One of the most powerful aspects of Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) is the ability to apply and remove tags. At their core, tags are a way to segment your database so you can send targeted messages to extremely specific portions of your list.
But as your business grows, keeping your tags organized becomes more and more important – here’s a course from Keap covering a system you can use called The Keap Way.
There are a number of tagging methodologies and best practices around the Keap ecosystem, so I created the following directory of some of the popular options (I’m sure I missed a few).
But before you explore those, let me just say that having any system matters more than which system you choose. So, pick one that makes sense to you and you can stick to:
An Insiders Guide to Mastering Tags and Tag Categories
Article from the Keap blog written by Paul Sokol – This article helps with the philosophy of thinking about tags, and makes some recommendations for the categories you might want to start out with.
5 Rules for Naming Your Tags
Brett Farr, Blick Digital – This article gives you 5 rules you can follow that will help enforce good practices while you create and organize your tags. (Also, some really good conversation in the comments on this post.)
How to Structure Tags & Tag Categories for Effective use in your Business
Mandy Brasser, Streamline For Success – This is a really good article which starts by defining the key terms you may want to know when starting this conversation, then Mandy outlines the tagging system she recommends, and why; and then it wraps up with other things to consider, and examples to illustrate why and how this works.
Infusionsoft Tags: A template for creating your own system
Bandera Marketing – This article is designed to first answer “What are tags for” and “What tags do I need” and then it delves into the system Bandera uses, why they use it, and how you can craft your own structure that makes sense for your business.
The Ultimate Campaign & Tag Categorization Protocol
Daniel Bussius – This is an extremely comprehensive article covering why you should, and how you can develop a naming convention to help keep your tags (and campaigns) as organized as possible. This article is rich with examples and diagrams to help make it as useful as possible.
Sixth Division Tagging System
Sixth Division – As one of the biggest Keap partners, Sixth Division also has their own tagging system which they recommend for and implement with their clients. The above link is an opt-in (name and email) for their “Cheat Sheet” which covers what they call the Ultimate Guide to Tagging.
Here a Tag, There a Tag, Everywhere a Tag-Tag
The API Guys – This article talks about the two types of tags (as The API guys see it), best practices for creating and organizing tags, and then some tips for cleaning up and deleting your existing tags.
ISMastery Tagging System
Troy Broussard, ISMastery and MyFusionHelper – here’s another solid system from a well known Keap partner. Thanks to Lenard for bringing this one to my attention in the comments below. This system follows the The Financial Chart of Accounts model, which apparently is a really well known organizational system for accounting. Full disclosure, this one also requires that you opt-in for the download.
Keap and Infusionsoft Tag Best Practices
Kevin Mogavero – In this 30-minute video training Kevin covers the 3 primary uses of tags, the difference between tags and tag categories, the various naming convention options, and a handful of other resources he recommends for using tags in your business.
I know there are plenty of quality resources out there that I may have missed (and more being created all the time), so if I didn’t include something that you think belongs on this list, let me know and I’ll add it!
Where do I learn more?
The Keap Academy platform features a course titled The Keap Way, covering a variety of best practices, including an organizational system for your tags.
Do you have a favorite Greg?
Good question. Sure don’t.
To be honest, I don’t subscribe to any of these. I use my own categories and naming conventions, and there isn’t a defined system or process to it. This works for me because of a) the way my business has evolved, and b) the intimate relationship I have with the software.
The reality is that if tagging isn’t an issue, then the system you choose matters less. But if you’re struggling to keep track of things, or you feel lost trying to find the right group/list, then having a system is a critical step in staying/getting organized.
Thanks for including us Greg!
Absolutely! Thanks for all you do to help small businesses!
Hi Greg,
Thanks for putting this list together.
I like Troy’s tagging system, here is a link for it.
https://ismastery.com/new-tagging-best-practices-download-available/
Just read through this, and it’s really solid. Thanks for sharing, I’ll add it to the post!
Hey Greg,
Thanks for including us in your roundup… and thanks Lenard for the plug… 🙂
Of course! Thanks for doin’ what you do!