Skip to main content
An audience is the group of people a campaign goes to. A dynamic audience is a set of rules, such as everyone from a certain lead source, and it picks up new contacts that match as they arrive. A static audience is a fixed list of people you pick by hand. This guide imports seven test inboxes that Northwind’s team set up for checking campaigns, saves them as the dynamic audience Docs test list, then picks two of them for a static audience.

​
Import the people you will email

1

Open Import CSV

Click Marketing in the left rail, then the Email Marketing card, then the Audiences tab. Click Import CSV at the top right.
Audiences, Saved segments of your contacts, with the Audiences tab outlined and the Import CSV button outlined

Import CSV, on the Audiences tab

2

Choose the file

Save your spreadsheet as a CSV file whose first row names the columns. email is required; first_name, last_name, name, phone, job_title, company, tags and lead_source are optional. A file can have up to 10,000 rows.Under CSV file, click Choose File and pick it. Preview (first 5 rows) shows the start of your file.Type a Default lead source (optional): every row without its own lead_source gets it, which makes these people easy to find again. Northwind types Docs test list. To put everyone straight into a fixed list, pick one under Add to static audience (optional).
CSV file docs-test-list.csv, the expected columns, Preview (first 5 rows) with first and last names, and Default lead source (optional) Docs test list outlined, beside Add to static audience (optional)

Northwind's file, with a lead source for every row (addresses blurred)

3

Say where they came from

Answer Where did these contacts come from? (required). Hiveku email marketing only sends to people who gave you permission: the first group of answers is for them, such as people who signed up or bought from you. If you choose an answer under Cold: they never asked to hear from you, the page explains that the list can’t be imported for email marketing.Northwind’s list is its own test inboxes, so it chooses Something else (describe it) and describes them under Describe where they came from.Tick the box that confirms it: I confirm every contact in this file gave us permission to send them marketing email, and I can show the record if asked. Then click Import contacts.
Where did these contacts come from? set to Something else (describe it), the description Test inboxes our own team set up to check how our emails look, and the permission checkbox ticked, all outlined, and the Import contacts button outlined

Where the list came from, and the permission box

The result shows how many contacts were new, how many matched an email address already in your CRM and were updated, and how many rows were skipped.
Imported 7 new + merged 0 existing contacts (0 skipped), with Imported (new): 7, Updated (existing merged): 0 and Skipped: 0

Seven new contacts

​
Save them as a dynamic audience

1

Name it and choose the rule

Back on the Audiences tab, use Create a new audience at the top. Type a Name and, if you like, a Description for your team.Then choose the rules. Contacts must match every rule you set, and within a rule any of the choices you click. Northwind clicks Docs test list under Lead sources (any of), which matches a contact’s current or original lead source.
Create a new audience with Name Docs test list outlined, the description, Lifecycle stages, and Lead sources (any of) with Docs test list selected and outlined

Everyone whose lead source is Docs test list

The form also has rules for tags, lifecycle stages, UTM campaigns, lead status and score, deals, custom fields, website visits, past email engagement, the date contacts were added and Shopify orders.
2

Create it

Leave Has email address on Yes (recommended), so only people you can email are counted, and click Create audience at the bottom of the form. New audiences from this form are dynamic.
Has email address Yes (recommended) outlined, the store order filters, and the Create audience button outlined

Create audience

​
Check who it reaches

The audience opens on its Overview. Deliverable is the number of people a campaign to it would reach right now. Skipped counts matching people Hiveku won’t email, such as those who unsubscribed or whose address bounced. Send a campaign starts a new campaign with this audience already chosen.
Docs test list, Dynamic, with Sync to ad platforms and Send a campaign outlined, and the Deliverable 7 tile outlined beside Skipped 0 and Sample 7

Docs test list: 7 deliverable

Further down, What this audience targets repeats your rules in words, and Sample contacts lists people in it with their status.
What this audience targets: Has an email address on file, and Lead source is one of: Docs test list. Sample contacts, Showing 7 of 7: seven people, each Lead and Deliverable

The rules in words, and the people they match (addresses blurred)

The Use audience tab enrolls everyone a campaign would reach in a sequence, or syncs the audience to your ad platforms.
The Use audience tab outlined, with Enroll in sequence and Sync to ad platforms with its Manage platform syncs button

More ways to use an audience

​
Make a fixed list from your contacts

1

Pick the people

Click CRM in the left rail, then Contacts. Tick the box beside each person you want, then click Save as audience in the bar at the bottom.
Theo Barros and Maya Lindqvist ticked and outlined, and the bar at the bottom with 2 selected and Save as audience outlined

Two contacts picked

2

Name the list

Type an Audience name and click Create audience.
Create an audience: Save the current selection as a reusable audience for campaigns, with Audience name Docs test pair and the Create audience button outlined

Docs test pair

Because you picked people by hand, the new audience is static: it holds just those two people, and new contacts join it only when you add them, for example with Add to static audience (optional) when you import.

​
Good to know

  • Open an audience to see its size. The count beside each audience in the list isn’t kept up to date yet; the audience’s own page always shows who is in it now.
  • Unsubscribes are handled for you. People who unsubscribe, bounce or mark your email as spam stay in the audience but are skipped at every send.
  • Next: Create, Test and Send an Email Campaign.
  • More: Audiences covers every rule, and Bring Your Contacts In from a Spreadsheet covers importing into the CRM.