ‘Export’ button to download the list data as a .csv.
To manually add contacts to a custom list:
Navigate to the custom list
Under the manage subscribers dropdown menu to the right of the list table select Add subscriber
Enter the First Name, Last Name and Email of the subscriber
Select Save
To import contacts to a custom list:
Navigate to the custom list
Under the manage subscribers dropdown menu to the right of the list table select Import contacts
A template for running the import can be accessed by selecting the Download a sample file option
Fill out the details of the contacts you wish to import, your file will need to contain the following columns: email | first_name | last_name
Ensure you save your file in CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv) format
Select Choose file then click on the file you prepared for importing
Select Save
💡 User Tip
While it is not possible to manually add subscribers to system generated subscriber lists (e.g project subscribers or interests) you can send manual campaigns to multiple subscriber lists from within the campaign editor.
To do this under the Campaign Type select the Other option followed by, Add another subscriber list to create a custom audience for your manual campaign.
To rename a custom list:
Navigate to the List (Dashboard > Email > List)
Look for the custom list type list you'd like to rename
Click 'Actions' > 'Edit.
Change the 'List Name' and 'Description' that is appropriate for public viewing.
Select 'Save List'.
The metadata displayed for each list includes:
List ID - A unique identifier automatically assigned to the list.
List Name - The title of the list (automatically assigned based on the project, interest or location name).
List Type - Indicates which of the five list types the list belongs
Subscribers - The total number of Members currently subscribed to the list.
Created - The date the list was created (e.g. when a new project was launched in the case of a Project list).
Modified - The last date the list was adjusted (this is currently not relevant for automated lists, and will be used when custom lists can be created).
With the ability to create more lists, it is also essential that community users can control their own information flows and unsubscribe from emails they no longer wish to receive. All users will now have the ability to manage and update their communication preferences when receiving email communications from Social Pinpoint. The user will be taken to an Unsubscribe page where they can remove themselves from the specified list.
⚠️ As part of this new feature it will mean that community members will now have visibility over the names and descriptions of your email lists in order to unsubscribe from them. We recommend that you please review all email lists names and descriptions for their appropriateness for public consumption.
This update comes as part of Google and Yahoo's new Email sender guidelines to ensure our emails continue to reach users with Google and Yahoo inboxes, we must comply with these requirements by 30 June 2024.
This feature is embedded directly within the email interface that lets subscribers instantly opt out of mailing lists with a single click. There wouldn't be a need for your users to hunt for hidden links or secondary confirmation pages, — just point, click, and poof. You’re unsubscribed.
💡Note: The one-click unsubscribe requirement doesn’t affect transactional messages (such as password resets, receipts, and confirmation emails).
What happens when someone clicks on ‘Unsubscribe’ from the email header?
When a user clicks "Unsubscribe" from an email header, the action depends on the list used to generate that email. Here's a summary of how Social Pinpoint handles different lists and the resulting unsubscribe actions:
Project Lists
Members can usually subscribe to this from the Project page with the 'Follow feature'.
Unsubscribe Action: The member will be marked as unfollowing the project, removing them from the project list.
Categories of Interests
Lists based on categories of interest (e.g., transport, parks, arts). Members can subscribe during signup and adjust preferences in their profile.
Unsubscribe Action: The "I would like to be notified by email of new projects that match my interests" option will be unchecked in the member's profile.
Locations of Interests
Lists based on locations of interest. Members can subscribe during signup and adjust preferences in their profile.
Unsubscribe Action: The location of interest will be unchecked in the member's profile, unsubscribing them from the list.
Custom Lists
Emails sent to a custom list created by site admins.
Unsubscribe Action: The user will be unsubscribed from the custom list.
Segmented Lists
Curated lists that target specific groups of members for campaigns. The action depends on the consent type used to create the list.
Unsubscribe Actions:
Project Update: Unsubscribe the user from any project lists included in the selection.
Interest Notification: Uncheck the "I would like to be notified by email of new projects that match my interests" option in the member's profile.
Site Broadcast/Newsletter: Uncheck the "I would like to receive the monthly newsletter" option in the member's profile.
No Consent Required: No action will be taken. It is not advisable to create a list without any consent.
The Social Pinpoint Learning Centre
