Update Contact Data Using Campaign Builder (Quick Start)

How to Set Up Your “Update Contact” Nudge

Nudge campaign in the UI. One nudge at the top has 4 branches. Three are autoreplies and one is a content save.

 

1. Create your nudge

  • Go to the Campaigns tab

  • Select your program

  • Click Create Nudge

  • Give your message a clear, unique name

    • If part of a series, consider numbering (e.g., “1 – Application Campaign”)

  • Select your audience and delivery time

  • Compose your message and include a clear question

  • Click Done

For more details, see: [How to create a nudge in campaign manager]


2. Add an update action

  • On your message, click + Add

  • Select Update Contact

UI screenshot of Nudge labeled "Birthday Text." The "add" button has been clicked revealing two options: responses and update contact
  • Name the action based on the outcome

    • Example: “Set Interest Check” or “Save Major Interest”

UI Screenshot showing the action labeled as "check-in response 1"

3. Choose your audience

Decide which contacts should be updated:

UI screenshot with "send to entire department" selected as audience
  • Anyone who replies

  • Or a specific segment (e.g., first-year students only)

 


4. Select your trigger

Choose when the update should happen:

UI screenshot showing "when contact replies" as the trigger. Variations of 1 such as the emoji, or fully spelled out are added as comma separated keywords

 

When previous message is sent
Use this to track message delivery or status, not replies.
Example: set a field like reminder_sent = TRUE once the message is delivered.

 

When contact replies
Use this to capture and act on responses from your contacts.

You can choose how replies are handled:

  • Any reply
    The response will be saved regardless of what the contact sends.

    • Best for open-ended questions

    • Typically used when saving the exact response to a string field

    • Branching is usually not required

Example: “What major are you interested in?” → saves whatever the contact types

  • Replies with any of these keywords (comma-separated)
    The response will only be captured if it matches one of your specified keywords.

    • Include all expected variations of each response

    • This ensures replies are correctly recognized and processed

Example keywords:
yes, y, yeah, yep, no, n, nope

For a full list of common variations, see: [Keyword reference guide]

 

How this connects to branching

If you are mapping responses to specific values, you will need a branch for each response group. For example:

Message:
“Are you still interested in applying? Reply YES or NO.”

Setup:

  • Branch 1 (YES keywords: yes, y, yeah) → set interest_check = TRUE

  • Branch 2 (NO keywords: no, n, nope) → set interest_check = FALSE

Each branch should include:

  • Its own keyword set

  • Its own field update action

Tip: Your message, keywords, and branches should always match.
If your message says “reply YES or NO,” include common variations so responses are not missed.

 


5. Configure the field update

  • Select the field you want to update
    (The field must already exist)

  • Set the value:

    • For Boolean fields → choose TRUE or FALSE

    • For String fields → enter a value or save the exact response

UI screenshot of the update contact field with example field fa_26_enrollment_reply with the value set to 1

 


Examples

Example 1: Tracking interest (yes/no)

Message:
“Are you still interested in moving forward with your application? Reply YES or NO.”

Setup:

  • Field: interest_check (Boolean)

  • YES branch → TRUE

  • NO branch → FALSE


Example 2: Capturing major interest

Message:
“What major are you interested in?”

Setup:

  • Field: major_interest (String)

  • Save exact response


Best practices

  • Ask clear, specific questions
    (“Reply YES or NO” works better than open-ended prompts)

  • Match your field type to the expected response

  • Plan how you’ll use the data before collecting it


Watch of for these common errors!

  • Field not created before setup

  • Selecting the wrong field type

  • Forgetting to create branches for each response

  • Missing keyword variations, leading to uncaptured responses

  • Asking unclear questions that lead to inconsistent data


What can I do with this data?

Once saved, response data can be used to:

  • Build targeted audiences

  • Trigger follow-up messages

  • Personalize outreach

  • Export and analyze responses

To export this data, download your contacts and locate the corresponding field column.

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