Once you have completed your iMIS integration, the next step is to map the data you collect in iMIS to its corresponding fields in Feathr. This ensures every category of data you wish to track from iMIS to Feathr has a home and can then be utilized for your marketing needs.
Using Data Fields in Feathr
If you look at any person record in Feathr, you will see a collection of fields that represent the categories of data Feathr collects by default about your community of website visitors, email subscribers, and so on. These are unsurprising standard fields such as First Name, Email, Address, etc. They are default fields in Feathr due to how ubiquitous these categories of data are across all marketing platforms, CRMs, and other databases your organization might use.
Many of these fields also exist in iMIS, and can be mapped without creating additional fields in Feathr. However, there are several data fields that exist in iMIS that do not exist among the default options in Feathr. In order to successfully map data in those fields, you will have to create custom fields in Feathr.
Adding Custom Fields
Some standard fields in iMIS that may be important to your marketing efforts (and may in fact be the entire reason you have chosen to integrate your iMIS and Feathr accounts) are not standard fields in Feathr. Examples of these include (but aren't limited to):
- Member Since
- Paid Through
- Functional Title
- Informal Name
Because those fields do not exist by default in Feathr, you will have to create them.
Note: for the smoothest iMIS integration experience, we strongly recommend choosing which iMIS fields you will be mapping to Feathr and creating your custom fields prior to connecting the integration.
Our recommended best practices when creating your custom fields in Feathr include labeling them as iMIS fields. That way you or other users of your Feathr account don't unintentionally map them to something else in the future. So instead of creating a field labeled "paid through," it could be called "iMIS: paid through." This is merely a recommendation so be sure to do what works best for your organization.
Follow this separate help desk link for instructions on how to create custom fields in Feathr.
Once you've chosen which fields in iMIS you will be connecting to Feathr and made sure they all have a corresponding field in Feathr, complete the integration steps. When the integration is complete, you will be taken to a page to map your iMIS fields to your Feathr fields. It will look something like this:
All you have to do in this step is select the Feathr field in each dropdown that corresponds to the iMIS field you will be importing. This ensures that the data coming in from iMIS lands in the right place in Feathr.
If you have not created your custom fields ahead of time, or if you need to add an additional iMIS field in the future, return to this page (Profile & Settings > Integrations >iMIS) and use the blue button in the top right labeled "+ Add mapping."
Once you have mapped your fields, data will begin flowing from iMIS to Feathr.
Once data is flowing from iMIS to Feathr, you can begin using Feathr's filtering tools to sort your iMIS data and build targeted groups.
A simple way to view all iMIS data is to sort by Activity Type is Created by iMIS or Updated by iMIS.
You can also type iMIS into the first search bar in the filtering tool and it will present any fields you have labeled with iMIS.
What Next?
Once your fields are mapped, an initial bulk import will begin. Over the next 24-48 hours, any data in iMIS that you mapped to port over to Feathr will be connected and visible in your Feathr account. Once the initial bulk import is complete, any data mapped from iMIS to Feathr will be automatically reconciled when it is updated in iMIS, and automatically added to Feathr when it is created in iMIS.