A Glossary of Key Terms in Keap Contact Data Management

For HR and recruiting professionals, efficient contact data management is paramount. Leveraging powerful CRM platforms like Keap can streamline operations, but only if you understand the underlying terminology and how to apply it effectively. This glossary defines key terms related to Keap contact data management, offering clear, actionable insights to help your team optimize recruitment workflows, maintain data hygiene, and maximize the value of your contact database.

Contact Record

A Contact Record is the fundamental unit of information within Keap, representing an individual person or company with whom your organization interacts. For HR and recruiting, a contact record typically holds crucial details about a candidate, such as their name, contact information, resume, application status, interview notes, and preferred communication methods. Properly maintaining these records ensures a complete historical view of interactions, enabling personalized outreach, efficient follow-ups, and informed decision-making throughout the talent acquisition process. Accurate contact records are the bedrock of any successful recruitment automation strategy, preventing data silos and ensuring every touchpoint is captured.

Custom Fields

Custom Fields are user-defined data fields that allow organizations to store specific information not covered by standard Keap fields. In HR and recruiting, custom fields are invaluable for capturing nuanced candidate data like specific skill sets, desired salary range, visa status, past employment history, interview availability, or the name of the referring employee. These fields provide the flexibility to tailor your CRM to your unique hiring needs, enabling more precise segmentation, targeted communication, and comprehensive candidate profiles. Leveraging custom fields effectively is crucial for building a rich, searchable database that supports advanced filtering and automation triggers.

Segments (or Lists)

Segments, often referred to as Lists in other CRM contexts, are dynamic groupings of contacts based on shared characteristics, tags, custom field values, or behavioral data. In recruitment, segments enable highly targeted communication campaigns, such as sending specific job alerts to candidates with particular skills, or onboarding materials to newly hired employees. Instead of manually sifting through contacts, segments automatically update as contact data changes, ensuring your outreach is always relevant and timely. This allows recruiters to focus their efforts on the most promising candidates, improving conversion rates and candidate experience through personalized engagement at scale.

Automation

Automation in Keap refers to predefined workflows that perform actions automatically when specific conditions are met. For HR and recruiting, automation is a game-changer, handling repetitive tasks such as sending application confirmations, scheduling initial screening calls, distributing interview guides, managing candidate feedback forms, or initiating onboarding sequences. By automating these processes, recruiters save significant time, reduce human error, and ensure a consistent candidate experience. Automation allows high-value employees to focus on strategic activities like candidate engagement and relationship building, ultimately accelerating the hiring cycle and improving overall efficiency.

Webhooks

A webhook is an automated message sent from one application to another when a specific event occurs, essentially providing real-time data notifications. In an HR automation context, a webhook can be incredibly powerful for connecting Keap with other recruitment tools like an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), survey platforms, or assessment tools. For example, when a candidate’s status changes in your ATS, a webhook can trigger an update in Keap, adding a tag or initiating a new automation sequence. This ensures that candidate data is always synchronized across systems without manual intervention, enabling seamless workflows and eliminating data discrepancies that can hinder recruitment efforts.

API (Application Programming Interface)

An API acts as an intermediary that allows different software applications to communicate and exchange data with each other. For HR and recruiting teams using Keap, the API is critical for building custom integrations and extending Keap’s functionality beyond its out-of-the-box features. This could involve programmatically pulling candidate data into a custom dashboard, syncing Keap with an in-house HRIS, or developing unique tools for candidate sourcing and management. Leveraging the API offers unparalleled flexibility for creating a truly integrated talent ecosystem, ensuring all critical systems work together harmoniously to support complex recruitment strategies and data management needs.

Data Migration

Data Migration is the process of transferring data from one system to another, often occurring when adopting a new CRM like Keap or consolidating multiple data sources. For HR and recruiting, this typically involves moving existing candidate databases, applicant histories, and contact information from spreadsheets, legacy systems, or other CRMs into Keap. A meticulous data migration process is crucial to ensure data integrity, prevent loss of valuable historical information, and minimize disruption. Proper planning, data cleansing, and validation during migration are essential to start your new system with a clean, accurate foundation, enabling effective recruitment operations from day one.

Data Hygiene

Data Hygiene refers to the ongoing practice of cleaning and maintaining the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of data within your Keap contact database. For HR and recruiting, this means regularly identifying and correcting errors, removing duplicate records, updating outdated contact information, and standardizing data formats. Poor data hygiene leads to wasted effort, inaccurate reporting, and potentially a poor candidate experience due to incorrect or redundant communications. Implementing a robust data hygiene strategy, often involving automated checks and routine manual audits, ensures your Keap data remains reliable and effective for all your recruitment and automation initiatives.

Deduplication

Deduplication, or “deduping,” is the process of identifying and removing duplicate contact records from your database. In a recruitment context, duplicate records can arise from candidates applying multiple times, being referred by different sources, or having varying contact details entered over time. Duplicates lead to inconsistencies, inaccurate reporting, and the risk of sending multiple, confusing communications to the same individual, damaging the candidate experience. Keap offers tools and strategies for deduplication, which are essential for maintaining data integrity, ensuring a single source of truth for each candidate, and optimizing the efficiency of your communication and automation workflows.

Candidate Scoring

Candidate Scoring, adapted from “Lead Scoring” in sales, is a method of assigning a numerical value to candidates based on their engagement, qualifications, and fit for specific roles. This score helps HR and recruiting teams prioritize outreach and allocate resources more effectively. For instance, a candidate might receive points for having specific keywords in their resume, interacting with job postings, or completing an assessment. Keap can automate candidate scoring using custom fields and automation rules. This systematic approach allows recruiters to quickly identify and focus on the most promising talent, streamlining the shortlisting process and improving the overall efficiency of high-volume recruitment.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, a technology used to manage all your company’s relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers. In the context of HR and recruiting, Keap acts as a robust CRM system specifically tailored to manage candidate relationships, track applications, automate communications, and organize all relevant recruitment data. A well-implemented CRM for recruiting transforms disparate candidate interactions into a cohesive, actionable database, enabling personalized engagement, efficient pipeline management, and data-driven insights to attract and hire top talent. It serves as the central hub for all talent acquisition activities.

GDPR/CCPA Compliance

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) are critical data privacy regulations that govern how organizations collect, store, and process personal data. For HR and recruiting professionals using Keap, compliance means ensuring all candidate data is handled ethically and legally. This involves obtaining explicit consent for data collection, providing clear privacy notices, ensuring secure data storage, facilitating “right to be forgotten” requests, and implementing robust data retention policies. Keap provides features that can help support compliance efforts, but understanding and implementing these regulations is essential to avoid legal penalties and build trust with candidates regarding their personal information.

Integrations

Integrations refer to the seamless connection and data exchange between Keap and other software applications used in your HR and recruiting tech stack. This can include connecting with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), HR Information Systems (HRIS), job boards, calendaring tools, email providers, and assessment platforms. Effective integrations eliminate manual data entry, reduce errors, and create a unified workflow across different systems. For example, an integration could automatically sync new applicants from an ATS into Keap, trigger automated follow-ups, or update candidate statuses. This interconnectedness is crucial for building an efficient and scalable recruitment operation.

Campaigns (or Sequences)

Campaigns in Keap (often referred to as Sequences in other platforms) are predefined series of automated communications and actions designed to guide contacts through a specific journey. In recruitment, a campaign might involve a series of automated emails sent to new applicants, a sequence of reminders for upcoming interviews, or a personalized drip campaign for nurturing passive candidates over time. These multi-step workflows ensure consistent, timely engagement without constant manual intervention. By carefully crafting campaigns, HR teams can significantly improve candidate experience, reduce time-to-hire, and ensure no promising candidate falls through the cracks, all while saving valuable time.

If you would like to read more, we recommend this article: Keap Selective Contact Field Restore: Essential Data Protection for HR & Recruiting

By Jack DeePublished On: December 18, 2025