As noted in the article ​"​How to Transfer Tags from Ads to Ad Comments via Rules​", it is​ not possible to use Rules to transfer Custom Field values from Ad Variants to Inbound Messages directly. This is due to technical limitations from the channels regarding the backend post IDs. However, it is posisble via a manual workaround using filters and macros.

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Let's start with a quick recap on how PAC ads work. The creative used in the Ad Variant will be treated as a standard outbound post, to which Paid Rules will copy Fields from the Ad Variant. However, for each placement used in the Ad the end user will see a slightly modified "Child Post" on which they can comment and engage. These child posts will appear in the Editorial Calendar, Social Analytics Reporting etc. ads auto imported posts to which all the comments will be attached.

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Fields can be copied from the Child Post Variants to the comments via Inbound and Queue Rules, but the gap is in tagging the Child Post Variants in the first place.

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To do this, first we need to set up some tools. Go to All Settings > Macros and make an Outbound Macro with a manual action for whatever Custom Field you wish to apply:

Next, go to Reporting and make a Reporting Dashboard with these widgets:

• A Paid table widget with "Ad Post", the Custom Field (at Ad Variant Level) and some metric such as "Volume of Ad Variants", filtered for Creative Customization containing Placement Asset Customization and [The Custom Field] exists True

• An Social Analytics Stream widget with "Outbound Post", the Custom Field (at Outbound Post level) and some metric such as "Volume of Published Messages" filtered for [The Custom Field] exists False

• Optionally, an Inbound Analytics Stream witdget with "Inbound Messages" and "Inbound Message Count", filtered for [The Custom Field] exists False

• Note: only Stream widgets allow you to select multiple objects to apply Macros on.

Now that the setup is complete, we can take these actions to apply the tags:

1. In the Paid widget, find a tagged Ad and copy the text from the Ad Variant, making a note of which field value is applied to it.

2. Filter the Social Analytics widget for Outbound Posts containing that text; there will be several variant posts so make sure you select all that appear in the filter search bar. If there are many variants, it may take a few moments to paginate the search.

3. Once filtered, select all the posts in the widget and apply the Macro, entering the relevant field value from the ad.

4. Assuming that appropriate Inbound and Queue Rules are set up as in this article, this should be sufficient to ensure that the comments get tagged, but you can also force tag them via a macro:

   1. Filter the Inbound Stream widget by the outbound post used previously, ensuring to select all variants

   2. Apply a Message level macro to either apply the Custom Field directly or force it to run through an appropriate Inound or Queue Rule.