Targeting Fields and Operators
When you build an audience segment or a targeting rule, each condition combines a field (an attribute of the subscriber), an operator (how the value is compared), and a value you supply. This page lists the field categories and operators you can use so you can predict how a rule will behave before you apply it.
Available fields depend on the data loaded into your account: standard profile fields, any custom fields your team has defined, and engagement history captured from past Broadcasts. Field names and the exact rule builder differ by account — (confirm the exact field list and steps in your account).
Reference
| Field / operator | Applies to | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email address | Standard field | The subscriber's email. | email contains @example.com |
| Name / profile text | Standard field | First name, last name, and similar text attributes. | first_name is not empty |
| Custom field (text) | Custom field | Any text attribute your team imports or captures. | region equals West |
| Custom field (number) | Custom field | Numeric attributes such as score or tenure. | lifetime_value greater than 500 |
| Custom field (date) | Custom field | Date attributes such as signup or renewal date. | signup_date before 2026-01-01 |
| List / group membership | Audience | Whether the subscriber belongs to a given group. | member of Newsletter |
| Engagement | Behavior | Opened, clicked, or was sent a prior Broadcast. | opened in last 30 days |
| equals / not equals | Operator | Exact match or exclusion. | status equals Active |
| contains / does not contain | Operator | Substring match on text fields. | job_title contains Manager |
| greater than / less than | Operator | Range comparison for numbers and dates. | age greater than 18 |
| is empty / is not empty | Operator | Whether a field has any value. | phone is not empty |
| in list / not in list | Operator | Match against a set of values. | country in US, CA |
Notes
- Combining conditions. Rules join multiple conditions with AND / OR logic. Group conditions carefully — mixing AND and OR without grouping can produce a wider or narrower audience than you expect.
- Empty vs. blank. A field with no value behaves differently from one containing an empty string. Prefer is empty / is not empty to test presence.
- Dates and time zones. Date comparisons use the account's configured time zone. Relative windows (for example, "last 30 days") are evaluated when the segment is calculated, not when it was created.
- Case sensitivity. Text matches are typically case-insensitive, but exact-match on codes or IDs may not be — test with a small preview first.
- Missing fields. If a custom field is not populated for a subscriber, conditions on that field generally exclude them. Add an is empty branch if you want to include them.
Related
Canonical terms: Author, Edition, Folder (Project Folder), Broadcast. See the Glossary.