When you compose a campaign, you choose who receives it in the Manage Filters window. You pick filters to include Members, combine them with AND and OR, and exclude Members you don't want to reach.
This article covers each filter category, how filters combine, and how to exclude Members.
What is audience targeting?
Audience targeting is how you decide which Members receive a campaign. You do it with filters. A filter is a condition a Member has to meet to be included, such as belonging to a Subcommunity or joining before a certain date.
You add filters in the Manage Filters window while you compose a campaign. The window has three parts:
- A search box and a list of filter categories on the left.
- The filters to choose from in the selected category in the middle.
- A panel on the right, where the filters you add are listed under Including. After you add your first filter, an Excluding section appears in this panel too. This is also where you group filters with AND and OR.
The filter categories are:
| Category | What it filters on | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Suggestions | Shortcuts for Everyone, Birthdays, age and gender identity | Filtering by suggestions |
| Recent | The filters used in a campaign you sent earlier | Filtering by Recent |
| Individuals | Specific Members you pick | Filtering by Individuals |
| Subcommunities | Members who belong to the Subcommunities you pick | Filtering by Subcommunities |
| Custom Member Data | Custom fields on your Members' records | Filtering by Custom Member Data |
| Demographics | Location, Time Zone, Age and Gender Identity | Filtering by Demographics |
| Join Date | When a Member joined your Community | Filtering by join date |
| Acquisition Source | How a Member came into your Community: Text, Integration or Import | Filtering by Acquisition Source |
| Activity | What a Member has done and when | Filtering by activity |
Why should I use audience targeting?
Your Members opted in to hear from you. A message that fits what a Member signed up for is more likely to be welcome than one that doesn't, so it helps to send each campaign to the Members it applies to, not to everyone by default.
Filters also save you work. You can combine them in one campaign instead of composing several, and a Member who matches more than one filter receives your message once, so nobody gets a duplicate. Exclusions work the same way. You can start from Everyone and remove the Members who don't fit, instead of building the audience from scratch or creating several segments.
How do I use it?
Choosing who receives a campaign
- Start composing a campaign.
- Open the audience filters by selecting the filter icon
.
- In Manage Filters, select a category from the list on the left. You can also type in the Search filters... box to find a filter by name.
- Select a filter in the middle column. It appears under Including: on the right.
- Repeat for each filter you want to add. See Combining filters with AND and OR for how they work together.
- Check your recipient count.
- Select Done.
To remove the filters you have added, select the x next to the filter in the right panel.
Filtering by suggestions
Suggestions holds shortcuts for common audiences.
| Filter | Who it includes |
|---|---|
| Everyone | All of your Members. It is also the usual starting point for excluding Members. |
| Birthdays | Members whose birthday is today or this week. To send on future birthdays, see Schedule Recurring Birthday Texts. |
| 18+ | Members who are 18 or older. |
| 21+ | Members who are 21 or older. |
| Male | Members whose gender identity is Male. |
| Female | Members whose gender identity is Female. |
| Non-Binary | Members whose gender identity is Non-Binary. |
Age and gender identity are also in Demographics.
Filtering by Recent
Recent lists campaigns you have sent, so you don't have to pick the same filters again. Each one shows its name, the date it was sent and a Member count. Select a campaign to reuse the filters it used. It does not reuse the message. To find a campaign, type in the Search recent campaigns... box.
Not every campaign appears. Campaigns that were filtered only for individual Members are left out.
Filtering by Individuals
Individuals lets you add specific Members to your audience. Type in the Search Members box to find a Member by name. Below the box, Recent Suggestions lists Members you can select directly.
Filtering by Subcommunities
Select one or more Subcommunities to include the Members who belong to them. Each Subcommunity shows its Member count. To find one, type in the Search Subcommunities box. For how Subcommunities work, see Subcommunities in Community.
Filtering by Custom Member Data
Custom Member Data lets you filter on the custom fields you have added to your Members' records. Each field shows its name and its data type. To find a field, type in the Search custom fields... box, or select a data type to narrow the list.
| Data type | How you can filter |
|---|---|
| Plain Text | By specific text. |
| Integer | By a specific value, by values greater than a number, by values less than a number, or by values between two numbers. |
| True/False | By True or by False. |
| Dropdown | By a specific value. |
To learn how fields work, see Custom Member Data in Community. To add fields in bulk, see Uploading custom member data.
Filtering by Demographics
Demographics has four tabs.
| Tab | What you do |
|---|---|
| Location | Type the name of a country, city or state to search. |
| Time Zone | Filter by the time zone a Member has specified. Only North American time zones are available. |
| Age | Filter to reach a specific age group. You can filter between two ages, under an age, over an age, or at an exact age. |
| Gender Identity | Filter by the gender identity a Member has specified. |
Filtering by Join Date
Community automatically records the date each Member joins your Community. You can use that date to segment your campaigns.
- In Manage Filters, select Join Date.
- Select one of the ready-made options: Joined: Last 24 Hours, Joined: Last 7 Days or Joined: Last 30 Days. Or use Custom Join Date to set your own.
- For a custom date, select On, After, Before, Between or Last.
- Enter the date in MM/DD/YYYY format, then select Apply.
When you select a custom date:
- "Joined Before" does not include the day you select. If you select 1/15/2020, you get anyone who joined before midnight at the start of 1/15/2020. That includes the full day of 1/14/2020 and earlier.
- "Joined After" does not include the day you select. If you select 1/15/2020, you get anyone who joined after the end of 1/15/2020. That includes the full day of 1/16/2020 and after.
- Both use the time zone where you are when you send the message.
Filtering by Acquisition Source
Acquisition Source filters Members by how they came into your Community. It has three tabs.
| Tab | How you can filter |
|---|---|
| Text | By a specific first message, or by Members who texted in at all. |
| Integration | By Members who joined your Community through an integration or the API. |
| Import | By Members who came in through any bulk import, or through a specific import. |
On the Text tab, choose Is or Contains, type the first message text in the Search first message text box, and select Apply. You can also select a message from the list below. All Texts includes every Member who joined by text, and the other entries show the first messages Members have sent and how many Members sent each one.
Filtering by Activity
Activity has three tabs: Last Activity, Total Activity and Most Active.
Filtering by Last Activity
Last Activity filters by the last time something happened.
| Filter | Description |
|---|---|
| Last Activity Date | The last time a Member sent a message, clicked a link or viewed media |
| Last Campaign Received | The last time you sent a campaign to a Member |
| Last Campaign Response | The last time a Member replied to a campaign |
| Last Direct Message | The last time you sent a direct message to a Member |
| Last Inbound Message | The last time a Member sent you a message |
| Last Link Click | The last time a Member clicked a tracked link |
| Last Media View | The last time a Member viewed a piece of media |
| Last Survey Response | The last time a Member replied to a survey |
Filtering by Total Activity
Total Activity filters by how many times a member has performed a particular activity all time.
| Filter | Description |
|---|---|
| Total Campaign Responses | The number of campaigns a Member has replied to |
| Total Campaigns Received | The number of campaigns you've sent to a Member |
| Total Direct Messages | The number of direct messages you've sent to a Member |
| Total Inbound Messages | The number of messages a Member has sent you |
| Total Link Clicks | The number of tracked links a Member has clicked |
| Total Media Views | The number of media files a Member has viewed |
| Total Survey Responses | The number of surveys a Member has replied to |
Filtering by Most Active
Most Active filters by activity score, so you can reach your most engaged Members. The options are the top 5%, 10% and 25% of Members by activity.
Each Member's activity score is based on when they joined, how many links they have clicked and how much media they have viewed. Members who click the most links and view the most media, and who did so more recently, count as the most active. Response rate is not part of the score.
Combining filters with AND and OR
When you add more than one filter, you decide whether Members need to meet all of them or any of them. You set this in the panel on the right. To add filters to an OR group or the Excluding group, simply click the Add Filter button and then select the appropriate filter.
| AND | OR | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it includes | Members who meet all of the conditions | Members who meet any of the conditions |
| Recipient count | Stays the same or goes down. It never goes up. | Stays the same or goes up. It never goes down. |
| Example | Location: Los Angeles AND Age: 18+ includes Members who are 18 or older and live in Los Angeles. | Coffee drinkers OR people who attend the farmers' market includes both groups. |
You can mix AND and OR in one audience. For example, you can reach Members who are in the market to buy a home in Los Angeles, plus Members who rent, have been pre-approved for a mortgage and live in Los Angeles.
Members who match more than one filter receive your message once.
Excluding Members from a campaign
To reach nearly everyone except a group, start from Everyone and exclude the Members who don't fit. You can use one exclusion or several in the same campaign.
- Open Manage Filters.
- In Suggestions, select Everyone.
- In the panel on the right, use the Excluding section to add an exclusion by clicking
.
Common questions
Why did my recipient count change when I added a filter?
It depends on how you combined the filter with the others.
| Cause | How to tell | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| You added the filter with AND | The count stayed the same or went down | If you wanted a wider audience, change AND to OR. |
| You added the filter with OR | The count stayed the same or went up | If you wanted a narrower audience, change OR to AND. |
See Combining filters with AND and OR.
How does AND/OR work?
AND includes Members who meet all of your conditions. OR includes Members who meet any of them. See Combining filters with AND and OR for examples.
Will a Member get my message twice if they match more than one filter?
No. A Member who matches more than one filter receives the message once.
How does the “Join Date” filter work?
Joined Before and Joined After both leave out the day you select. Both use the time zone where you are when you send the message. See Filtering by join date for examples and the other options.
How is "activity" calculated for the top 5% / 10% / 25% filters?
Each Member's activity score is based on when they joined, their link clicks and their media views. Response rate is not included. See Filtering by activity.
Is the location information based on my Members' zip code or area code?
The Location filter searches by the name of a country, city or state.
Can I combine multiple exclusion filters?
Yes. You can combine Location, Subcommunity and Custom Member Data exclusions in one campaign. See Excluding Members from a campaign.