Membership Rules - Fanfare Documentation

Membership rules define who belongs to a dynamic audience. When consumers match the rules, they’re automatically included in the audience. This guide covers all available rule types and configuration options.

Rule Basics

How Rules Work

Rules evaluate consumer attributes
If conditions are met, the consumer is a member
Membership updates automatically as data changes
No manual maintenance required

Caption: Membership rules automatically determine audience membership

Rule Components

Each rule consists of:

Component	Description	Example
Field	Consumer attribute to check	email, loyaltyPoints, tags
Operator	How to compare	equals, contains, greaterThan
Value	What to compare against	”@company.com”, 1000, “VIP”

Caption: Each rule has three main components

Available Fields

Contact Information

Field	Type	Description
email	String	Consumer’s email address
emailDomain	String	Domain part of email (after @)
phone	String	Phone number
fullName	String	Full name
firstName	String	First name
lastName	String	Last name

Loyalty & Engagement

Field	Type	Description
loyaltyPoints	Number	Current loyalty points balance
loyaltyTier	String	Current tier (Gold, Silver, etc.)
totalOrders	Number	Total order count
totalSpend	Number	Lifetime spend amount
averageOrderValue	Number	Average order value

Dates & Timing

Field	Type	Description
createdAt	Date	When consumer was created
lastActivityAt	Date	Most recent activity
firstPurchaseAt	Date	First purchase date
lastPurchaseAt	Date	Most recent purchase

Tags & Attributes

Field	Type	Description
tags	Array	Consumer tags
externalId	String	External system ID
source	String	Where consumer originated

Custom Attributes

Custom attributes you’ve defined for consumers can also be used in rules:

Field	Type	Description
metadata.	Varies	Custom metadata field
attributes.	Varies	Custom attribute

Operators

String Operators

Operator	Description	Example
equals	Exact match	email equals “[email protected]”
notEquals	Not an exact match	email notEquals “[email protected]”
contains	Contains substring	email contains “@company.com”
notContains	Doesn’t contain substring	email notContains “@competitor.com”
startsWith	Begins with	email startsWith “vip”
endsWith	Ends with	email endsWith “.edu”
isEmpty	Field is empty	firstName isEmpty
isNotEmpty	Field has a value	phone isNotEmpty

Number Operators

Operator	Description	Example
equals	Exact match	loyaltyPoints equals 1000
notEquals	Not equal	loyaltyPoints notEquals 0
greaterThan	Greater than value	totalSpend greaterThan 500
greaterOrEqual	Greater or equal	totalOrders greaterOrEqual 5
lessThan	Less than value	loyaltyPoints lessThan 100
lessOrEqual	Less or equal	averageOrderValue lessOrEqual 50
between	Within range	loyaltyPoints between 500-1000

Date Operators

Operator	Description	Example
equals	Exact date	createdAt equals “2024-01-01”
before	Before date	lastPurchaseAt before “2024-01-01”
after	After date	createdAt after “2024-06-01”
within	Within period	lastActivityAt within “30 days”
notWithin	Not within period	lastPurchaseAt notWithin “90 days”

Array Operators

Operator	Description	Example
contains	Array includes value	tags contains “VIP”
notContains	Array doesn’t include	tags notContains “blocked”
isEmpty	Array is empty	tags isEmpty
isNotEmpty	Array has items	tags isNotEmpty
hasAll	Has all values	tags hasAll [“VIP”, “Verified”]
hasAny	Has any value	tags hasAny [“Gold”, “Silver”]

Combining Rules

AND Logic

When rules are combined with AND, consumers must match all rules:

Rule 1: loyaltyPoints greaterThan 1000
AND
Rule 2: totalOrders greaterThan 5

Result: Only consumers with 1000+ points AND 5+ orders are included. Caption: AND logic requires all conditions to be true

OR Logic

When rules are combined with OR, consumers must match any rule:

Rule 1: loyaltyTier equals "Gold"
OR
Rule 2: totalSpend greaterThan 5000

Result: Consumers with Gold tier OR $5000+ spend are included. Caption: OR logic requires any condition to be true

Complex Logic

Combine AND and OR for complex targeting:

(Rule 1: loyaltyTier equals "Gold" OR Rule 2: loyaltyTier equals "Platinum")
AND
Rule 3: lastActivityAt within "30 days"

Result: Gold OR Platinum members who were active in the last 30 days.

Rule Groups

Group rules for cleaner organization and complex logic: Caption: Group rules for complex logic

Creating Groups

Click Add Group
Add rules within the group
Set logic within the group (AND/OR)
Set logic between groups (AND/OR)

Common Rule Patterns

VIP Customers

loyaltyTier equals "Gold"
OR
loyaltyTier equals "Platinum"
OR
totalSpend greaterThan 10000

Active Customers

lastActivityAt within "30 days"
AND
totalOrders greaterThan 0

High-Value Prospects

totalSpend between 500-2000
AND
lastPurchaseAt within "60 days"
AND
averageOrderValue greaterThan 100

New Customers

createdAt within "30 days"
AND
totalOrders lessOrEqual 1

Corporate Customers

emailDomain notContains "@gmail.com"
AND
emailDomain notContains "@yahoo.com"
AND
emailDomain notContains "@hotmail.com"

Lapsed Customers

totalOrders greaterThan 2
AND
lastPurchaseAt notWithin "90 days"

Testing Rules

Preview Matching Consumers

Before saving, preview which consumers match:

Configure your rules
Click Preview Matches
Review the list of matching consumers
Adjust rules if needed

Caption: Preview which consumers match your rules

Test Specific Consumer

Check if a specific consumer matches:

Click Test Consumer
Search for a consumer
See which rules they match/fail
Understand why they’re included or excluded

Rule Performance

Best Practices

Use indexed fields - Email, phone, and ID fields are fastest
Avoid complex calculations - Simple rules perform better
Limit nested groups - Keep logic straightforward
Test with samples - Preview before saving

Performance Considerations

Rule Type	Performance	Notes
Email equals	Fast	Direct lookup
Tags contains	Fast	Indexed search
Custom metadata	Medium	May require scan
Complex calculations	Slow	Avoid in large audiences

Editing Rules

Modifying Existing Rules

Navigate to the audience detail page
Go to the Rules tab
Click on a rule to edit
Save changes

Adding Rules to Existing Audience

Click Add Rule on the Rules tab
Configure the new rule
Set logic connection (AND/OR)
Save

Removing Rules

Click the delete icon on the rule
Confirm removal
Membership updates automatically

Removing rules may significantly change audience membership. Preview changes before saving.

Troubleshooting

Rules Not Matching Expected Consumers

Check field names - Ensure using correct field
Verify operators - equals vs. contains
Check data types - String vs. number
Review logic - AND vs. OR

Rules Matching Too Many Consumers

Add more restrictive conditions
Change OR to AND logic
Add exclusion rules

Rules Matching Too Few Consumers

Relax conditions (greaterThan 500 vs. 1000)
Change AND to OR logic
Remove restrictive rules

Create Audience - Build new audiences
Audiences Overview - Managing audiences
Consumer Management - Understanding consumer data

​Rule Basics

​How Rules Work

​Rule Components

​Available Fields

​Contact Information

​Loyalty & Engagement

​Dates & Timing

​Tags & Attributes

​Custom Attributes

​Operators

​String Operators

​Number Operators

​Date Operators

​Array Operators

​Combining Rules

​AND Logic

​OR Logic

​Complex Logic

​Rule Groups

​Creating Groups

​Common Rule Patterns

​VIP Customers

​Active Customers

​High-Value Prospects

​New Customers

​Corporate Customers

​Lapsed Customers

​Testing Rules

​Preview Matching Consumers

​Test Specific Consumer

​Rule Performance

​Best Practices

​Performance Considerations

​Editing Rules

​Modifying Existing Rules

​Adding Rules to Existing Audience

​Removing Rules

​Troubleshooting

​Rules Not Matching Expected Consumers

​Rules Matching Too Many Consumers

​Rules Matching Too Few Consumers

​Related Guides

Rule Basics

How Rules Work

Rule Components

Available Fields

Contact Information

Loyalty & Engagement

Dates & Timing

Tags & Attributes

Custom Attributes

Operators

String Operators

Number Operators

Date Operators

Array Operators

Combining Rules

AND Logic

OR Logic

Complex Logic

Rule Groups

Creating Groups

Common Rule Patterns

VIP Customers

Active Customers

High-Value Prospects

New Customers

Corporate Customers

Lapsed Customers

Testing Rules

Preview Matching Consumers

Test Specific Consumer

Rule Performance

Best Practices

Performance Considerations

Editing Rules

Modifying Existing Rules

Adding Rules to Existing Audience

Removing Rules

Troubleshooting

Rules Not Matching Expected Consumers

Rules Matching Too Many Consumers

Rules Matching Too Few Consumers

Related Guides