How contacts work

A contact is one email address in your workspace, with its name, company, tags, lists and your own properties. Each address is in a workspace once.

Opted in or prospect

• Opted in: they agreed to get your emails. Only they get campaigns. Zeebra keeps how they agreed (your note, the signup form, the import) on the contact.
• Prospect: you have their address but not their agreement, for example someone from a list of business cards (or, once AI search launches, a lead saved from it). Prospects are kept and organised, and never get campaigns.

Statuses

• Active: can be emailed.
• Pending: signed up through a form with confirmed opt-in and hasn't clicked the confirmation link yet.
• Dormant: list cleanup asked if they still want your emails and they didn't answer. Kept, not emailed.
• Unsubscribed, bounced or complained: never emailed again. Someone who unsubscribed stays on your do-not-email list even if you delete the contact.

The Contacts page

• Import CSV brings in a file from your old tool or a spreadsheet. See Importing contacts.
• Add contact adds one person by hand. It's a button while the workspace has only a few contacts, then it moves into the ⋯ menu. A contact you add joins straight away: Zeebra doesn't send them a confirmation email, so only add people as opted in when they really agreed.
• The ⋯ menu also has Export, which downloads the contacts your search and filters show (the number is on the menu item), and Tags, properties & do-not-email, which opens Settings → Contacts.
• Manage duplicates finds contacts that are the same person (the same email or phone, or your own rules) and merges them. See Duplicates.

Search and filter the table, save the view, and select contacts to tag them, add them to a list or change their status in bulk. Open a contact to see everything Zeebra knows about them and their activity.

Tags, lists and segments

• Tags label contacts (VIP, speaker, 2026 attendee).
• Lists are fixed groups you add people to.
• Segments are rules ("opted in, tagged VIP, opened in the last 90 days") worked out each time you use them.

Campaigns go to lists and segments, minus your exclusions. See Campaigns and sending rules.