Note! This feature is available on Email Marketing PRO plans.
Each contact that you store in your Elastic Email account contains basic information like email address and the recipient's first or last name. It is possible to store more information with the help of custom contact fields.
Creating and managing custom contact fields
Custom contact fields can be fully created and managed on your account's screen: Audience -> Contacts -> Segments
You can also edit already existing custom fields in the specific contact's account card. Enter it by clicking on the "eye" icon besides the contact and scroll down the account card to find the "Edit" button.
Alternatively, you are able to create them when uploading a CSV file with contacts that include additional fields.
In order to add a new custom contact field, select one of the predefined custom field types (see below) or your own (you will need to select what datatype it uses - see more details below), name your field and click "Add field". (Note! Field names cannot contain white spaces!). Existing field definitions cannot be edited but can be removed by clicking the "trash" icon.
Important! Each change you make will affect all of your contacts.
Predefined custom fields
Custom contact fields come in the following (including predefined) types:
Field Name | Data Type | Recommended Format / Notes |
Birthday | Date | Format: YYYY-MM-DD |
Phone | Text | Recommended Text type (max 100 characters) |
Company | Text | Maximum 100 characters |
Street address | Text | Address parts separated by spaces (not commas) |
City | Text | Maximum 100 characters |
Zip code | Text | Recommended Text type (to preserve leading zeros) |
State | Text | Maximum 100 characters |
Country | Text | Maximum 100 characters |
Consent | Boolean | Name must start with "consent" (e.g., consent_marketing) |
Other custom field datatypes
Data Type | Character Limit | Usage |
Text | 255 | First name, last name, language preferences, phone numbers, zip codes. |
Number | 11 | Age, ID numbers, simple numerical values. |
Datetime | - | Dates other than birthdays. Requires ISO standard: YYYY-MM-DD or MM-DD-YYYY. |
Currency | 30 | Currency values, credit amounts (decimal format). |
Boolean | - | Logical values: TRUE or FALSE. |
Big number | 20 | Very large numbers exceeding the standard range of the Number field. |
API management
Custom contact fields cannot be created or removed via API - this option is available via the dashboard only. Still, it is possible to update these fields with the "Update Contacts" call detailed in the API documentation here.
If any further clarification is required, we are available to you every day at any time. Please contact our 24/7 Customer Support to get the necessary assistance. We are always happy to help!