Creating a Blacklist

Blacklists are lists of phone numbers that no message should reach when a broadcast message is sent. MEP allows you to create multiple blacklists depending on the need for the list. For example, you can use a blacklist to exclude end users who have opted out of specific messages, such as marketing messages; or, you can create a list of people whom you want to exclude from a campaign, such as excluding end users who always request refunds.

Blacklists are implemented by creating a mailing list (the blacklist) and then assigning to a virtual SMS account. When sending a broadcast, the virtual gateway account is first checked for any blacklisted numbers and will not send the message to those numbers.

We recommend using a protected mailing list for the blacklist. This stops end users from being automatically removed from the list if they send in an unsubscribe keyword for all subscriptions—for example, this could be STOPALL.

Note: Blacklists only block end user phone numbers from receiving messages, not email addresses.

Creating a blacklist and associating it with a virtual gateway account

To create and use a blacklist, you must first create a protected mailing list (the blacklist) to hold the mobile numbers, and then associate that blacklist with a virtual gateway account. This virtual gateway account is used for sending the message. When the message is broadcast, the blacklist associated with the virtual account is first checked for blacklisted phone numbers.

Before creating the blacklist you must first have created the virtual gateway account. See Gateway Accounts for the steps.

To create a blacklist:

  1. Click the Subscription tab.
  2. Click the + icon beside the Subscription Collection to expand the collection that you want to create the mailing list under.
    Alternatively, create a Subscription Collection to hold your mailing list.
  3. Click Create Subscription. A pop-up dialog box appears that allows you choose the type of subscription to create.
  4. Select Mailing List.
  5. Enter a name for your mailing list, select Mailing List, and then click Next.
    The next screen is the properties page for the list. The mailing list has now been created.
  6. In the Subscription Details, select the Protection check box. This indicates that the mobile numbers cannot be automatically unsubscribed from the list.
  7. Click Save.

To associate the mailing list with a virtual SMS account:

  1. Click the System tab.
  2. Click Gateway Accounts. The Gateway Accounts page appears.
  3. Select the virtual SMS account that you have created the blacklist for.
  4. In the pop-up, open the Configure Blacklist option.
  5. Select the Subscription Collection and Subscription from the menu.
  6. Click Update to save your changes.