How to collect personal preferences with Sendlane Forms
Overview
You can collect new subscribers’ preferences with Sendlane Forms’ option selector block and custom fields! Read on to learn how to collect personal preferences with Sendlane Forms.
In this guide
- Determine what data you want to collect
- Add an option selector block to your form
- View and use Contacts' preferences
Determine what data you want to collect
The option selector is a great way to collect standardized data from your Contacts and helps avoid the pitfalls of text field submissions differing slightly in spelling or composition (e.g., “blue,” “Blue,” and “blu” answers to “What is your favorite color?”)
Before adding an option selector block to your form, consider what data you want to collect. Review your existing Custom Fields to see if you can use one you’re already using to collect data or if an additional field is needed.
Add an option selector block to your form
🚨 Option selector blocks must be used with an email or phone field in order to save data to Contact Profiles
Without an email address or phone number to associate with a form submission, data from an option selector block will be lost.
🚨 Only one option selector block is allowed per form
The following collection options are available for option selector blocks:
- Checkbox - Allow Contacts to select multiple options
- Radio Button - Display all options and allow Contacts to select one only
- Dropdown - Allow Contacts to select one option from a dropdown
In the Option # fields, enter the option as you want it to appear to website visitors. In the Property fields, enter the option as you want it to appear in Contacts’ profiles. If you are using a Custom Field already in use, check naming conventions that may already be in place for your field data and use those options in the Property fields.
For example, let’s say you want to collect your Contacts’ clothing preferences. You could set up your option block like this:
| Option # | Property |
|---|---|
| Women’s | women |
| Men’s | men |
| Children’s | kids |
so that the more colloquial format is shown to website visitors, but your data is compact and clean on the back end.
View and use Contacts' preferences
Responses to option selector blocks will appear as Custom Fields in Contacts' profiles. Let's say you've created a checkbox option selector to collect your Contacts' favorite colors like this:
A Contact who selected Orange, Green, and Indigo will display those selections in the Personalization section of their Contact profile under the Favorite Color custom field:
