Introduction
With OutboundSync, you can designate any HubSpot list as a blocklist. Blocklists or exclusion lists help ensure that cold emails are not sent to existing customers, competitors, open deals, or contacts on Do Not Contact lists.
To create blocklists, you need to have a Smartlead API key connected to OutboundSync. If you haven't done this yet, click here to set it up.
Blocking Addresses or Domains from HubSpot Lists
This method allows OutboundSync to identify emails associated with each contact in your selected list and exclude it from future outbound email. This also works both at the individual contact level or at the company domain level.
If contacts have multiple emails in HubSpot, OutboundSync will block all associated emails in their contact record by default.
Step 1. Build your blocklist in HubSpot
If you don’t have a blocklist built yet, let's create one now. Otherwise, skip to Step 2.
Need inspiration? Popular examples include lists for newsletter subscribers, open deals, and active clients.
Build a new list in HubSpot by going to Contacts > Lists.
Once there, click the Create List button to start creating a list.
For this you can either create a list that is Contact-based or Company Based.
After creating a list with the desired criteria to add contacts or companies to an exclusion list, you can use it in OutboundSync for blocking.
Step 2. Go to Block Lists in OutboundSync
Now, go to the OutboundSync app and go to the Block lists tab on the left.
Step 3. Select a list and your Smartlead API key
First, Select List Type (1) to determine if we are using a Contact or Company list in HubSpot
Now you can Select List (2) and your Smartlead API Key (3).
If you are an agency and managing multiple clients under one Smartlead account, select the Smartlead Client (5) this blocklist will apply to.
Step 4. Select the type of blocking
OutboundSync supports two types of blocking. You can block by address or by domain with the Type of Blocking (4).
Address (Individual Email Address)
Blocks each email associated with a contact in Hubspot individually and adds it to the blocklist in Smartlead.
Example: Blocking john@example.com doesn’t block all emails ending in @example; only John's email is blocked.
Domain (Every Email Address)
Blocks all emails associated with a contact’s domain and adds the domain to the blocklist in Smartlead.
If a contact had multiple email addresses, every domain would be blocked.
Exception: Leading email providers (e.g., Gmail, Outlook) won’t be blocked as they are common. View unblockable domains list here.
If you want to block these domains manually in Smartlead, download this CSV and import it into Smartlead directly. This would block you from emailing personal email addresses.
Step 5. Start blocking
Next, click Start Blocking (6). You will see your blocklist appear in the table.
This takes time to execute. The larger your list, the more time it can take. Refresh your browser or come back later to see OutboundSync's progress updating your blocklist.
You can view your existing blocklists in the table under Blocked List. Here you can view the details of those blocklists, including:
- The Hubspot List Name it is pulling from
- The API Key it is sending the blocklist to
- The Smartlead Client if one was selected
- The Type of blocklist (Address or Domain)
Blocklist Status
Below is a list of different statuses that occur when using the Blocklist feature.
| CREATED | The blocklist has been created. If the user is approved for the blocklist, the status changes to FETCHING. |
| FETCHING | Fetching all contacts or companies for the blocklist from HubSpot to OutboundSync's database. When this is done, the status changes to SYNCING. |
| SYNCING | Sending emails or domains after FETCHING to Smartlead. When all contacts or companies are sent the status changes to SYNCING NEW CONTACTS. |
| SYNCING NEW CONTACTS | Fetching only new contacts or companies from HubSpot and sending them to Smartlead. |
| PAUSED | The user has temporarily paused the synchronization. |
| PAUSED PENDING UPGRADE | Admin has paused the synchronization (user is not approved for blocklists) |
Syncing and Blocklist Logs
You can monitor the progress of your blocklists sync by viewing the count of items that have been synced (Items Were Synced), as well as the count that have not been synced from the HubSpot list (Items Are Not Synced).
OutboundSync keeps a log of the contacts stored, which can be viewed by navigating to History > Blocklists.
There you can search for specific blocklists or email addresses to view their status, sync date, and any associated errors that may have occurred.
Errors
If any errors were to occur, an error log will be displayed. Common errors include Invalid Access Token to your CRM or an Invalid API Key.
You may also receive an error if your account does not have access to the blocklists feature in OutboundSync. If this is the case and you would like to upgrade, please contact service@outboundsync.com.
Pause Blocking
Click the Pause Blocking button to pause blocking anytime. You can later resume at any point.
Delete Blocklist
To delete the blocklist, click the Delete button. This action stops the blocklist from running and deletes the blocklist in OutboundSync. It does not remove contacts from the blocklist in Smartlead.
You’re done! OutboundSync will monitor your HubSpot list for new contacts and automatically push them to the blocklist in Smartlead.