Introduction
Groups are the primary way to organize contacts and send messages in Mapp Engage. A group is a list of addresses to whom you send messages. Many important settings, including sendout settings, are managed at the group level. Clear group management helps you structure your contact data, control message delivery, and support different marketing strategies across channels.
Common Use Cases
Organizing contacts into lists for newsletters or campaigns
Managing subscriptions and unsubscribes per channel, such as email, SMS, or mobile push
Sending the same message to multiple groups at once
Storing shared, non-contact-specific data that applies to all group members
Controlling sendout behavior and preventing conflicting processes
Standardizing sendout settings across groups to ensure consistent delivery behavior
Controlling who can join a group through moderated membership workflows
Preventing recipients from accessing outdated or expired content via automatic link redirection
Improving deliverability and compliance by managing unsubscribe handling and delivery responses
Group Structure, Organization, and Workflows
Groups in Mapp Engage are flexible and can be tailored to meet various business and marketing needs. You can create as many groups as needed, ranging from a single group that contains all contacts to multiple smaller, specialized groups. The structure you choose depends on factors such as list size, sendout frequency, newsletter type, and overall marketing strategy.
Group-level settings influence how messages are sent, how recipients interact with content, and how delivery feedback is processed. This makes groups a central control layer for both operational and compliance-related behavior.
Groups for Multichannel Marketing
For multichannel scenarios, it is recommended to use separate groups for separate sendout channels, such as email, SMS, and mobile push. Dedicated channel groups help you:
Manage subscriptions and unsubscribes separately per channel, which supports compliance with country-specific regulations
Limit the number of SMS messages or mobile push notifications sent per week
Build clearer automations that apply to a single channel and avoid unintended cross-channel reactions
Channel-specific groups also enable the consistent application of channel-relevant settings, such as unsubscribe handling or delivery limits.
Group Categories
Group categories help you organize and find groups more easily. You can:
Create as many group categories as needed
Assign one category to a group at a time
Assign, change, or remove a category in the group settings under the General Settings tab
Group categories can be used for searching, filtering, reporting, and viewing data related to groups.
For more information, see Group Categories.
SuperGroups
SuperGroups allow you to combine multiple groups for a single sendout. The groups within a SuperGroup are referred to as subgroups, and the messages sent to a SuperGroup are called SuperMessages.
A SuperGroup is useful when the same message needs to be sent to multiple groups simultaneously. Instead of creating multiple sendouts, you create a single SuperGroup and send a message to it.
For more information, see SuperGroups.
Group Attributes
Group attributes store information that applies to all contacts in a group. Each group attribute holds a single value that is valid for every contact in that group.
Group attributes are suited for data that changes frequently and is not specific to individual contacts. For example, group attributes can store current product prices or campaign-wide information that should be consistent for all recipients.
For more information, see Group Attributes.
Contact Management in Groups
Groups are the primary structure for organizing and storing contacts in Mapp Engage. Contact profiles are stored independently from groups. This means that if a group is deleted, the contact profiles associated with it remain in the system.
A contact can:
Belong to one group
Belong to multiple groups
Belong to no groups
You can add contacts to groups in several ways, including manual uploads, API-based imports, automations, selections, or manual entry in the user interface.
Moderated Group Memberships
Groups can be configured to require approval before new members are added. With moderated group memberships enabled, subscription requests must be explicitly approved by a group owner or manager.
This allows you to:
Control who is allowed to join a group
Prevent unauthorized recipients from receiving messages
Review subscription requests before activation
Moderation is configured per group and managed through group notifications. Pending applicants do not receive any group messages until their request is approved.
For more information, see Moderated Group Memberships.
Message Sendout and Targeting
Every message sendout takes place within and is sent to one specific group. Within a group, you can refine targeting and content by:
Using personalization to create individual message variations from a single draft
Using selections to send messages to targeted subsets of a group
To send a message to more than one group at the same time, you use a SuperGroup. You can also enable message moderation to require approval before sending messages to specific groups.
Sendout Configuration and Templates
Groups define many sendout-related settings, such as delivery speed, domains, headers, and tracking behavior. To standardize these settings, you can use configuration templates.
Configuration templates store predefined sendout settings that are applied automatically when creating or copying a group. This helps ensure consistent delivery behavior and reduces manual configuration effort, especially when groups are created via automation or Control XML.
For more information, see Configuration Templates.
Unsubscribe Handling and List Headers
Unsubscribe behavior is managed at the group level. Groups can include standardized unsubscribe headers that allow recipients to unsubscribe directly from their email client.
Proper configuration of unsubscribe headers helps:
Provide a clear and accessible unsubscribe option
Reduce spam complaints
Improve overall deliverability
Groups can also use List-ID headers to help email clients recognize and categorize messages that belong to the same mailing list.
For more information, see List-Unsubscribe Headers and List-ID Headers.
Timed Link Redirection
Timed link redirection is configured at the group level and applies to all messages sent from that group. After a defined time period, all links automatically redirect to a fallback destination, such as a homepage or shop entry page.
This prevents recipients from landing on expired offers or unavailable content when clicking links long after sendout.
For more information, see Timed Link Redirection.
Delivery Responses and Message Feedback
Groups are also the context in which delivery responses are recorded and evaluated. Responses indicate when a message cannot be delivered or when feedback is received after delivery.
Responses help you:
Identify delivery issues such as bounces or skips
Detect spam complaints or automatic replies
Support deactivation and deliverability monitoring
Responses are classified into response classes and categories to support appropriate handling.
For more information, see Responses.
Group Settings and Locked Groups
Groups include settings that define how messages sent to the group are delivered. In certain situations, Mapp Engage temporarily locks a group to prevent conflicting processes.
There are two types of group locks:
Exclusive lock: Applied when data is being written to a group, such as during contact or blacklist imports. No other actions, including sendouts or exports, can take place during this time.
Shared lock: Applied when group data is being used, for example, during a sendout or export. Sendouts and exports are allowed, but imports are not.
Locks are temporary and are removed automatically when the process finishes. Contacts can still subscribe to a group while it is locked, and individual contacts can be added through the user interface or API.