Contact Data in Act-On Analytics

  • Updated

Contact Data brings your Audience Center contact fields into Act-On Analytics. That means you can analyse engagement by company, industry, market segment, lead source, lead score, region, or job title, and pull a precise list of the people who clicked a specific email or opted out.

Who does this: Act-On users with Dynamic Business Analytics or Premium AI Analytics. Audience Center contacts only
Time needed: 5 to 15 minutes to explore; longer for a targeted export
Why this matters: Email performance on its own tells you what happened. Pairing it with contact data tells you who it happened to. Use this to compare engagement across industries, surface the companies most interested in your messaging, and hand Sales a clean list of the contacts who actually clicked.
Quick Reference (Advanced Users) - Click to Expand
  • Filter on the Email Performance Liveboard by Company, Industry, or Lead Source. In custom Liveboards, add any of the 32 contact fields in the Email Data w/ Contacts model.
  • Explore a KPI: ellipsis > Explore > Add > pick Contact Email and any other fields you want.
  • Drill down by a contact field: right-click a data point > Drill down.
  • Ready-made breakdowns: Contact Analysis tab on Email Performance; Contact Analysis Liveboard for all contacts.
  • Row-level export: Contact Report on the Email Liveboard > table menu > Export > CSV.
  • Custom Answers: ask in chat using Email Data w/ Contacts (engagement) or Act-On Contact Data (all contacts, including never-sent).
Try it like this: On the Email Performance Liveboard, set Industry to "Software" and the time filter to "Last 30 Day(s)". Click the ellipsis on the Clicked KPI and choose Explore > Add > Contact Email. Use the table menu to export a CSV of every Software-industry contact who clicked an email in the last 30 days.

Explore contact data on the Email Performance Liveboard

Start on the Email Performance Liveboard. The contact filters at the top let you narrow results by Company, Industry, or Lead Source.

Email Performance Liveboard with Company, Industry, and Lead Source filters
Tip: In your custom Liveboards, add more filters. The Email Data w/ Contacts model includes 32 contact-related fields you can filter on.

Add contact fields to a KPI with Explore

To list the people behind a number, open the menu on any KPI and choose Explore. Click Add and include Contact Email, plus any other fields you want to see, such as Contact Name or Company.

Using Explore on the Clicked KPI to add Contact Email

Add a filter inside Explore for Event Date, or use the Liveboard's time control, to constrain the view to a specific window. The table shows the exact contacts who meet every filter you've set.

Use Drill Down to break results by a contact field

Right-click any data point in a visualisation and choose Drill down to split the result by a contact field such as Lead Score. The example below breaks total opens down by lead score.

Drilling down on a chart by Contact Lead Score

Use the Contact Analysis tab

For ready-made demographic breakdowns of the people engaging with your emails, open the Contact Analysis tab on the Email Performance Liveboard. You'll find charts like:

  • Top 25 Companies Engaging
  • Contact Engagement by Title Category
  • Contact Engagement by State
  • Contact Engagement by Lead Score
  • Activity by Contact Age
  • Messages Driving the Most Clicks
  • Clicks by Contact Title Category, Message Title
Contact Analysis tab with engagement breakdown charts
Note: Title Category groups similar job titles. If your titles don't fit the default groups, copy the visualisation and adjust the custom formula. The same applies to Lead Score buckets.

Export with the Contact Report

Need a row-level report of the contacts who were sent your messages? Use the Contact Report on the Email Liveboard. It includes performance metrics alongside demographic fields. Use the table menu at the top right to export.

Email Contact Report with row-level contact and performance data

Premium AI Analytics users can run Spot IQ on this report for automated insights.

Explore the Contact Analysis Liveboard

The Contact Analysis Liveboard covers all Audience Center contacts, including those you've never sent to. Examples of what you'll find:

  • Total Contacts
  • Non-Sendable Contacts
  • Contacts with Recent Opens / Clicks
  • Distribution by Lead Score
  • Contacts by Title Category
  • Contact Create Date
  • Distribution by Country
Contact Analysis Liveboard overview of all Audience Center contacts

You can copy this Liveboard and tailor it to your team's needs.

Create custom Answers with contact data

Ask a question in the chat bar and choose the right data model:

  • Email Data w/ Contacts: for questions about email engagement.
  • Act-On Contact Data: for questions about all contacts, including those never sent to.

Then use Explore Data to see all available contact fields and add the ones you need.

Asking which Title Categories have the highest click rates

Available contact fields

  • Contact City
  • Contact Company
  • Contact Country
  • Contact Created Date
  • Contact Date of Birth
  • Contact Department
  • Contact Email
  • Contact First Name
  • Contact Industry
  • Contact is Deleted
  • Contact Language
  • Contact Last Name
  • Contact Lead Source
  • Contact Name
  • Contact Object Type
  • Contact Org Type
  • Contact Postal Code
  • Contact Product
  • Contact Region
  • Contact Role
  • Contact Score
  • Contact Segment
  • Contact Size
  • Contact State
  • Contact Status
  • Contact Subsegment
  • Contact Timezone
  • Contact Title
  • Contact Title Category
  • Contact User Type
  • Contact Website
  • Contact Extra Data

FAQs

I don't see these options on my Email Performance Liveboard

Contact-level data is included with Dynamic Business Analytics and Premium AI Analytics. If you see Reports > Analytics in the left navigation, your account should have these options. If you see Reports > Email Performance only, your account isn't subscribed. Contact your account manager to discuss upgrading.

My data isn't appearing in these fields

Analytics includes 32 standard contact fields. In Settings > Data Management, add the standard field (top section) and map it to your CRM if applicable. If you previously stored data in a custom field with exactly the same name as a standard field, Analytics auto-designates it as standard. Otherwise, move or copy the data into the standard field, for example via List Maintenance > Change Field.

The Email Liveboard Contact Report doesn't include all recipients

Analytics contact data covers Audience Center contacts only. If an email was also sent to Marketing Lists, those list-only contacts won't appear here.

Note: Messages sent to Audience Center form submission or webinar lists don't currently include contact data. This is coming soon.

Not using Audience Center yet? See Upgrade to Audience Center Contact Management.

How can I report on my custom data fields?

Custom fields aren't supported as first-class fields, but you can access them via Contact Extra Data, which stores a JSON object of your custom fields and IDs. Depending on your use case, our team may be able to help you build custom Answers that filter on this JSON. Contact Support for assistance.

Will contact data for forms, landing pages, and media downloads be available?

Yes, this is coming soon.

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