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Understanding Tags in Feathr

Katie
  • Updated

Tags in Feathr are simple labels you attach to records and objects so you can find, filter, and organize them later. A tag doesn't do anything on its own, but because tags are searchable and filterable across Feathr's data tools, they become the fastest way to answer questions like "which of these people came from the board member list?" or "which of my forty Groups belong to last year's annual conference?" This article covers every kind of tag in the Feathr app, where each one lives, and how to keep your tagging useful as your account grows.

 

Note: Tags are not the same as merge tags, which personalize email and page content, or ad tags, which are HTML5 ad code snippets. If you came here looking for either of those, follow those links instead. See Tags That Aren't Tags at the end of this article for the full disambiguation.

 

Table of Contents

 

What is a Tag?

A tag is a short text label you attach directly to something in Feathr. Tags are flat, meaning there is no hierarchy or nesting, and a single object can carry many tags at once. Once a tag exists on a record, that record can be found by searching or filtering for the tag.

Tags are applied in two ways. Some you add yourself, by typing them into a Tags field. Others Feathr creates automatically, most notably when you import a list. Both kinds behave the same way once they exist.

The most important thing to understand about tags is that they are static. A tag stays on a record until someone removes it. It does not re-evaluate itself as a person's behavior changes. That single property is what separates tags from Groups, and it determines when you should reach for each.

 

Tags vs. Groups: Which Should You Use?

This is the most common point of confusion, so it's worth being precise.

A Group is a saved set of filters that queries your Community database. Groups are dynamic. They re-run continuously, so records flow in and out automatically as they start or stop matching your criteria.

A tag is a fixed label. It changes only when someone changes it.

Use a tag for durable facts about who someone is: Board Member, 2027 Sponsor, Lapsed Donor - CRM Export. These are attributes that came from outside Feathr, or that you decided on deliberately, and that shouldn't shift on their own.

Use a Group for behavior: who visited the pricing page, who opened the last email, who has been seen more than ten times. These are things Feathr observes and should keep observing.

The two work together, and the combination is where tagging earns its value. Tag an import of board members, then build a Group that filters for Tags contains Board Member and a behavior like did not open previous email. The tag supplies the identity; the Group supplies the live behavior.

 

Person Record Tags

Every person record in your Community can carry tags. This is the most direct place to add or remove a tag by hand.

  1. Navigate to Community and open the person record you want to tag.
  2. Select the Profile tab and scroll down to the tags section.
  3. Type your tag into the tags field.
  4. Click Save in the bottom right.

The tags section of a person record's Profile tab

 

Removing a tag works the same way: open the record, find the tag in the tags field, remove it, and click Save.

Note: A person record can hold up to 50 tags. Adding more than 50 tags to a person record will result in tags being removed in a first in first out fashion. Tags also cannot be bulk edited, so a tag applied across thousands of records has to be removed the same way it was applied, one record at a time or by way of a new import. Both facts are good reasons to be deliberate about your tag names before you apply them widely.

 

Import Tags

Tagging at import time is the highest-leverage tagging you can do in Feathr, because it's the only moment you can apply a tag to thousands of records at once.

When you import contact data, the upload step asks you to name the import and offers an optional tags field. Anything you enter there is applied permanently to both the import Group and every individual person record in that file.

  1. Begin your import from Community, or from within a campaign wizard.
  2. Select your file. The maximum file size is 50MB, so very large lists may need to be split.
  3. Give the import a descriptive name.
  4. Add your own tags. This is optional, but strongly recommended.
  5. Map your columns and complete the import.

The reason to add your own tag rather than relying on the automatic one is durability of meaning. The automatic tag identifies one file. Your own tag can identify a category. If you import board members three times over two years, giving all three imports the tag Board Members lets you build one Group covering all of them, regardless of which file each record originally arrived in.

Note: Import tags are permanent and cannot be bulk edited afterward. Decide on the tag before you click import.

 

System-Generated Tags

Feathr creates a tag automatically for every import, whether or not you add your own. This tag combines the name you gave the import with a series of numbers, and looks something like:

That tag is stamped onto the import batch and onto every person record it contained. Feathr then automatically creates a Group whose only filter is that tag, which is why every import shows up as its own Group.

System tags are hidden by default. To see or edit them on a record, open the record's Profile tab, scroll to the tags section, and switch the Hide system generated tags toggle off.

This gives you a useful piece of manual control. Because an import Group is defined by nothing but its system tag, you can add or remove a single person from that Group by adding or removing the tag on their record:

  1. Open your import Group. Either select view contacts from your import options, or search the import name in your Groups.
  2. Note the tag shown in the Group's tag filter.
  3. Go to Community and open the person record you want to add or remove.
  4. On the Profile tab, scroll to the tags section and switch Hide system generated tags off.
  5. Add or remove that tag.
  6. Click Save in the bottom right.

Note: Editing a system tag changes who is in the import Group, and Groups are connected everywhere they're used. If that Group is targeted by a live campaign or serving as a Goal, your edit affects those too.

For more ways to adjust Group membership, see How to Add or Remove a Contact from an Existing Group.

 

Group Tags

Groups can be tagged as well, and here the purpose is different. Person tags describe people. Group tags describe your own workspace, helping you organize the Groups themselves.

When you click Save as Group, an Edit Group modal appears with a name field and an optional tags field. Tagging by Project, campaign, event, or year keeps your Groups list navigable.

  1. Build your filter sets in Community.
  2. Click Save as Group in the bottom right.
  3. In the Edit Group modal, give the Group a descriptive name.
  4. Add tags to categorize it, such as 2027 Annual Conference or Year-End Appeal.
  5. Click Save Changes.

You can edit an existing Group's tags from the Groups area of the Community menu.

This matters more over time than it seems at first. Group counts grow steadily, and an untagged list of a hundred Groups is very hard to search. Tagging as you create is far easier than retrofitting later.

 

Partner Tags

If you use Invites or Monetization campaigns, Partner tags are how you select who receives what.

Partner tags are applied during a Partner import, and they work much like contact import tags. The name you give the import becomes a unique tag identifying that upload, and you can add your own broader tags on top.

  1. Navigate to your Project and select Partners, then click Import Partners. You can also click + Import Partners from the Partners step of an Invites campaign.
  2. Name the Import. This creates a unique tag for this upload.
  3. Add Tags. Optional but recommended. Use a tag that identifies the broader group these Partners belong to, such as which Invite campaign they're associated with.
  4. Upload your file, map your data, and review. At the review step, confirm that all tags have been added.
  5. Click Import Partners to finish.

The payoff comes when you build the campaign. In the Partners step, open the Mode dropdown and choose Select Partners to filter by Tag, Status (active or inactive), or Name. This is what lets you cleanly separate exhibitors from sponsors, or speakers from either.

To add newly imported Partners to an existing Invites campaign, open the campaign and select Edit, navigate to the Participants tab, and add either the relevant tag or the individual Partners.

Note: For large Partner lists, tagging is the practical difference between adding participants in one action and selecting them individually. Tag first.

 

Project Tags

Projects can carry tags too, found alongside the Project's other identifying details.

  1. Select your Project from the Projects menu.
  2. Click the Project Settings tab in the left-side menu.
  3. On the Project Information tab, add or edit your Tags.

Note: The Project Settings tab only appears once you have selected a Project. If you don't see it, return to the Projects menu and choose one first.

Project tags are most useful for organizations running many Projects at once, where tagging by event type, fiscal year, or department makes the Projects list easier to scan. See How to Adjust Your Project Settings for everything else on that tab.

 

Building a Group From a Tag

Applying tags only pays off when you filter on them. The pattern is short:

  1. Navigate to Community.
  2. Click + Add Filter Set.
  3. Choose Tags as your filter variable.
  4. Set the operator to contains.
  5. Enter your tag as the value.
  6. Click Save as Group.

From there, stack additional filter sets to combine the tag with behavior. A tag filter plus an email engagement filter, for example, gives you "board members who haven't opened our last three emails."

For more worked examples, including the Import & Tag recipe, see the Groups Recipe Book.

 

Best Practices for Tagging

  1. Agree on a naming convention before anyone starts tagging. Pick a casing and a word order and write them down. Board Members, board members, and BoardMembers are three different tags, and inconsistency quietly splits your audience into fragments you'll never notice are missing.
  2. Tag at import, not afterward. Import is the only point where a tag can be applied to an entire list in one action. Tags cannot be bulk edited, so a tag you skip at import has to be added record by record.
  3. Prefer categories over one-offs. A tag used once is just a note. A tag used across many imports and records is a filter you'll reach for repeatedly. Name for the category (Major Donors), not the file (donor export final v2).
  4. Use tags for identity and Groups for behavior. If the answer changes on its own, it belongs in a Group filter, not a tag.
  5. Add a date or season to time-bound tags. 2027 Sponsors stays meaningful three years from now. Current Sponsors does not.
  6. Tag your Groups and Projects as you create them. It takes seconds during creation and is tedious to retrofit once you have dozens.
  7. Watch the 50-tag ceiling on person records. Accounts that tag every import with several tags can approach it on frequently re-imported contacts. Keep tags meaningful rather than exhaustive.

 

Common Questions

Can I rename a tag everywhere at once?

No. Tags cannot be bulk edited, so there is no global rename. The practical workaround is to re-import the affected list with the corrected tag, which applies the new tag across those records in one action. The old tag will remain on the records until removed individually. This is the strongest argument for settling on your naming convention up front.

Is there a limit to how many tags one record can have?

Person records are limited to 50 tags. Additional tags will be removed in a first in, first out manner. 

Do tags affect who receives an email?

Not directly. Tags affect email sends only when a Group targeted by your campaign filters on that tag. Editing a tag that a live campaign's Group depends on will change that campaign's audience, so check for warnings in the app before saving.

Why can't I see the tag Feathr created for my import?

System-generated tags are hidden by default. On the record's Profile tab, switch the Hide system generated tags toggle off to reveal them.

Can I delete a system-generated import tag?

You can remove it from individual records, which removes those records from the corresponding import Group. Be aware that this is the only thing defining that Group's membership.

If I import the same person twice with different tags, what happens?

Email address is the primary key for contact imports. When Feathr finds an existing record with a matching email address, it updates that record rather than creating a duplicate, and the tags accumulate. For Partner imports, Feathr matches on External ID first, then Name.

Are tags case sensitive?

Yes! Tag identities and searches are case sensitive. 

Can I tag a campaign or a flight?

No. Tags apply to person records, Groups, Partners, and Projects. To organize campaigns, tag the Groups they use, or rely on Flights and a consistent campaign naming convention.

 

Tags That Aren't Tags

Several Feathr features use the word "tag" for something unrelated to what this article describes. If you arrived here by searching, one of these may be what you actually want.

Merge tags
Code-enabled placeholders that personalize emails, landing pages, and Invites collateral, such as {{User.UserAttributes.name}} rendering as Lisa. In Partner imports these are also called keywords. See Using Merge Tags in Templates.

Ad tags
Code snippets that define where an HTML5 ad renders on a website. Advanced users only. See How to use Ad Tags in Feathr Campaigns.

Google Tag Manager
A Google product some customers use to deploy the Feathr Super Pixel. Unrelated to Feathr tags. See Google Tag Manager Super Pixel Implementation.

 

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