Introduction
With OutboundSync, you can make any HubSpot list a blocklist. Blocklists ensure that you are not sending cold emails to any existing customers, competitors, open deals, do not contact lists, etc.
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 Email Addresses from Contact Lists
Using this method, OutboundSync will identify every email address associated with each unique contact record in your list and block it. Read below to see how to set it up.
By default, if your contacts in the list have multiple emails in their contact record in HubSpot, OutboundSync will block all of them.
Step 1. Build your contact list in HubSpot
If you don't have a contact list built yet, go ahead and build one. If you already have a list, skip ahead to step 2 below.
Need inspiration? Here are some examples that other users have built: newsletter subscribers, open deals, partners.
Build a list by going to Contacts > Lists in HubSpot.
Once there, click the Create a list button to start creating a list.
Make sure you select a Contact-based list in this case.
Step 2. Go to Block Lists in OutboundSync
Now, go to the OutboundSync app and go to Block lists.
Step 3. Select a list and your Smartlead API key
Go ahead and select a list (#1 below), your Smartlead API key (#2 below).
Step 4. Select the type of blocking
OutboundSync supports two types of blocking. You can block by address or by domain (#3 below).
Address (Individual Email Address)
When blocking by address, OutboundSync will fetch every individual email address associated with a contact in HubSpot and add it to the blocklist in Smartlead.
If a contact had multiple email addresses, they would all be individually blocked. The domain would not be blocked. Meaning you can email other people whose emails end in example.com
Domain (Every Email Address)
When blocking by domain, OutboundSync will fetch every email address associated with a contact in HubSpot and add the domain to the blocklist in Smartlead.
If a contact had multiple email addresses, every domain would be blocked.
The one exception to this is the domain for leading email providers like Gmail, Outlook, etc. These will not be blocked since they are common and shared.
Access the full list of unblockable domains here:
https://outboundsync.com/hubfs/Knowledge%20base/unblockable-domains.csv
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 the "Start Blocking" button (#4 below). You will see your blocklist appear in the table (#5 below).
If you are using a Smartlead agency plan, you will have the option to select which client you want to apply this blocklist to.
OutboundSync will do an initial push Smartlead of the existing list as soon as you start blocking. This initial status—"FETCHING"—means we are getting the contacts from HubSpot (#6 below).
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.
If you want to pause blocking for any reason at any time, click the "Pause Blocking" button to do that (#7 below). You can resume in the future.
You can delete your blocklist by clicking the "Delete" button (#8 below). This will not remove them from the blocklist in Smartlead but it will delete the blocklist and prevent it from running again.
You're done! OutboundSync will now be regularly checking your list in HubSpot to see if there are any new contacts added to it.
If there are new contacts added to your list, they will be pushed to the blocklist in Smartlead.