Managing Subscribers

Subscribers are at the heart of everything you do in Broadcast. This guide covers the full subscriber lifecycle – from adding your first contact to managing statuses, cleaning your list, and handling data privacy requests.

Subscriber Fields

Every subscriber in Broadcast has the following fields:

The Custom Data field is especially powerful. You can store anything from a subscriber’s company name and job title to their purchase history or preferred language. This data can then be used in segments, Liquid template variables, and more.

Adding Subscribers

There are four ways to add subscribers to a channel:

Manual Entry

Go to Subscribers and click Add Subscriber. Fill in the email address and any optional fields. This is ideal for adding individual contacts or testing.

CSV / TSV Import

For bulk additions, go to Subscribers > Import and upload a CSV or TSV file. You can map columns to subscriber fields, apply tags to all imported contacts, and choose how to handle duplicates (skip or update). Imports run in the background, so you can continue working while they process. See the Importing Subscribers guide for details.

Opt-in Forms

Create embeddable signup forms at Opt-in Forms > New Form. Place the form HTML on your website, and new subscribers are added automatically when someone signs up. Forms can apply tags and trigger sequence enrollment on submission.

API

Use the Broadcast REST API to add subscribers programmatically. This is the best option when integrating with your own application, CRM, or third-party tools. The API lets you create, update, and manage subscribers with full control over every field.

Viewing Subscribers

Subscriber List

Navigate to Subscribers to see all subscribers in your current channel. The list shows each subscriber’s email, name, status, tags, and subscription date.

Use the search bar to find subscribers by email address or name. For more advanced filtering, create a segment.

Subscriber Detail Page

Click on any subscriber to view their full profile. The detail page is organized into several tabs:

• Details – All subscriber fields, tags, and custom data. You can edit any field directly from this view.
• Last Emails – A chronological list of every email this subscriber has received, with delivery status, opens, and clicks.
• Segments – Which segments this subscriber currently belongs to based on their data and activity.
• Sequences – Any email sequences the subscriber is enrolled in, along with their progress through each sequence.

An Activity sidebar on the detail page shows a timeline of key events: when they subscribed, emails they opened, links they clicked, and status changes.

Subscriber Statuses

Understanding the three subscriber statuses is important for managing your list effectively.

Active

Active subscribers are eligible to receive emails. This is the default status for every new subscriber. When you send a broadcast or a sequence step fires, only active subscribers are included.

Inactive

Inactive subscribers are on your list but will not receive any emails. A subscriber becomes inactive when:

• You manually deactivate them from their detail page
• You run a bulk deactivation (see below)
• An email to them hard-bounces (Broadcast automatically deactivates on permanent delivery failures)
• An ESP webhook reports a complaint

Inactive subscribers still appear in your subscriber list and retain all their data. You can reactivate an individual subscriber at any time from their detail page.

Unsubscribed

Unsubscribed subscribers have explicitly opted out of receiving emails. This happens when someone clicks the unsubscribe link in one of your emails. Broadcast records the date and time of the unsubscription and permanently respects this preference for that channel.

You should never re-subscribe someone who has unsubscribed. Doing so violates email marketing best practices and may breach anti-spam regulations like CAN-SPAM and GDPR.

Mass Deactivation

Sometimes you need to deactivate a large number of subscribers at once – for example, after identifying a batch of invalid addresses or cleaning your list based on an external tool.

To perform a mass deactivation:

1. Prepare a plain .txt file with one email address per line
2. Go to Subscribers > Mass Deactivation
3. Upload the file (up to 5,000 addresses per upload)
4. Confirm the deactivation

Mass deactivation is irreversible as a bulk operation. While you can reactivate individual subscribers one at a time from their detail page, there is no bulk reactivation. Double-check your file before confirming.

Deactivated subscribers are not deleted. They remain in your list with all their data intact – they simply will not receive any future emails.

Deleting and Redacting Subscribers (GDPR)

Broadcast supports full subscriber deletion for GDPR compliance and data privacy requests. Deleting a subscriber is a more permanent action than deactivating them.

What Gets Removed

When you delete a subscriber:

• Their personal data is permanently erased: email address, name, IP address, custom data, and tags
• Their profile is removed from the subscriber list

What Gets Preserved

To maintain the integrity of your analytics and reporting:

• Aggregate statistics are preserved (total sends, open counts, click counts)
• Delivery records are anonymized rather than deleted, so your broadcast reports remain accurate

Individual Deletion

Go to the subscriber’s detail page and click the delete option. You will be asked to confirm because this action cannot be undone.

Bulk Deletion

For large-scale data cleanup, Broadcast supports bulk deletion. Navigate to Subscribers and use the bulk actions menu to select and delete multiple subscribers at once.

Always consider whether deactivation might be more appropriate than deletion. Deactivation stops all emails while preserving data for your records. Deletion is permanent and should be reserved for data privacy requests or situations where you are legally required to remove the data.

Segmentation

Segments let you create dynamic groups of subscribers based on rules. Rather than managing static lists, you define criteria (tags, activity, custom data, dates, status) and Broadcast automatically includes every subscriber who matches.

For example, you could create a segment for “Active subscribers tagged ‘vip’ who opened an email in the last 30 days” and use it to target a special broadcast.

Segments are covered in detail in the Segments documentation.

Best Practices for List Hygiene

Remove invalid addresses promptly. If your ESP reports hard bounces, Broadcast automatically deactivates those subscribers. Review your inactive list periodically to confirm it’s being cleaned.

Use tags consistently. Decide on a tagging convention early and stick to it. Tags like “source:webinar-march-2025” are more useful than “webinar” when you need to filter later.

Honor unsubscribes immediately. Broadcast handles this automatically, but if you manage subscribers through the API, make sure your integration respects unsubscribe status.

Audit your list regularly. At least once a quarter, review subscribers who have never opened an email. Consider running a re-engagement campaign or deactivating long-dormant contacts to protect your sender reputation.

Use custom data wisely. The JSON custom data field is flexible, but keep it organized. Use consistent key names across subscribers so your segments and templates work reliably.

Respect privacy regulations. If a subscriber requests data deletion under GDPR or similar laws, use the delete function rather than just deactivating. Document your data handling processes to stay compliant.

Need to import a large list? See the Importing Subscribers guide. Want to learn about dynamic grouping? Check out the Segments documentation.