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Labels vs. Custom Fields

Both live under the Manage dropdown on the Subscriber Manager list, and both add structure beyond a subscriber’s built-in phone number, subscriber ID, and name — but they solve two different problems. Knowing which one you actually need saves a lot of backtracking later: A simple rule of thumb: if the answer is the same word for a whole group of people (VIP, Lead, batch1), it’s a Label. If the answer is different for every single subscriber (priya@company.com, Order #4521), it’s a Custom Field.

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The Manage dropdown

Manage dropdown menu with Manage Labels and Manage Custom Fields highlighted, and the Manage Labels panel open showing existing labels and a Create New Label button

The Manage dropdown open, showing Manage Labels and Manage Custom Fields, with the Manage Labels panel open on the right listing existing labels and a Create New Label button.

From the subscriber list, the Manage dropdown opens Manage Labels and Manage Custom Fields as a panel on the right — this is where both are defined, before either can ever be assigned to a subscriber.

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Create a label

Labels group subscribers into segments (e.g. batch1, Lead, VIP Customer) that you can filter by, target in broadcasts, or trigger automations from.
Create New Label modal with a Label Name text field and Save/Cancel buttons

The Create New Label modal — a Label Name field with Save and Cancel buttons.

1

Open Manage → Manage Labels

From the subscriber list, open Manage, then Manage Labels.
2

Click Create New Label

Click + Create New Label in the panel.
3

Name the label

Enter a Label Name, e.g. batch2.
4

Save

Click Save — the label is now available to assign to subscribers.
Expected result: The new label appears in the All Labels list and in every label picker across ChatSyncs — ready to filter subscribers by, or attach to a broadcast’s audience. Creating a label only defines it — it doesn’t attach it to anyone yet. Assign it to subscribers from the Subscriber Manager overview’s bulk actions, or automatically from a Keyword Replies flow’s Automation Actions.
Naming labels with a consistent prefix (batch1, batch2, batch3) or a clear category (Lead, Customer, VIP) makes them far easier to pick correctly later, once you have a dozen of them.

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Custom Fields

Manage Custom Fields panel with a Create Custom Field button and a list of fields including status, Phone, Email, Designation, Department, Name, and employee id, each showing its type

The Manage Custom Fields panel, listing every custom field with its type and a Create Custom Field button.

A Custom Field stores one extra piece of structured data per subscriber, beyond the built-in Phone Number, Subscriber ID, and Name — e.g. email, designation, department, or employee id. Create one from Manage → Manage Custom Fields, picking a type that matches the data:
1

Open Manage → Manage Custom Fields

From the subscriber list, open Manage, then Manage Custom Fields.
2

Click Create Custom Field

Click + Create Custom Field in the panel.
3

Name the field and choose its type

Pick a type that matches the data you’ll store — see the table below.
4

Save

The field is now available on every subscriber’s profile, and as a mapping target during import.

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How a custom field gets filled in

Creating a custom field only defines the storage slot — it starts empty for every subscriber until it’s populated one of three ways, all covered elsewhere on this site:
  • Manually or via import — any extra column beyond phone number and name in an imported CSV or Google Sheet becomes a custom field automatically, matched by column header.
  • From a conversation — a Keyword Replies flow’s Save to Custom Field action stores whatever the subscriber types (e.g. their email) the moment they answer.
  • From a form submission — an Input Flow or WhatsApp Flow question can save its answer straight to a custom field.

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How that data flows back out

Once populated, a custom field’s value flows back out the same way it flows in:
  • To Google Sheets — Keyword Replies’ Sync Data to Google Sheets maps each custom field to a spreadsheet column on every submission.
  • To a webhook — Keyword Replies’ Forward Data to Webhook, or a dedicated Outbound Action with Input Flow Data enabled, sends the same custom field values as JSON to a CRM, Zapier, Make.com, or your own server.
  • Back into messages — a custom field’s value can be inserted into a Message Template or Keyword Replies text as a #fieldname# variable, e.g. Hi #name#, your appointment is on #preferred_appointment_date#.

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Frequently asked

A label is a shared tag for grouping subscribers into a segment (VIP, batch1) — it holds no data of its own. A custom field stores a different value per subscriber (an email address, an order ID). See the comparison table above.
Create a Label under Manage → Manage Labels, then select subscribers in the Subscriber Manager list and use Options → Assign Label (or Remove Label to undo it). You can then filter the subscriber list by that label, or target it in a broadcast.
Three ways: an extra column in a CSV/Google Sheet import, a Save to Custom Field action in a Keyword Replies flow, or a form answer from an Input Flow / WhatsApp Flow. See “How a custom field gets filled in” above.
Yes — reference it as a #fieldname# variable in a Message Template or Keyword Replies text block, e.g. Hi #name#, your order #order_id# has shipped.
Number — it keeps the value sortable and usable in calculations, unlike Text, which stores it as an unstructured string.

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Learn From a Use Case