This article compares queries with contact lists.

Use a query when you want to...

Send an email to a specific audience based on the data that you have in your database. With a query, you have the ability to filter out individuals that meet certain criteria, but not with a contact list. Also, when sending an email to a query, the query is automatically recalculated at send time; however, a contact list is not. For more information, go to Queries.

For example, you can use a query for sending a discount offer for last year's hot new sports bike to only the males who receive your sports bike newsletter.

Use a contact list when you want to...

Send an email to a group of people who don't all meet any specific criteria. An advantage of using a contact list is that contact lists can be directly connected to web forms. This means that contacts can update values in the database using web forms. Contacts can be added to a contact list by querying a parent database, selecting specific contact records from a database, or by importing contact information from an external source.

For example, you can build contact lists from one database and use the lists for many reasons, such as newsletters, sales and promotions, bill payment, and so on.

Queries are good to use when you want to send an email to a specific audience based on the data in your database. With a query, you have the ability to filter out individuals that meet certain criteria, which you can't do with a contact list. Also, when sending an email based on a query, the query is automatically recalculated at send time; with a contact list, there is no recalculation.

One advantage to using contact lists is that they are directly tied to the subscription groups web form object. When using this functionality, web form designers can use the subscription groups to allow visitors to the form to manage their preferences. When users subscribe or opt-in to an email, they are automatically added to the contact list. Contacts can also be added to a contact list manually and don't have to meet any particular criteria.

Example of when to use a contact list

Build contact lists from your parent database for newsletters, sales and promotions, bill payment, and so on.

Example of when to use a query

Use queries for special circumstances, such as sending a discount offer for last season's hot new sports bike to contacts who receive your sports bike newsletter.