# Contact groups and contact-based targeting > Put contacts in several groups in CRM and target a contact or contact group in email campaigns, outreach and sequences. Deduplication and opt-out rules stay in force. Source: https://www.eqlem.com/en/features/contact-groups The person you want to reach is not always the account; it is often the right person inside it. In EQLEM CRM you put contacts in several **contact groups** and target a contact or a contact group directly in email campaigns, outreach and sequences. For an overview see the [CRM module](https://www.eqlem.com/en/modules/crm). ## Who is it for? Sales and marketing teams who keep an expo list, decision makers or purchasing owners as separate groups. It is also for reps who must write to a contact rather than an account, for privacy officers who expect contact-level consent and opt-out rules to stay in force, and for operations users who bring an existing list into the system. ## How does it work? ### Several groups per contact You create group definitions with the **Contact** group type. On the contact card you choose several groups for a person; the contact list shows a group column. You can filter the list by group and pick "member of at least one" or "member of all". From the menu, **Add to group / Remove from group** adds selected contacts to groups or removes them in bulk (up to 2,000 contacts and 50 groups per action). Group pickers show member counts. ### Contact and contact group audiences in email campaigns On a campaign's audience tab, next to account groups, you add a single **contact** or a **contact group** as an audience. Contact and contact group audiences apply **only to email campaigns**; a WhatsApp campaign rejects them with an error and never silently ends up with 0 recipients. - The recipient contacts table shows who will receive the campaign before you schedule it. - If the same email address appears in both an account and a contact audience, it is sent **once**. - The contact must be linked to an active account in the campaign's company; a contact with no such link or no email is skipped and counted. - Consent, opt-out and block rules also apply to the contact's address. - Your contact visibility and company scope apply while targeting too. ### Picking a contact directly in outreach **Send message** in the contact list lets you write to that person by email or WhatsApp. The email and phone come from the contact record; a contact that is not linked to an account can still be messaged directly. If the contact has no email or phone, nothing is sent and the reason is shown. Opt-out and block rules also run against the contact's address. ### Enrolling prospects in a sequence by contact or contact group You enroll prospects in a sequence by **contacts** or **contact groups** instead of accounts (up to 2,000 contacts and 50 groups). Before enrolling, a **preview** shows the outcome and writes no records: how many contacts will be enrolled and how many skipped; contacts with no account link or an account outside the sequence's company are counted separately. Existing sequence rules (opt-out, open enrollment, required source) apply as before. ### Assigning groups during lead import In the assignment step of the lead import wizard you can optionally pick one or more contact groups. Contacts created from the file or matched to existing records get the group **added**; existing memberships are not removed and repeating the run creates no duplicates. A trial run writes nothing. ### Safeguards - **Deduplication:** one address gets one send in a campaign. - **Opt-out and block rules:** contact-based targeting does not bypass them. - **Permissions:** groups and contacts are used only within the records you can see and your company scope. - **AI agent and API:** the same operations are available through the [AI agent connection](https://www.eqlem.com/en/features/ai-agent-connection) and the [Client API](https://www.eqlem.com/en/features/client-api-integration); sending still needs approval and nothing can be deleted. Contact group assignment and targeting are available on the web, the API and the AI agent; not in the mobile app. ## Benefits You build lists around the right person rather than the account. A contact who sits in several lists does not get duplicate messages in a campaign. Because consent and opt-out rules are preserved, targeting does not add compliance risk. When you import an expo or event list, grouping is done in the same step. ## Related modules and products The feature is part of the [CRM module's](https://www.eqlem.com/en/modules/crm) campaign, outreach, sequence and lead import flows. Access follows the [authorization](https://www.eqlem.com/en/features/authorization) rules. ## FAQ **Can a contact audience be used in a WhatsApp campaign?** No. Contact and contact group audiences apply only to email campaigns. **Can I message a contact who has no account?** In outreach, yes. In campaigns and sequences the contact must be linked to an account in the campaign's or sequence's company; otherwise it is skipped and counted. **What happens if the same address appears in two audiences?** A campaign sends once. **Is it in the mobile app?** No; it is on the web, the API and the AI agent. ## Next step Explore the [CRM module](https://www.eqlem.com/en/modules/crm) or start with **Try Free**.