Who wants invalid email addresses in their database? Answer: No one. Keep track of all of these changes to your database and clean out old contacts by setting up an update contacts skill with Drift Email.  

The guide covers the steps to configure skills to update existing contacts. To get started, click the "Skills" icon (the robot) in the navigation bar, then click "Create skill" in the top right corner, then "Update contacts."

Step 1: Skill Name and Filters

 

Name your skill 

We suggest naming your rule something that will help you remember what you are trying to achieve with this rule. In this example, I named my rule "Invalid Contacts"

 

Select email types

A typical use case for an update contact workflow skill would be invalidating contacts that are no longer up to date. Typically, the 4 email types we suggest invalidating are left company, changed, unsubscribe, and bounce. 

 

Add filters 

Once you've finished this first step, you also have the option to add any 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've added a source filter.

For more information on filters, see this detailed help article.

 

Step 2: Update

In the next step of your skill, you can choose how you would like to sync the contacts from the emails you specified in Step 1. In this example, we're tracking contacts in Marketo, and writing them to the Drift Email Team Test list.

There are 2 different types of field mapping available in an update 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 workflow. 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 setting the "email invalid" field to "true," and also setting the "email invalid cause" field to "Drift Email."

 

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.