How to Customize Keap CRM Fields and Tags for Specific Recruitment Pipelines

In the high-stakes world of recruitment, efficiency and precision are paramount. Generic CRM setups often fall short, failing to capture the nuanced data points crucial for identifying, tracking, and engaging top talent. This guide empowers recruitment professionals to transform Keap CRM into a finely tuned machine, optimized for specific hiring pipelines. By strategically customizing fields and tags, you can streamline your workflow, enhance candidate experience, and ultimately accelerate your time-to-hire. Unlock Keap’s full potential to manage complex recruitment processes with expert-level detail and automation, ensuring every candidate interaction and data point serves your strategic goals.

Step 1: Define Your Recruitment Pipeline Stages and Data Needs

Before making any changes in Keap, sit down and map out your specific recruitment pipelines. Consider each stage from initial lead generation (e.g., “Sourced,” “Applicant,” “Referral”) through to offer and onboarding (e.g., “Interviewed,” “Offer Extended,” “Hired”). For each stage, identify the critical data points you need to track. This might include candidate’s desired salary, specific skill sets, visa status, notice period, interview feedback summaries, or even their preferred communication method. A clear understanding of these stages and data requirements will be the foundation for effective customization, preventing unnecessary fields or tags and ensuring Keap truly reflects your operational needs. This foundational analysis prevents wasted effort and ensures your CRM becomes a true asset, not just a data repository.

Step 2: Create Custom Fields in Keap for Essential Applicant Data

Once you’ve defined your data needs, translate them into custom fields within Keap. Navigate to Settings > CRM > Custom Fields. Here, you can create various field types: text areas for interview notes, dropdowns for skill levels or preferred job titles, date fields for availability, or even checkboxes for compliance requirements. Prioritize fields that are consistently used across candidates and pipelines. For instance, a “Target Compensation” or “Availability Date” field might be crucial for every role. Name your fields clearly and concisely (e.g., “Desired_Role,” “Notice_Period_Weeks”) to ensure easy understanding and consistent data entry across your team. Well-structured custom fields ensure that all essential candidate information is standardized and readily accessible, enabling precise candidate matching and streamlined communication.

Step 3: Develop a Comprehensive Tagging Strategy for Segmentation and Action

Tags are your power tool for segmentation and triggering automation in Keap. Design a tagging strategy that complements your custom fields and pipeline stages. Think about tags for specific industries (e.g., “#Tech_Recruitment”), roles (#Software_Engineer), candidate status (#Active_Candidate, #On_Hold), or even engagement levels (#Warm_Lead, #Hot_Prospect). Crucially, consider tags that denote actions or characteristics specific to your internal processes, like “#Interview_Scheduled” or “#Reference_Checked.” Avoid tag proliferation by creating a clear naming convention (e.g., “Status: Interviewed,” “Skill: Python”) and documenting it for your team. A robust tagging system allows for dynamic segmentation, making it easy to pull lists for specific outreach campaigns or to track a candidate’s journey at a glance.

Step 4: Automate Tag Application for Pipeline Progression

The true power of Keap lies in its automation capabilities. Leverage Keap’s campaign builder to automate the application of tags as candidates move through your pipeline. For example, when a candidate submits an application form, a “Status: Applicant” tag can be automatically applied. Once they complete an initial screening call, a user can manually add a “Screening: Passed” tag, which then triggers the removal of the “Status: Applicant” tag and applies a “Status: Interview Scheduled” tag. This ensures that candidate records are always up-to-date, reducing manual data entry errors and providing real-time visibility into your recruitment funnel. Automating tag application not only saves significant time but also ensures data accuracy, which is vital for reliable reporting and strategic decision-making.

Step 5: Utilize Custom Fields and Tags in Search & Reporting

With your custom fields populated and tags consistently applied, you can now harness Keap’s search and reporting features for unparalleled insights. Use the advanced search functionality to filter candidates by specific combinations of custom field values (e.g., “Desired Role = Project Manager” AND “Experience Years > 5”) and tags (e.g., “#Active_Candidate” AND “#Python_Skills”). Create saved searches for commonly used queries, such as “Candidates for Tech Roles – Interview Stage.” Furthermore, Keap’s reporting tools allow you to build custom reports based on these fields and tags, giving you a clear overview of pipeline velocity, candidate sources, or even conversion rates between stages. This data-driven approach allows for continuous optimization of your recruitment strategies.

Step 6: Implement Workflow Automation for Candidate Engagement

Beyond simple tag application, Keap’s automation can revolutionize candidate engagement. Set up campaigns that automatically send personalized emails or SMS messages when a specific tag is applied or a custom field is updated. For instance, when a “Status: Interview Scheduled” tag is added, an automation can send a confirmation email with interview details and a link to add it to their calendar. When a candidate reaches the “Offer Extended” stage, an automation could trigger an internal notification to the hiring manager. These automated touchpoints ensure consistent communication, improve the candidate experience, and free up recruiters from repetitive administrative tasks, allowing them to focus on high-value interactions and strategic sourcing.

Step 7: Regularly Review and Refine Your Customizations

The recruitment landscape is dynamic, and your Keap CRM setup should be too. Schedule regular reviews (e.g., quarterly) to assess the effectiveness of your custom fields and tags. Are certain fields rarely used? Are there new data points that have become critical? Are your tags still accurately reflecting your pipeline stages and candidate segmentation? Gather feedback from your recruitment team on what works well and what could be improved. As your business grows and your hiring needs evolve, you may need to add new fields, deprecate old ones, or refine your tagging conventions. Continuous refinement ensures that your Keap CRM remains a powerful, relevant tool, always aligned with your latest recruitment strategies and operational efficiencies.

If you would like to read more, we recommend this article: The Automated Recruiter’s Keap CRM Implementation Checklist: Powering HR with AI & Automation