Custom Fields

Custom fields hold data about a contact that the standard fields do not, such as a loyalty tier or a customer id. Once a field exists it works everywhere a standard field does: column mapping, replacement tags, segment rules and the Contact API.

Creating a custom field walks through both ways of making one, with screen shots of each step.

Field types

Type	Holds
String	Text
Integer	Whole numbers
Decimal	Numbers with a decimal point
Date	Dates

The type decides how the value is stored and what a segment rule can ask of it. Each type has its own allowance, and the dropdown shows what is left as you choose, for example String (23 Available).

A field cannot be edited once it is created. Neither the name nor the type can be changed afterwards, so a wrong one is left unused rather than corrected.

Where custom fields are used

Replacement tags in email content

<p>Hello {First Name}, your customer ID is {CustomerId}.</p>
<p>Your favorite color is {FavoriteColor##blue}.</p>

{FieldName##default} supplies a fallback for a contact whose field is empty. Right-click in the Custom HTML editor to insert a tag from the menu rather than typing it.

Segment rules

A custom field is filtered on under the Contact Attributes filter type:

FavoriteColor equals Blue targets contacts with that value
CustomerId is not empty targets contacts that have any value

The Contact API

Send the value under the field's exact name:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "Email": "jane@example.com",
      "First Name": "Jane",
      "FavoriteColor": "Blue",
      "CustomerId": "CUST-12345"
    }
  ]
}

Column mapping on later imports

The mapping dialog lists every field on the account, so a field made once is offered on every import after it. Names are matched exactly, including case.

Creating a custom field — both ways to make one, step by step, with screen shots