The contact information you’re collecting is organized into columns in your contacts database. Each column in this table matches a contact property. You can add new contact properties and edit existing ones to customize the information you want to collect about your contacts.
Some default properties are already set up for you, including:
- Email (this property can’t be changed)
- Name
- Subscription status (this property can't be changed)
- Notes
Read on to find out how to edit your existing contact properties and create new ones.
1. In the Contacts tab, click Actions to add or manage properties. In this example, we’ll select Manage properties.
2. Now you’ll see the default properties of your contacts and any other properties you've already added. Click on the trash can icon to delete a property or click on the property to edit it.
You can only edit the names of custom properties and cannot edit standard properties. Instead, you can delete standard properties and create a new property.
Note: The email property is mandatory for creating a contact and this property cannot be modified. The subscription property also cannot be modified, as subscription status must always be one of the following: Subscribed, Unsubscribed, or Never subscribed. If a contact is added without a subscription status, it will automatically be set to Never subscribed.
3. Type the name of the property in the Property name field, and click Save. In this example, we’ve updated the custom property Notes to Follow-up details. The property name can be up to 128 characters long.
4. To add a new property, click + Add property and select a property from the list of predefined standard properties or you can search for a property in the search bar. Alternatively, you can scroll down and click + Add custom property to create your own custom property.
5. If you choose to add a custom property, first type the name of your property.
6. Then click the dropdown to choose the property type.
You can choose between the following property types:
- Text
- Number
- Phone number
- Date
- Multiple choice
In this example we're creating a "Lead score" property so we'll select Number for the Property type and then click Save.
When you add a multiple-choice property, you can choose whether it allows single selection or multiple selection by toggling Multiple selection on or off.
- If Multiple selection is on, a contact can be assigned more than one option for this property.
- If it’s off, a contact can only be assigned one option.
In the box under Option settings, you can add your options. Type to add an option and hit the enter key on your keyboard to save it. If you want to delete an option click the X. You can add as many options as you like.
Note that the property type you choose is permanent and cannot be updated. If you want to change the property type we suggest deleting the property and creating a new one.
In the Properties management view, properties are grouped under Profile or Company so you can see at a glance what kind they are, while custom properties appear ungrouped.
You’ll also see whether any forms are mapped to the property.
Note: The value of the Updated at column showing the date of the last property update can’t be edited manually.