> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.lettr.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Audience Selection
> Choose who receives a campaign by targeting all contacts, specific lists, segments, or any combination, resolved fresh at send time
The Audience step of the campaign builder is where you decide who receives the campaign. You can target your entire audience, a curated set of lists, a set of segments, or any combination.
This page covers the three targeting modes, how multiple selections combine, and which contacts get filtered out before delivery.
## Targeting Modes
There are three ways to choose recipients:
| Mode | What it does |
| ---------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **All contacts** | Every subscribed contact in your audience receives the campaign |
| **Lists** | Recipients are the union of all selected [lists](/learn/audience/lists) |
| **Segments** | Recipients are the union of all selected [segments](/learn/audience/segments) |
You can also combine lists and segments in the same campaign — for example, "send to the Newsletter list **plus** anyone matching the Pro Customers segment". A contact who appears in multiple selected sources only receives the campaign once.
## How Recipients Are Resolved
When you send a campaign, Lettr resolves the actual recipient list at the start of the **Preparing** state, not when you save the campaign. This means:
* Segments are re-evaluated at send time, so contacts who match the segment conditions when you send (not when you built the segment) are the ones who get the email
* Newly added contacts who fit your audience selection between scheduling and sending are included
* Contacts whose status changed to `unsubscribed`, `bounced`, or `complained` after you built the campaign are excluded
The same logic applies whether the campaign is sent immediately or pulled out of a scheduled queue.
## Live Recipient Estimate
While you're building a campaign, the Audience step shows a live count of how many recipients your current selection will reach. The estimate runs the same recipient resolution logic as a real send — so the number you see is what you'll actually email, give or take any contact changes between your estimate and the real send.
The estimate is computed on demand whenever you change your selection. Large audiences may take a moment to count.
## Automatic Suppression
Lettr filters out contacts who shouldn't be emailed automatically. You don't need to manage suppression lists yourself.
A contact is excluded from a campaign send if their status is anything other than `subscribed`:
| Status | Excluded? | Reason |
| -------------- | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `subscribed` | No | Eligible recipient |
| `unsubscribed` | **Yes** | The contact has opted out |
| `bounced` | **Yes** | Their email permanently failed previously; sending again would hurt your reputation |
| `complained` | **Yes** | They marked you as spam previously; sending again would compound the problem |
| `unverified` | **Yes** | They haven't completed [double opt-in](/learn/audience/double-opt-in) |
This filter applies even when you pick "All contacts" or include contacts via lists or segments — non-subscribed contacts are silently filtered out at the recipient-resolution step.
If your live recipient estimate seems lower than the size of the lists you picked, suppression is usually why. Open a list and filter by status to see how many contacts in it are not currently `subscribed`.
## Deduplication Across Sources
When the same contact appears in multiple selected lists or segments, they receive the email exactly once. Lettr deduplicates at recipient resolution, so:
* Combining overlapping lists doesn't double-send
* A contact who matches multiple segments gets one email
* A contact in both a list and a segment gets one email
This makes it safe to be inclusive when picking your audience — you can pick "Newsletter Subscribers" and "Pro Plan Segment" together without worrying about doubling up on the overlap.
## No Exclusion Lists
Lettr doesn't currently support an "exclude this list/segment" option in the audience builder. If you want to send to people on List A but **not** on List B, the workaround is to build a [segment](/learn/audience/segments) that captures the inclusion logic — for example, "members of List A AND not members of List B" — using the segment builder's condition groups.
Many "exclude" use cases are easier to express as segment conditions than as separate exclusion controls. If you find yourself frequently wanting to send to "everyone except X", build a segment that defines your real target rather than treating it as a list-minus-list operation.
## Targeting "All Contacts"
The **All contacts** option sends to every subscribed contact in your audience. This is appropriate for:
* Company-wide announcements
* Major product launches
* Compliance updates that affect every recipient
For more focused sends, prefer lists or segments — a campaign that goes to every subscriber gets a worse engagement rate than one tailored to a smaller, relevant group, which over time affects your sender reputation.
## Audience and Campaign Status
Once a campaign is in **Sending** or **Sent** status, the recipient list is fixed. Adding new contacts to the audience after that point doesn't add them to the campaign — those contacts need to be targeted in a separate campaign.
If you scheduled a campaign and you've grown your audience significantly since, double-check the recipient estimate before the schedule fires. You may want to unschedule and resend with updated targeting.
## Editing Audience Selection
You can change a campaign's audience selection any time it's in `Draft` status. Once you schedule the campaign, the selection is locked in (unscheduling back to Draft re-opens it for edits). Once you start sending, it's permanent.
## Next Steps
Send the campaign or schedule it for later
Review the campaign after sending
Build segments for more precise targeting