Do you wish there was an easy way to keep track of people who email your marketing alias but aren't stored in the database? Look no further than the Create sender contacts skill with Drift Email. When you set up a create sender contacts skill, we'll make a new contact in your database for anyone who emails into your marketing alias and doesn't already exist in your database.

The guide covers the steps to configure skills to create new contacts from email addresses that are not currently in your database. To get started, click the "Skills" item in the navigation bar, then click "Create skill," and then click "Create sender contacts."

 

Step 1: Skill Name and Filters 

Name your skill 

We suggest naming your skill something that will help you remember what you are trying to achieve with this rule. In this example, I named my skill "Info@ Contacts Not in Marketo"

 

Select email types

Since you're creating contacts for a sender that's not currently in your database, we'll only allow you to use this skill for direct emails sent by a human. If you'd like to explore adding a different type of email here, ask your CSM.

 

Add filters 

You have the option to add any other filters you would like to apply to the emails that run through this skill. You have the option of filtering by source, language, body text, and subject text. In this example, we added a source filter, and only create new contacts in English. 

For more information on filters, see the Filters help guide.

Step 2: Update 

In the next step of your skill, you can choose how you would like to sync the new sender contacts from the emails you specified in Step 1. In this example, we're syncing contacts to Marketo, and writing them to the Siftrock - New Contacts list.

 

There are 2 different types of field mapping available in a create sender contacts skill: static field mapping and Drift Email field mapping.

Drift Email field mapping

Drift Email's data can be mapped to fields in your MAP. You can map data to standard fields or custom fields. By default email address, name, and phone number will be mapped from Drift Email to your MAP.

Static field mapping

Static field mapping allows you to set a field to a specific value for all contacts created through this skill. One example we recommend as a best practice is populating your Lead Source field with "Drift Email." This gives you a quick way to find all new contacts in your database that originated from Drift Email.

In this example, we're mapping the value "Drift Email" to the lead source field, and the email reply's text to the "Siftrock Reply Text" field dynamically.

Finish

Once you've decided which list to write your new contacts to, and set up any field mapping, you should click "Save changes." You can turn the skill on right from inside the builder and you'll be all set! We'll process any new email replies that match your filters.