How to Set Up Your First Dynamic Tagging Automation in Keap for New Applicants
In today’s competitive talent landscape, efficiency and a personalized candidate experience are paramount. Manually tagging and segmenting new applicants in your CRM like Keap is not only time-consuming but also prone to errors. This guide will walk you through setting up your first dynamic tagging automation for new applicants in Keap, leveraging smart automation to ensure every candidate receives the right attention and communication from the moment they apply. This strategic move eliminates bottlenecks, reduces human error, and empowers your recruiting team to focus on high-value interactions.
Step 1: Define Your Applicant Lifecycle & Tagging Strategy
Before building any automation, a clear understanding of your applicant lifecycle and the specific data points you need to capture and act upon is essential. Outline the key stages an applicant moves through, from initial application to hiring or rejection. For each stage, identify the necessary tags (e.g., “Applicant – New,” “Applicant – Interview Scheduled,” “Applicant – Referred,” “Position: Software Engineer”). Also, consider what information from the application itself (e.g., desired position, source, referral) can drive dynamic tagging. This foundational strategy ensures your automation serves a precise business need, enhancing both internal efficiency and the candidate journey. Without this clarity, your automation efforts will lack direction and fail to deliver maximum ROI.
Step 2: Prepare Keap: Custom Fields and Tag Categories
With your tagging strategy defined, the next step involves configuring your Keap application to support the automation. Begin by creating any necessary custom fields within Keap that will store unique applicant data not covered by standard fields, such as “Referred By,” “Application Source,” or “Desired Start Date.” These custom fields are critical as they often provide the data points your automation will use to trigger specific tags. Additionally, organize your tags into logical categories within Keap to maintain a clean and manageable tag library. A structured Keap environment is crucial for seamless automation, preventing data silos and ensuring your tags remain actionable and relevant as your hiring processes evolve.
Step 3: Identify the Automation Trigger: Where Do New Applicants Enter?
The cornerstone of any automation is a reliable trigger. For new applicants, this typically involves identifying the point of entry into your Keap system. Common triggers include webform submissions (e.g., from your careers page or a third-party ATS integration), API calls, or manual import. For seamless, real-time automation, integrating your application form (whether a Keap native form or an external system like a specialized ATS) with a tool like Make.com via a webhook is often the most robust solution. This setup allows for immediate data transfer as soon as an applicant completes a form, providing the freshest data to your automation workflow and ensuring timely responses, which is critical for a positive candidate experience in a fast-paced hiring environment.
Step 4: Design the Automation Workflow (Make.com Integration)
Now, it’s time to build the actual automation workflow, ideally using a powerful integration platform like Make.com, which seamlessly connects Keap with other applications. The core of this workflow will typically involve a “Watch Events” or “Catch Webhook” module to receive data when a new applicant is submitted. Following this, you’ll incorporate “Search a Contact” and “Create/Update a Contact” modules for Keap. Crucially, you’ll use conditional logic modules (e.g., routers or filters) to evaluate the incoming applicant data (from custom fields or form responses). Based on these conditions—such as the desired position, source, or specific keywords in their submission—the automation will dynamically apply the appropriate tags, ensuring each applicant is instantly categorized for targeted follow-up.
Step 5: Implement Dynamic Tagging and Follow-Up Actions
With your Make.com scenario capturing data and applying logic, the final step involves the actual dynamic tagging and triggering subsequent actions within Keap. Using the Keap modules in Make.com, you can configure the automation to “Add a Tag to a Contact” based on the outcomes of your conditional logic. For example, if an applicant applies for a “Marketing Manager” role, they get the “Applicant – Marketing Manager” tag. Immediately after tagging, the automation can initiate Keap campaigns or sequences tailored to those specific tags. This could include an automated confirmation email, a request for additional information, or even assigning a recruiter for personalized outreach. This full-circle automation ensures that every new applicant is not only correctly classified but also enters a personalized communication path, drastically improving engagement and operational efficiency.
If you would like to read more, we recommend this article: Architecting Intelligent HR & Recruiting: Dynamic Tagging in Keap with AI for Precision Engagement
