Although Marketing Cloud offers several predefined fields, you can define new attributes, also known as contact fields, that best suit your needs. These new attributes can be used to identify unique contacts in the imported contact data.
For example, to differentiate contacts based on their location, create a contact field and select the appropriate value (in this case, the "country" or "city") while storing contacts in Marketing Cloud.
Note: When you create a new field, it's not added to existing contacts; however, when you update the contacts, the field is created for them.
The default fields available to you are first name, last name, email, phone, and fax.
Note: You can set the default value for the "First name" and "Last name" default fields on the field index page. If a default value is set, it will be added for the contacts whose first name or last name is not present at the time of import. This is useful while using contact tags in the content or subject line of campaigns.
Managing Contact (Custom) Fields
The contact fields feature can be accessed via the navigation panel from CDP > Contact Fields.
Its index page is where you can view and manage your default and custom fields.
The following data types are supported for contact (custom) fields:
- Strings: A string can be anything (alphabets, numerals, symbols, special characters, etc.). It has a maximum length of 255 characters. (No default value required).
- Integer: An integer is a whole number (not a fraction) that can be positive, negative, or zero. It has a maximum length of 11 digits. (The default value is needed to save this field.)
- Boolean: The Boolean field type is a binary variable that can have one of two possible values, 0 (False) or 1 (True). This is also known as a true/false field. (The default value is "True," but it can be changed to "False.")
- Date/Time: This field type is used for values that contain both date and time parts. We store it in 'YYYY-MM-DD/HH:MM:SS-05:00' format. (No default value required).
- Text: A text field type can be anything in the text. (No default value required).
- Float: A number with a decimal point. For example, "Currency."
Creating a New Contact (Custom) Field
Perform the following steps to create a new contact (custom) field:
- From the index page, click on the Add Field button.
- On the Add Custom Field dialog box, select from or enter values for the following:
Field Name: Enter a name for the new field.
Field Type: Select a data type for the new field.
Default Value: Enter a default value for the new field.
Display Name: Enter the name to be displayed on the screen.
Description: Enter a short description of the new field.
Add to the Edit Profile Page: Enable the toggle to display the custom field data on the Contact 360 Overview page.
- Click on Save.