Using Advanced Filters in Smart Lists

What Are Advanced Filters?

Advanced Filters are a powerful tool within your CRM's Smart Lists that let you build highly specific contact segments. By creating rules based on contact field data and related information, you can isolate groups of contacts with precision, whether you're looking at demographics, engagement history, communication preferences, or sales data. Each filter you create consists of three core components: a field to check, an operator that defines the condition, and a value to match against.

Key Benefits

• Pinpoint Targeting: Move beyond basic filters to create segments based on complex, multi-condition logic.
• Improved Accuracy: The available operators automatically adapt to the type of field you select (like dates, numbers, or text), ensuring your filters work correctly.
• Efficient Management: Quickly find and clean up contact records, such as those with missing information or specific statuses.
• Compliant Outreach: Use filters related to Do Not Contact (DND) status and communication history to build lists that respect contact preferences.

How to Set Up Advanced Filters

1. Navigate to Contacts and either create a new Smart List or open an existing one.
2. Click on the Advanced Filters button.
3. In the filter builder, search for and select the contact field you wish to use as the basis for your filter.
4. Choose an operator from the dropdown list. The options shown will be relevant to the data type of your selected field.
5. Enter or select the desired value for the filter condition.
6. To add more conditions:
   • Click + Add Nested Filter to create a rule where all conditions must be true (AND logic).
   • Click + Add Filter to create a rule where a contact can match any of the conditions (OR logic).
7. Click Apply to save the filters and update your Smart List.

Understanding Filter Types

The operators you can use depend entirely on the kind of data in the field you select. Here are the primary categories of filters you will encounter.

Date Filters

Segment contacts based on time-related data points. These filters can be applied to fields like Date of Birth, Created On, Last Activity On, or the date of a last email interaction.

• Relative Dates: Filter based on time relative to today, such as Is Today, Is This Week, or Is This Year.
• Exact Dates: Target a specific calendar date or a fixed range using operators like Is On or Is Between.
• Time Differences: Find contacts where an event occurred within a recent period (e.g., In the Last 7 days) or is scheduled for the near future (e.g., In the Next 3 days).
• Comparisons: Use operators like Is After or Is Before to compare a contact's date field against a specific reference date.
• Negative Filters: Exclude contacts using inverse date logic, such as Is Not Today or Is Not This Month.

Do Not Contact (DND) Filters

These filters allow you to segment contacts based on their communication consent status. You can create lists specifically for contacts who are on a DND list for calls, texts, or emails, or conversely, build lists only of contacts who are not on such lists to ensure compliant outreach.

String (Text) Filters

Use these to filter text-based fields like names, email addresses, or tags. Common operators include Contains, Does Not Contain, Is Exactly, and Is Empty. These are ideal for finding contacts with specific keywords in their information or identifying records with missing data.

Numeric Filters

Apply mathematical conditions to number-based fields, such as opportunity value or a custom numeric field. Operators include Is Equal To, Is Greater Than, Is Less Than, and Is Between two values.