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List Management - Creating and Filtering Custom Contact Lists

Once you've synced contacts to your Directory (via CSV, Azure AD, Workday, or API), you can use Advanced List Filtering to create customized, segmented lists for targeted email and SMS campaigns.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, please ensure you have:

  • Owner or Administrator permissions in ContactMonkey
  • Reviewed this article

How to Create a Filtered List

Step 1: Access the Directory

  • Click Directory at the top of your dashboard
  • Click the Filters button to access filtering options.
Image 2025-10-07 at 12.04.32 PM

Step 2: Build Your Filter

You can filter by any fields you synced from your data source. The available filtering options depend on the field type:

  • Standard Fields (Email Address, Employee ID, etc.)
    • Operators available: Equals, Does Not Equal, Contains, Does Not Contain
  • Data Set Fields (Office Location, Department, etc.)
    • Operators available: Is either of these (select from dropdown)
  • Note: Data set fields are those with a limited number of possible values, making dropdown selection more efficient than typing.

Step 4: Add Logic

You can combine multiple conditions using AND/OR logic:

AND Operator (Restrictive)
Use AND when all conditions must be true. The AND operator narrows your results by requiring every condition to be met.

  • If any condition is false, the contact is excluded
  • Results get smaller as you add more AND conditions
  • Example: Department = Marketing AND Country = Canada
    • Returns only contacts who are in Marketing AND located in Canada
    • A contact in Marketing but in the US would be excluded
    • A contact in Canada but in Sales would be excluded

OR Operator (Inclusive)
Use OR when at least one condition must be true. The OR operator expands your results by including contacts that match any condition.

  • If any condition is true, the contact is included
  • Results get larger as you add more OR conditions
  • Example: Department = Marketing OR Department = Sales
    • Returns contacts in Marketing, contacts in Sales, and contacts in both
    • A contact in Engineering would be excluded

Step 5: Apply and Save

  1. Click Apply Filters to preview results
  2. Click Save Filters as List
  3. Name your list
  4. Assign to a Team (optional but recommended)
  5. Click Save

Understanding Rules and Rulesets

Rules are individual conditions
Example: Country = Canada

Rulesets are groups of rules combined with the same logic type (AND or OR)
Example: (Country = Canada AND Department = Engineering)

Important: You cannot mix AND and OR within a single ruleset. To use both types of logic, create multiple rulesets.

Combining AND and OR Logic

To create complex filters using both AND and OR operators, you must use multiple rulesets. Each ruleset can only contain one logic type (all AND or all OR), but you can connect rulesets with different logic.

Example: Complex Filter with Multiple Rulesets

Ruleset 1: (Country = Canada AND Department = Engineering)
OR
Ruleset 2: (Job Title contains Executive OR City = Toronto)

This finds contacts who are either:

  • In Canada AND in Engineering (both conditions required), OR
  • Have "Executive" in their title OR are in Toronto (at least one condition required)

Who would be included:

  • Sarah in Canada, Engineering department ✓ (matches Ruleset 1)
  • John with title "Executive Director" in the US ✓ (matches Ruleset 2)
  • Maria in Toronto, Sales department ✓ (matches Ruleset 2)
  • Ahmed in Toronto with title "Senior Executive" ✓ (matches Ruleset 2 twice)

Who would be excluded:

  • Li in Canada, Sales department ✗ (doesn't match either ruleset completely)
  • Carlos in the US, Engineering department ✗ (doesn't match either ruleset)

Visual Guide: How Logic Affects Results

Using AND narrows results:

  • Department = Marketing (1,000 contacts)
  • AND Country = Canada (narrows to 150 contacts)
  • AND Job Level = Senior (narrows to 45 contacts)

Using OR expands results:

  • Department = Marketing (1,000 contacts)
  • OR Department = Sales (expands to 2,200 contacts)
  • OR Department = Customer Success (expands to 3,500 contacts)

Mixing logic with rulesets:

  • Ruleset 1: (Department = Marketing AND Country = Canada) = 150 contacts
  • OR
  • Ruleset 2: (Job Title contains Director) = 300 contacts
  • Total: Up to 450 contacts (some may overlap)

What Fields Are Data Sets?

Fields designated as "data sets" provide a drop-down selection instead of text entry. Whether a field is a data set depends on your sync method. Please refer to the tables in those articles to see which fields are data sets.

Tips for Effective Filtering

  • Start Simple
    Begin with one or two conditions and add complexity as needed.
  • Use Data Sets for Efficiency
    When available, data set fields prevent typos and speed up list creation.
  • Test Your Filters
    Use Apply Filters to preview results before saving. Check that you're getting the expected contacts.
  • Name Lists Descriptively
    Use clear names like "Canada Engineering Team" or "Executives and Toronto Staff" instead of "List 1".
  • Spread Filters Across Rulesets
    Avoid stacking too many filters within a single condition, which can trigger a "something went wrong" error. Split your filters across multiple rulesets to prevent it.

✨ Need help creating filters? Reach out to our chat assistant George by clicking the green icon at the bottom left of your dashboard!

See Also

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