Profile variables

Profile variables are pieces of information associated with a member. These variables can be updated over time as information changes, but retain their history so you can report on the state a member was in when they participated in a particular activity.

Step 1. Planning profile variables

Determine whether the information should be considered a profile variable. Ask the following questions:

Done	Ask
	Will this information provide further insight about your members?
	Will this information change over time and provide a deeper understanding of your members? Note: Historical data in the application can be found using the Member Data Service API.
	Will this information be used for ongoing samples, filters or analysis?
	Will this information be used to drive survey logic in future surveys?

What types of data should be created as profile variables?

For example, do you want to be able to segment report data based on whether someone is a repeat or casual customer? Do you want to be able to filter community members by gender, region, household income, or marital status, and then distribute activities to specific groups?

Data	Description
Identity	Identity data are defined as unique identifiers that are different for each member. Examples of identity data include: Customer Ids Phone numbers Twitter handles Loyalty card numbers
Demographic	Demographic data include basic information about members gathered from profiling survey, ongoing activities, or customer database sets. Examples of demographic data include: Gender Region Number of children Income Martial status Age Common profile variable types used for this data type are: Single Choice Multiple Choice Number Calculated Date
Behavioral	Behavioral data include engagement, interactions with your company, or product and service information. This data can be gathered from profiling surveys, ongoing activities, or your customer database. Common profile variable types used for this data type are: Single Choice Multiple Choice Date Number
Attitudinal	Attitudinal data include data that may change over a period of time. For example, a Net Promoter Score (NPS)℠¹ or satisfaction data. This data type is commonly set as a single choice.
Segmentation or Persona	Customer segmentation or persona data helps evaluate your data or target your activities. Common profile variable types used for this data type are: Single Choice Multiple Choice
Third Party Data	Third Party Data is used for sampling, filtering, or analysis. It can be imported into the application from your customer database using the import feature or an API.

As you plan profile variables, you should also think about whether they represent sensitive data such as personally identifiable or health information. Profile variables that contain sensitive data need to be flagged correctly so that if a member leaves the community, their personal information is handled responsibly and purged appropriately. For more information, see Sensitive data.

Step 2. Adding profile variables

You can add profile variables in the following ways:

Add a profile variable on the Profile Variables page.
This is the recommended method. By using this method, you can specify the data type, and enter the full range of possible values at the very beginning.
Import members or profile variables if you have pre-existing member and profile information. To do this, you'll require a properly formatted CSV file.
Note:
- Before you import profile variables in a CSV file, we strongly recommend creating a new profile variable in Community to ensure the correct question type is used. If profile variables are not created first in Community, the application will import the profile variables from the CSV as single choice question types even if the value is an open end. When you create the profile variable in the application first, the application maps the values in your CSV to the correct question type. For more information, see Add a profile variable.
- For profile variable with 1000 values or more, we recommend doing either of the following before you import:
  - Create a Text or Number profile variable of the same name, and then import your profile variable.
  - Use a Set Value action to group together similar values.
  If this is not done, the application incorrectly assumes the profile variable is Single Choice and automatically imports it as such. Having Single Choice profile variables with 1000 or more values can affect the performance of your reports.
Importing Calculated Date profile variables is not supported.

Step 3. Collecting and updating profile variable values

In a survey or recruitment survey, you can use a Profile action to associate a member's response with a profile variable. When members answer the question associated with the Profile action, their responses update their profile variable values. Profile actions collect and update profile data at any time. For more information, see Profile action.

Note: Certain profile variables can be updated by users in the member hub. For more information, see Add profile variables to a member hub.

Using Calculated Date profile variables in Profile actions is not supported.

Step 4. Using profile variables

After adding profile variables and collecting profile variable values from members, you can use profile variables in:

Surveys for survey logic
Reports, report filters, and subgroups to enhance your data analysis
Sampling to define your member group
Invitations to define recipients

Note: Calculated Date profile variables can only be used to define member groups. Using these profile variables in survey logic and reports is not supported.

Note: Keep these considerations in mind when working with profile variable values:

If you are in Report, the response in reports, filters, and subgroups reflects the profile variable value at the time the member completed the survey. Which might not be the most up-to-date value.

Example
For example, a member's profile variable value for their City State is Idaho at the time Survey A is completed. But the following day, they updated their City State to Rhode Island. When you go back to Report in Survey A, the old profile variable value, Idaho is still used in reports, filters, and subgroups.

A profile action question that is answered but incomplete will result in the current value not being reflected anywhere but Report. This is because the survey is incomplete.
If it is a memberstatus value or if you perform a system upload, the current value is consistent across the application.

For more information, see Perform a system upload and Import members or profile variables.

System variables

Certain names and keywords are reserved by the application, and used to track members' activities and statuses. You cannot create or import profile variables that share these names or keywords. For more information, see System variables.

Note: The system variable recruitmentsource is unavailable for sampling; however, it can be used in surveys, forums, and reports.

¹ Net Promoter, NPS, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered U.S. trademarks, and Net Promoter Score and Net Promoter System are service marks, of Bain & Company, Inc., NICE Systems, Inc. and Fred Reichheld.