How to Add Subscribers To Your Email List

Once you you get to the email marketing section of Vesta, you have a few options on how to add Subscribers to your Email List:

Option 1: Subscriber Form (Embed on Your Website)

ListSend allows you to create a signup form that visitors can fill out with their name, email, and other fields. Subscribers who complete the form are automatically added to your list.

For full instructions on creating and embedding a subscriber form, see the How to Add a Subscriber Form.

Option 2: Import Subscribers via CSV

If you have an existing list of subscribers from another system (a ticketing platform, CRM, etc.), you can import them as a CSV file.

Before importing, we strongly recommend verifying your list with a tool like ZeroBounce. Email verification removes fake addresses, full inboxes, and spam-prone contacts, which significantly improves your deliverability for the remaining subscribers.

To import:

1. Export your subscriber list from your other system and save it as a CSV file.
2. (Recommended) Run the CSV through ZeroBounce or a similar email verification service first.
3. In ListSend, navigate to the Subscribers dashboard and click Import Subscribers via CSV. (Note for Craig: confirm the exact button/link label in the UI.)
4. Upload your CSV file.
5. Map your columns to the correct fields -- at minimum, map your email column. You can also map first name, last name, and any tag columns.
6. If you have a column with multiple tags, you can try importing it as comma-separated tags. Note that depending on how your CSV is formatted, this can sometimes cause import issues. If you notice very few emails uploaded successfully, reformat your CSV and try again.
7. Click to complete the import.

Note on custom integrations: If you want subscriber data to flow in automatically from a ticketing platform or other system, contact the Vesta team. Custom integrations may not be available immediately, but the team can work with you to build them over time. Using the Zapier integration (detailed below) may be your fastest way to start ingesting subscribers automatically.

Option 3: Add a Subscriber Manually

You can add individual subscribers one at a time directly in the dashboard. This is the best option for adding a test email address or a team member.

1. Navigate to the Subscribers dashboard.
2. Click Add Subscriber (or similar). (Note for Craig: confirm the exact button label.)
3. Enter the subscriber's details and save.

Pro Tip: Use Tags to Test Your Emails

When you add a test email address (such as your own personal email), assign it the tag test. Then, when you send a campaign, you can target only subscribers with the "test" tag to preview how your email looks in a real inbox before sending to your full list.

Option 4: Using Webhooks and Zapier

ListSend supports webhooks, which allow you to automatically pull in subscribers from almost any external source -- whether that's a form plugin on your website, a ticketing platform, or a spreadsheet. If your tool connects to Zapier (or can send data directly to a URL), you can use this method.

This will work with any tool that can send Webhooks, it does not have to be Zapier. If you're using n8n, Make, or a custom tool those will work as well but the exact instructions on how to set them up on their end may differ vs. Step 4 in these instructions.

Step 1: Create a Webhook in ListSend

1. In your Vesta account, navigate to Event Email Platform.
2. Click on the Subscribers tab.
3. Open the Subscriber Form app.
4. Click Create New Webhook.
5. Give your webhook a name.

Once created, you'll see two important items:

• Webhook URL -- the address Zapier (or another system) will send data to
• API Key -- a secret key that authenticates the request and keeps your feed secure

Copy both of these and keep them handy. Do not share your API key with anyone other than your team. Do not include it in any prompts to Zapier's AI Agent, instead tell it where to have you place the API key securely.

Step 2: Understand the Accepted Data Fields

When data is sent to your webhook, it should be formatted as JSON. The fields ListSend currently accepts are:

Step 3: Set Up a Zap in Zapier

1. Log into Zapier and create a new Zap.

   For the trigger, choose your data source -- this could be Google Sheets, Gravity Forms, Eventbrite, or any other app that holds your subscriber data.

   • If using Google Sheets, set the trigger event to New or Updated Spreadsheet Row.
   • Connect your account and select the correct sheet and tab.
2. Test the trigger step and confirm you can see your expected data coming through.

(Review note: The transcript mentions using Zapier's AI assistant to help build the Zap. You may want to include a note about this as a tip, but confirm whether all plans have access to it -- Craig mentions it's a paid feature.)

Step 4: Configure the Webhook Action in Zapier

1. Add a first step in your Zap to get subscribers from your source. This will vary greatly depending on your source. Lean on Zapier's AI Agent to help you.
2. Add a second step to your Zap and search for Webhooks by Zapier.

3. Choose POST as the action event. This tells Zapier to send data to your ListSend webhook URL.

   In the Configure section:

   • URL: Paste your ListSend webhook URL

   • Payload Type: Select JSON

     In the Data fields, map your source fields to ListSend's expected field names. The field names must match exactly (lowercase, with underscores):

   • email
   • first_name
   • last_name
   • opt_in

   • tags

     Further down in the configuration, set:

   • Wrap requests in array: No
   • Unflatten: Yes
   • ** These should be the default settings, so you shouldn't need to change anything, but double-check that these are set or ask the Zapier AI Agent.
4. Under Headers, add your ListSend API key. X-API-Key is the first field and then the value will be your ListSend API key.

Step 5: Test and Publish

1. Click Test Step in Zapier to send a test record to your webhook.
2. Return to ListSend, go to your Subscribers list, and refresh the page. You should see the test subscriber appear.
3. Once confirmed, click Publish in Zapier to make the automation live.

A Note on Timing

If you're testing with Google Sheets, don't expect instant results. Google Sheets checks for new or updated rows approximately every 2 to 3 minutes before sending the data through Zapier. If nothing appears immediately, wait a few minutes and refresh before troubleshooting.