Overview
Filters help you to group your lists into segments so you can send targeted communications. You can use filters to send things like birthday messages or interest-specific product catalogues.
How to Create a Filter
To set up an email filter, go to Database Management > Filters, then click Create Filter. Enter the name for your filter and a description if you need one.
You can create filters based on:
| Filter Names | Description |
|---|---|
| Basic Contact Fields | The standard data fields for most contacts, like name, mobile number, and email address. |
| Additonal Contact Fields | Other data fields, like birth date, address, company, and job title. |
| Tags | The tags you’ve allocated to your contacts. (Note: You can add more than one tag to a filter using the + button. This narrows your target audience to those who have more than one specific tag. E.g.: Male AND lives in London) |
| Custom Fields | Data fields that you’ve created yourself. See Custom Fields. |
| Contact Activity | When the contact was created or how the contact has engaged with your previous communications. |
| List Properties | Whether a contact is or isn’t on a specific list in the system. |
| Geolocation | Where the contact is based geographically. |
Then select the category tab that your filter will be created in, check the checkbox next to the property you want to filter your contacts by, and refine your filter using its drop-down menu.
Contact Tags & Interest-Based Tags
Contact tagging is a lightweight way to organise subscriber data, so you can segment lists and groups of contacts for more personalised messaging. Much like hashtags on social media, contact tagging enables you to tag contacts with a keyword or phrase. This can then be used to create filters in the platform, so you can send communication to people with related needs and interests.
Interest-based tagging takes this a step further. It tracks the links your email recipients are clicking in your emails, uses natural language processing (a form of machine learning) to categorise the content from those web pages, and tags your contacts with that category name in your lists. It’s tagging on autopilot.
Testing Your Filter
Once you’ve created your filter, click the Test button. Check the checkbox next to a list, and then click the buttons to test the filter against either email or SMS contacts in that list.
Note: Testing will not apply your filter to any lists; it will check what the results would be if the filter were applied to that list.
Once your filter is returning the correct results, click save.
How to Use a Filter in the Email Builder
To apply filters during message composition in the email builder:
- Check the checkbox next to the list you want to send the message to.
- Click Apply Filter.
- Choose the filter you want to apply from the drop-down.
If you haven’t created your filters yet, you can create a new one by clicking Create New and following the steps.
Note: You can only create property and date-related filters in this way. Other types of filters must be set up before you start creating your message.
Import Filters
If you use a CRM system and receive many new subscribers every month, you may regularly import subscribers into the system. When you do this, you might be creating a new list every time.
This can lead to many problems, including:
- A vast number of lists, which are hard to keep track of and slow to navigate through.
- Loss of valuable list-level reporting information.
- Re-importing contacts who’ve unsubscribed from your list, opening you up to abuse reports.
With the Imports Filter, you can house all your contacts in one main list and import all new contacts into the same list. Then, if you want to send an email to new subscribers from a specific import, you can apply the import filter to do so. You can also search for previously used filters, making your import process easier.
How to Use an Import Filter
On the List Options step of Email Composition, follow these steps to apply the import filter:
- Check the checkbox next to the list you want to send the email to, or search for one using the search bar
- Click Apply Filter (or search for a specific filter on your selected list)
- Click the radio button next to the import that you want to use to filter the list
- Click Continue
Now, when you send your email it will only go to the contacts in the import you selected.
*Important:
- When you import a list from a CRM, the system will not remove users who are not on the new list.
- If contacts have been unsubscribed on the CRM, but are still in the main list, using the Import Filter will ensure that you don’t send emails to them.