Queries are a set of rules that allow you to find contacts stored in your Force24 platform. They are used across contact search, journey start audiences, journey make decision components, and automated lists (in the add to list and remove from list sections).
Below are some useful tips and best practices to help you get the most from your queries:
1. Build and Test in Contact Search
When building out your audience using criteria, we recommend starting in Contact Search. It’s a great space to test and refine your logic before applying it to a start audience, decision component or automated list.
By building your query in Contact Search first, you can spot-check a few contacts that match your criteria and confirm everything is working as expected. This is especially useful when your logic is more complex, as it ensures all conditions are behaving as intended.
Validating your audience this way gives you confidence that the right contacts will be picked up in your journeys, decisions and list rules. It’s a quick step that can save time and help you avoid surprises later on.
2. Build from a blank query where needed
To prevent a query becoming too confusing, clear all rules and begin from a blank canvas. Keep the top‑level group set to AND only. Then create each subgroup one at a time, choosing AND or OR for that subgroup as needed. Inside each subgroup, add your individual rules. This approach means you build up complexity in stages, without the top‑level group influencing how each subgroup operates.
3. Use positive rules inside NOT groups
It is usually easier to follow the logic if you set positive rules inside a group and tick the 'NOT' box, rather than trying to write rules like 'is not'. In most cases, a positive rule inside a NOT group will behave more predictably.
4. Understand how AND and OR work
When you use a group of rules set to OR, you are saying: return contacts who meet any of these rules. A group set to AND says: return contacts who meet every one of the rules in the group. OR makes the result broader, and AND makes it narrower.
5. Check the group structure carefully
Groups can contain other groups. Always look at the lines on the left of the query builder to understand which groups are inside which others. This affects how the platform evaluates your criteria.
6. Understand the top-level group
Every query starts with an overarching group that contains everything else. If that top-level group is set to AND, all subgroups must be met. If it is set to OR, contacts can match any one of the subgroups.
7. Group similar rules together
Where possible, group similar types of rules together. For example, if your query contains multiple rules about marketing list membership, place these inside the same group. This keeps your query visually tidy and easier to troubleshoot or adjust later. Grouping related rules in this way also makes it easier to apply a single AND or OR condition across the whole set, rather than mixing logic unnecessarily.
8. Save queries for future use
You can save any query you create. Just press 'Save Query' above the rules you are working on, give it a name, and it will be available from the dropdown next time. Use 'Clear and Set' to load it into a new query, or 'Append' to add it on to what you're already working with. How to Save and Reuse Queries : Force24 Support
For more help with query options, see: