Tags vs. Custom Fields: Which Should You Use?

Tags and Custom Fields both help organize your work in Statusbrew, but they serve different purposes. Tags are flexible labels for grouping and categorizing. Custom Fields are structured data points for tracking specific, consistent details. Knowing which to use — and when to use both — keeps your workflows clean.

Who Can Use These Features

Tags can be used by all Statusbrew users. Only Admins and Owners can create, edit, and archive tags. Tag Outgoing Content and Parent-Child Tagging are available on all plans. Tagging incoming conversations and Tag Reporting require Standard plan or above.

Custom Fields can be created by any Statusbrew user — no admin rights required. Custom Fields are available on Premium and Enterprise plans.

What Are Tags?

Tags are internal labels you apply to posts, conversations, and contacts to group and categorize them. Think of them as internal hashtags: they're never visible to your audience on published posts or messages.

Tags work best when you need to:

• Group content by campaign, theme, or topic ("Black Friday," "Product Launch," "Bug Report")

• Track inbound conversation trends over time

• Segment contacts by relationship type ("Hot Lead," "VIP Customer," "Influencer")

• Run Tag Insights reports to see volume, sentiment, and trends by tag

Tags are flat or hierarchical (parent-child). You can have up to 10,000 active and archived tags per account.

What Are Custom Fields?

Custom Fields are structured data inputs attached to posts, conversations, or contacts. Unlike tags, each Custom Field has a defined type (dropdown, text, checkbox, date, number) and a controlled set of values you define.

Custom Fields work best when you need to:

• Track a specific attribute with a consistent format ("Post Status: Draft / In Review / Approved")

• Store contact details that need to be structured ("Lead Stage," "Account Type," "Support Tier")

• Capture data that has a right and wrong answer, not just a category label

• Apply numeric or date-based data (budget, deadlines, follow-up dates)

Available field types: Select, Multi-select, Text, Textarea, Number, Checkbox, Date.

How They Differ

When to Use Tags

Use tags when the question is "what is this about?"

A conversation tagged "Billing Issue" or "Delivery Delay" tells your team the topic. Over time, those tags become trend data in your Tag Insights Report — you can see spikes, sentiment, and volume by tag across networks.

Tags are also the right tool for contact segmentation ("Repeat Buyer," "Influencer") and for grouping posts by campaign when you want to pull tag-level analytics.

When to Use Custom Fields

Use Custom Fields when the question is "what is the state or specific detail of this thing?"

A post with a "Post Status" field set to "Approved" is more reliable than a tag called "Approved" that someone might forget to remove when the status changes. Custom Fields lock in structured values that your team applies consistently — no freeform entry, no drift.

For contacts, Custom Fields let you store data like "Lead Stage: Qualified" or "Account Type: Enterprise" so your team has context before engaging.

Can You Use Both?

Yes, and often you should. They complement each other.

For a post: use a tag for the campaign ("Awareness") and a Custom Field for the workflow status ("Post Status: In Review").

For a conversation: use a tag for the topic ("Shipping Delay") and a Custom Field for urgency ("Priority: High") or conversation type ("Billing").

For a contact: use a tag for relationship type ("Hot Lead") and a Custom Field for structured CRM data ("Lead Stage: Proposal Sent").

FAQ

Can I use tags instead of Custom Fields to track post status?

You can, but it creates problems. Tags must be replaced with different ones as the status changes, and there's nothing stopping team members from applying inconsistent values. Custom Fields enforce a defined set of values and make status tracking more reliable. If you're on a plan that includes Custom Fields, use them for status tracking.

Do tags show up in reporting?

Yes. Tag Insights is a built-in report that shows tagged conversation volume, daily trends, sentiment breakdown, breakdown by network and message type, and a tagging trend over time. You can create this report from the Tag Inbound template in Reports. This reporting is for inbound conversations (requires Standard plan or above).

Do Custom Fields show up in exports?

Not currently. Custom Field data is not included in exported reports.

Can I automate applying tags and Custom Fields?

Yes, both are possible. You can set up automatic actions using Publishing Rules in Planner, or the Rule Engine in Engage. In the Actions section of each settings screen, select 'Add Tag' for tags, or 'Update Post' / 'Update Conversation' for custom fields — these will then be applied automatically under the specified conditions.

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.

Who can create tags vs. Custom Fields?

Any user can create Custom Fields. Only Admins and Owners can create, edit, or archive tags — though any user can apply existing tags.

Can I filter conversations by Custom Field values?

Yes. In that case, go to Settings → Rule Engine → Filter → and select the desired item from the custom fields you have created.

Can I use Custom Fields and tags together in the same Rule Engine rule?

Yes. Using the steps above, it is possible to select not only custom fields but also tags at the same time. For example, you can achieve filtering that combines Custom Field: Region (United States) and Post Tag: New Product.