Running Campaigns with Custom Contact Lists
Complete guide to uploading your own contact lists and running AI-powered bulk outreach campaigns with personalization at scale.
Janney AI Team
•Product TeamExpert insights on custom contact list campaigns
TL;DR - Key Takeaways
- •Upload CSV lists with up to 10,000 contacts per campaign
- •AI enriches contacts and personalizes outreach automatically
- •Custom fields enable hyper-targeted messaging
- •Real-time tracking shows opens, clicks, and responses
Why Use Custom Contact Lists?
While AI discovery is powerful, sometimes you already have the contacts you want to reach. Custom list uploads let you leverage existing databases, event attendees, or purchased lists while still benefiting from AI personalization and automation.
Use Your Data
Import contacts from CRMs, events, or other sources
AI Enhancement
AI enriches data and generates personalized messages
Full Tracking
Monitor every interaction with detailed analytics
Use Cases: Event follow-ups, webinar attendees, trade show leads, newsletter subscribers, purchased B2B lists, LinkedIn exports, existing customer databases.
Preparing Your CSV File
Proper CSV formatting ensures smooth uploads and maximum personalization capabilities.
Required & Optional Fields
| Field | Required | Example |
|---|---|---|
| john@company.com | ||
| first_name | Recommended | John |
| last_name | Recommended | Smith |
| company | Optional | Acme Corp |
| title | Optional | Marketing Director |
| custom_* | Optional | Any custom field |
CSV Tips
- • Use UTF-8 encoding for special characters
- • First row must be column headers
- • No empty rows between data
- • Maximum 10,000 rows per file
Uploading & Validating Lists
The upload process includes automatic validation and enrichment.
Upload Process
Upload CSV
Drag & drop or browse to select your file
Field Mapping
Match your columns to system fields
Validation
System checks for valid emails, duplicates, bounces
AI Enrichment
AI adds company info, social profiles, and more
Ready to Campaign
List is prepared with enriched data
Personalization with Custom Data
The more data you provide, the better AI can personalize. Use custom fields to enable hyper-targeted messaging.
Personalization Variables
Standard Variables
- •
{{first_name}}- First name - •
{{company}}- Company name - •
{{title}}- Job title - •
{{industry}}- Industry
Custom Variables
- •
{{event_attended}} - •
{{product_interest}} - •
{{last_purchase}} - •
{{custom_note}}
Example: Event Follow-up
"Hi {{first_name}}, it was great meeting you at {{event_attended}}. I noticed {{company}} is expanding into {{industry}} — I'd love to share how we've helped similar companies..."
Campaign Setup & Launch
Configure your campaign settings for optimal deliverability and engagement.
Campaign Settings
Sending Options
- Daily send limit (50-500)
- Time zone targeting
- Business hours only
- Random delay between sends
Sequence Settings
- Number of follow-ups (1-5)
- Days between emails
- Stop on reply
- A/B testing variants
Launch Checklist
- Email domain verified and warmed up
- Preview emails with sample contacts
- Test personalization variables
- Set tracking and reply handling
Tracking & Optimizing Results
Monitor campaign performance in real-time and optimize based on data.
Key Metrics
- Open RateTarget: 40%+
- Click RateTarget: 5%+
- Reply RateTarget: 10%+
- Bounce RateTarget: <2%
Optimization Tips
- • A/B test subject lines
- • Test send times
- • Analyze top-performing segments
- • Iterate on low-engagement steps
- • Remove non-responders
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Resources
Sources & References
- [1]Mailchimp: Email marketing benchmarks
- [2]HubSpot: List management best practices
- [3]Salesforce: Campaign automation research
Ready to Launch Your Campaign?
Upload your contact list and let AI personalize your outreach at scale.