When to Use Tags vs. Custom Fields in Statusbrew?
Tags and Custom Fields are two of the most powerful organizational tools in Statusbrew, and also two of the most commonly confused. On the surface, they look similar: both let you label and categorize your posts, conversations, and contacts. Both show up as filters in Publish boards and Engage views. Both feed into reporting.
But they work differently and are built for different jobs. Tags are flexible, freeform labels best suited for categorizing what something is about: a topic, a campaign theme, a contact type. Custom Fields are structured data inputs best suited for capturing specific, consistent details: a content format, a lead stage, a campaign attribute, in a way that makes reporting precise and reliable.
Using the wrong one for the job leads to messy reporting, inconsistent data, and extra manual work for your team. This article walks through what each one does, when to use it, and how to get the most out of both together.
Who Can Use These Features?
Both tags and Custom Fields share the same permission model.
Only Admins, Owners, and Primary Owners can create and manage them. Any user can apply them in Publish, Engage, and Contacts, and use them in Reports, Publish boards, and Engage views.
The only difference is plans:
Tags: All plans for outgoing content. Standard and above for tagging incoming conversations and Tag Reporting.
Custom Fields: Available only in the Premium and Enterprise plans.
What Are Tags?
Tags are internal labels you apply to conversation types (comments, DMs, reviews, mentions), outgoing posts, and contacts. They are never visible to your audience. They help your team categorize, organize, and track patterns across your content and conversations.
Tags support a parent-child structure (e.g., "Bug" with children "Bug - Front End," "Bug - Back End"), but in reporting, each tag is selected individually. You cannot select a parent tag and get rolled-up data across all its children.
You can have up to 10,000 active and archived tags per account.
What Are Custom Fields?
Custom Fields are structured data inputs applied to a conversation, post, or contact. Each field has a defined type and a controlled set of values. Some Custom Fields use fixed values, such as Select and Multi-select. Others, like Text and Textarea, let your team add details in a structured field.
Available field types: Select, Multi-select, Text, Textarea, Number, Checkbox, Date.
Custom Fields are available on Premium and Enterprise plans only.
When to Use Tags?
Use tags to label what a message or mention is about.
Categorizing inbound messages by topic ("Billing Issue," "Delivery Delay," "Feature Request")
Segmenting contacts by relationship type ("VIP Customer," "Influencer," "Repeat Buyer")
Grouping outgoing posts by campaign or theme and filtering your board in Publish by that tag to see only campaign-relevant content
Tracking volume and sentiment trends over time via Tag Insights
Filtering boards in Publish by tag to focus on campaign-relevant content. For example: go to Publish, create a "Black Friday Campaign" board with sections for Posts, Stories, and Reels. In each section, apply a Tag filter set to "Black Friday" and each section shows only that content type, with no clutter from other campaigns.
Tags have parent-child structure but reporting works per individual tag. Selecting a parent tag does not pull in data from its child tags. Each child must be selected separately in reports.
Filters applied in Publish boards help organize your internal view. Shared board links do not currently preserve board filters, so people opening the shared link may see other content too.
When to Use Custom Fields?
Use Custom Fields when you need structured, consistent data and when you want clean, filterable reports, and When You Want to Publish board views built around that data.
Tracking campaign performance by content format: create a "Beach Wear" Custom Field with values Text, Images, Videos, Carousel, apply it to each post, then filter by field value in Reports to see how each format performed
Building focused board sections in Publish per content format: each section filters by a Custom Field value, so your entire campaign mix is visible at a glance
Storing structured contact data ("Lead Stage: Qualified," "Account Type: Enterprise")
Capturing numeric or date-based data (budget, deadlines, follow-up dates)
Building focused board sections in Publish per content format. For example: go to Publish, create a "Beach Wear" Custom Field with values Text, Images, Videos, Carousel. Then create a board with four sections, one per format, each filtered by that Custom Field value. Your entire content mix is visible by format, and the same field gives you per-format performance in Reports.
Custom Fields give you more structured and precise reporting than tags. You can filter a report by any Custom Field value and see all related posts, conversations, or contacts in one place, without selecting items individually.
Filters applied in Publish boards help organize your internal view. Shared board links do not currently preserve board filters, so people opening the shared link may see other content too.
How They Compare
Tags | Custom Fields | |
|---|---|---|
What they label | Individual inbound messages and mentions; outgoing posts and contacts | Entire conversations, posts, and contacts with typed, defined values |
Structure | Freeform labels (parent-child available) | Typed, defined values |
Publish Boards | Available as a filter in boards and sections | Available as a filter in boards and sections |
Reporting | Per individual tag; parent tags do not roll up child data | Filter by field value for precise, structured reports |
Views in Engage | Available as a filter when creating a view | Available as a filter when creating a view |
Automation | Yes, via Rule Engine | Yes, via Rule Engine and bulk actions |
Can You Use Both?
Yes, and often you should.
Post: tag for the campaign ("Black Friday") + Custom Field for content format ("Beach Wear: Images")
Conversation: tag on the message ("Billing Issue") + Custom Field on the conversation ("Account Type: Enterprise")
Contact: tag for relationship type ("VIP Customer") + Custom Field for CRM data ("Lead Stage: Proposal Sent")
FAQs
Can I get a rolled-up report for a parent tag and all its children?
No. Reporting works per individual tag. If you have a parent tag "Bug" with children "Bug - Front End" and "Bug - Back End," you need to select each child separately in reports. The parent tag does not aggregate child data. If rolled-up reporting matters to you, use a Custom Field instead.
Do tags show up in reporting?
Yes. The Tag Insights Report shows tagged message volume, daily trends, sentiment breakdowns, and network breakdowns. Create it from the Tag Inbound template in Reports. Requires Standard plan or above.
Can I use Custom Fields in reports and exports?
Yes. In fixed reports like Inbound Messages, Custom Fields can be used as filters where supported. However, they may not always appear as separate columns in the export.
If you need Custom Field values to appear in the report output, create a custom widget and use the Custom Field as a dimension. You can also use Custom Fields as filters in custom widgets, then export the widget data.
Custom Fields are available on Premium and Enterprise plans.
Can I automate applying tags and Custom Fields?
Yes. In the Rule Engine, use Add tags to auto-tag messages, or Update conversation / Update contact to automatically set Custom Field values when conditions are met. Tags on outgoing posts can also be automated via Publishing Rules in Publish.
Are tags visible to my audience?
No. Tags are internal to your Statusbrew workspace and never appear on published posts or in messages sent to your audience.
Can I export conversations based on Open or Closed status?
Yes, but tags cannot help here. Tags are applied to individual messages and mentions, not to conversations. To track and export conversations by status, you need Custom Fields.
Create a Custom Field called Status with values like Open and Closed. Custom Fields are applied at the conversation level in Engage, so your team can assign each conversation the correct value. Then go to the Inbound Messages report, filter by that Custom Field, select the correct date range, and export. This gives you a clean export of conversations segmented by their current status.
Custom Fields are available on Premium and Enterprise plans.
Can I filter by tags and Custom Fields in Engage?
Yes. When creating a View in Engage, both tags and Custom Fields are available as filter options. Apply them to build focused views that show only the conversations matching your criteria.
Can I use Custom Fields and tags together in the same Rule Engine rule?
Yes. Add multiple actions in the same rule. For example, Add tags (on the message) and Update conversation (Custom Field) together. Both fire when the rule conditions are met.