Getting Started with XM Directory

XM Directory is a contact management platform that allows you to build and manage a single directory of all your organization’s respondents – keeping information up to date, accurate, and accessible to all your users.

With XM Directory, you can create and update contact information in one central database and send surveys directly to mailing lists. You can decrease the number of duplicate contacts easily to prevent repeat uploads, and manage your global opt-outs from the directory. You can also limit the amount of times a respondent can be contacted by your brand to prevent response fatigue and improve the survey taking experience.These steps will get you started setting up your very own directory:

• Step 1: Adding & Managing Directory Contacts
• Step 2: Creating Mailing Lists
• Step 3: Configuring Directory Settings
• Step 4: Distributing a Survey or Email Campaign

Key Terms

You can find a quick definition for the most commonly used terms in XM Directory below:

• Directory: The directory is an address book for the entire brand and contains all of the contacts that have been added by your users. The directory can only be accessed by users with the Manage Directory permission enabled (which is usually done by Brand Administrators). Any contact update that happens within the Directory will be applied to the contact within individual mailing lists.
• Mailing Lists: Mailing lists are lists of contacts that can receive emails and survey invitations. You can create mailing lists either through file upload or manually. Unlike the directory, mailing lists are not visible to the entire organization, but are instead created in individual accounts. Mailing lists can be shared with other users or groups.
• Distributions: Here is where you reach out to contacts in the XM Directory platform, with or without a survey attached.
• Embedded Data: Embedded Data are additional information fields you attach to a contact that does not include the basic contact information (first name, last name, email address, and External Data Reference). Embedded Data on a contact is visible to all users, can be overridden in the platform, and can be used in survey responses.
• Deduplication: Deduplication refers to an automatic process that can be used to automatically merge existing and new contacts. This prevents you from uploading the same person as separate contacts.
• Contact Frequency: Contact Frequency is a setting that controls how often you can reach out to contacts, and how much you can contact them in that timeframe.