> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Outbound audiences console: pick, attach, and gate audiences for campaigns

> Use Outbound → Audiences to compose lists, segments, suppression, and frequency caps in one surface, then attach an audience to a campaign and understand how consent and blocklist gates apply at send.

# Outbound audiences console

An outbound campaign needs an audience before it can send. The **Outbound → Audiences** page puts every audience surface the outbound studio needs in one place — lists, segments, the suppression list, and a frequency-caps summary — so you answer "who do we reach, and how often" from a single screen before you open the campaign wizard.

The page composes the same lists, segment, and opt-out surfaces that live under **Audience**; anything you create or edit here is shared with the rest of the platform. The CDP side of the audience — the pipeline that publishes a segment to an external destination — is documented separately in [Publish a segment to an external destination](/guides/audience-activation-pipeline).

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## 1. Where outbound audiences plug in

The console stacks four surfaces in the order you work through them:

| Surface              | What it is                                           | Where it is defined                                            |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Lists**            | Hand-curated contact rosters                         | [Static contact lists](/guides/contact-lists-static-targeting) |
| **Segments**         | Rule-based contact groups that re-resolve on refresh | [CDP segments](/guides/cdp-segments)                           |
| **Suppression list** | Opted-out contacts excluded from every send          | [Opt-outs console](/guides/audience-opt-outs-console)          |
| **Frequency caps**   | Per-channel send ceilings enforced at execution      | [Frequency caps](/guides/frequency-caps)                       |

Only the product name, the daily rate, and the segment recipe change as you move from building the audience to wiring it into a campaign; each surface is owned by its own guide, so follow the links above for definition and CRUD.

The console's subtitle carries the model in one line: lists are hand-curated rosters, segments group contacts by rules, the suppression list keeps opted-out contacts out of every send, and frequency caps stop fatigue. If you have already built an audience under **Audience**, the same record appears here without a copy step.

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## 2. Frequency-caps interplay

The frequency-caps card on this page is a read-back summary, not an editor. It shows how many caps are currently configured and links to **Settings → Frequency caps**, where the ceilings are created and changed. The card has three states:

* **No caps configured** — a dashed empty state with a **Set up caps** shortcut.
* **N caps configured** — the count of active per-channel caps with a **Manage caps** shortcut.
* **Load failure** — an inline error with **Retry**, so a transient read hiccup does not force a page reload.

Caps decide how often one contact can receive messages on a given channel, and they are enforced at execution time across every send path — direct send, campaigns, and journeys. Because they apply to the contact, not to the campaign, a cap set here gates every campaign that resolves the same audience at send; the card is the outbound studio's reminder that the ceiling exists before you launch. Cap definition itself — the per-channel windows and counts — lives in [Frequency caps](/guides/frequency-caps).

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## 3. Attaching an audience to a campaign

Attach an audience inside the campaign wizard; the console is where you prepare what you attach.

1. Open **Outbound → Campaigns** and start a campaign with the [campaign creation wizard](/guides/campaign-create-wizard).
2. When the wizard asks for targeting, choose the audience: either a **list** or a **segment** built in this console (or under **Audience**).
3. Review the targeting summary the wizard shows: the suppression list and frequency caps are applied automatically at send, not chosen as a targeting option.
4. Launch the campaign; the send gate re-reads the audience at execution, so a segment refreshes to current membership while the suppression list removes opted-out members before dispatch.

A contact added to the suppression list between audience selection and launch is excluded — the send gate consults the ledger at execution, not the snapshot from when the campaign was drafted.

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## 4. Indirect targeting vs explicit list

A campaign audience is either *explicit* or *indirect*:

* **Explicit list targeting** — you hand-pick the contacts (a static list). Membership changes only when you edit the list. Use it when the audience is a known roster — a partner event list, a VIP roll — and drift is a risk, not a convenience. See [Static contact lists](/guides/contact-lists-static-targeting).
* **Indirect targeting via a segment** — you name the rules; membership re-resolves from the CDP at each refresh and at send. Use it when the audience is a behaviour or trait — "opened the last three campaigns, no order in 30 days" — and the roster should move on its own. See [CDP segments](/guides/cdp-segments).

The console puts both choices side by side for exactly this decision. A segment that should also publish to an ad network or a webhook sink continues in [Publish a segment to an external destination](/guides/audience-activation-pipeline) — the outbound studio needs only the resolved membership.

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## 5. Consent posture gate

Attaching an audience does not override consent. At send time every recipient passes through the consent gates, independent of how they entered the audience:

* The **suppression list** — contacts who have opted out (per channel or globally) are removed before dispatch; this console renders that list in place.
* The **send-time blocklist** — carrier- and system-level blocks that apply regardless of campaign targeting; see [Blocklist management](/guides/messages-blocklist).
* **Frequency caps** — contacts who already received their per-channel ceiling are skipped at execution, even though they remain in the audience.

Consent and suppression are **tenant-owned controls**: your organization decides whom to opt out, whom to re-opt in, and how strict the gates are. Orbit enforces the resulting records identically on every send path, so a segment and a list attached to the same campaign face the same gates — the audience decides *who is eligible*, the gates decide *who is actually sent*.

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## See also

* [Static contact lists](/guides/contact-lists-static-targeting) — hand-curated list audiences and how to build them.
* [CDP segments](/guides/cdp-segments) — rule-based segment definitions the studio reads.
* [Publish a segment to an external destination](/guides/audience-activation-pipeline) — the CDP side: activations that push a segment to an ad network or webhook.
* [Campaign creation wizard](/guides/campaign-create-wizard) — where the audience is attached and launched.
* [Frequency caps](/guides/frequency-caps) — per-channel ceilings enforced at send.
* [Blocklist management](/guides/messages-blocklist) — the send-time blocklist gate.
* [Opt-outs console](/guides/audience-opt-outs-console) — the suppression list surface this page composes.