Tags provide a powerful way to organise, filter, and manage supporters, leads, and other records.
Tags act as short labels you can freely assign to supporters, leads and other records. This flexibility allows you to filter, segment, and prioritise data, making it easier to group and identify records with similar characteristics, find information and make strategic decisions.
At Social Sync we have two distinct level of tags, Supporter tags and Campaign tags, I'll explain the differences below, along with some examples of when each type should be used.
Types of tags in Social Sync
Supporter Tags
Supporter Tags are saved against an individual's supporter record. This corresponds to how a traditional CRM would identify an individual person. As such, supporter tags transcend the various campaign registrations that supporter might have.
"VIP", or "Repeat participant" would be good examples of a supporter tag. These values are unlikely to change from one campaign to the next and if someone with these supporter tags signed up to a new campaign you may want to know about this in case it influences the supporter journey you may want to send them on.
Campaign Tags
Campaign tags sit against an individual supporter's campaign registration record. Each supporter can have multiple campaign registrations (one for each campaign they participated in).
"Self donate" or "Thanked" are good examples of campaign tags as they are best applied to a single campaign. A single supporter with multiple campaign registrations may have the "Self donate" tag for campaign A, but not for campaign B. Likewise they may have been thanked already for campaign A, but not yet for campaign B
Campaign tags can be applied multiple times to each supporter, based on their campaign activity, whereas Supporter tags can only be applied once to each individual.
There is no right and wrong way of using tags and much of this is left to user discretion.
Creating and managing tags
Tags can be created at various points through the app, however they can all be viewed and managed centrally from the Tags table under Settings > Tags.
Creating a tag is straightforward. Simply give the tag a name, choose the type (supporter or Campaign), give the tag a colour for ease of reference throughout the UI, and finally an optional description (helpful for keeping track of the purpose of each tag if you need to create a lot of them or if they will be used by multiple members of your team).
Other places where tags can be created and applied include:
Individually via each supporter's campaign record:
Via the stewardship centre:
or in bulk as part of our Pathway Builder:
Archiving and deleting tags
If a tag is no longer in active use then you can archive it without removing it from existing records. Archived tags will no longer appear in dropdown menus to add to new records. A tag can be unarchived at any time
Deleting a tag is a stronger action that will remove the tag from all records that currently have that tag. This action is non-reversible.
Benefits of Using Tags
Easy Segmentation: Tags make it simple to categorise records based on specific attributes, such as “VIP,” “Prospect,” “Lead,” etc..., without creating complex criteria.
Enhanced Organisation: Unlike fixed fields, tags are customizable, providing flexibility to adapt as business needs change. Categorising records with tags helps maintain order and structure within your Social Sync account.
Quick Filtering: Using tags as filter options speeds up searches and helps you zero in on specific data faster. They are also useful when exporting data for further analysis
Improved Team Collaboration: Tags offer a simple way for teams to communicate information about a supporter or campaign registration.
How to Use Tags Effectively
1. Create a Consistent Tagging System
To get the most value out of tags, create a standardised naming convention for everyone in your organisation. A few tips for developing a consistent tagging system:
Use specific terms like “2024-Event” rather than generic labels like “Event.”
Avoid overlapping tags that may lead to confusion, like “High Priority” and “Important.” Stick with one tag for similar attributes.
Use capitalisation and formatting consistently across all tags (e.g., “VIP” vs. “vip”).
2. Use Tags to Track Customer Lifecycle Stages
Tags can represent different stages in the customer lifecycle. For example, you can tag records as:
“New Lead” when first added to Social Sync.
“Registrant” once they've signed up for a campaign.
“Active fundraiser” when they get their first donation.
Lifecycle tags help your team quickly understand where a customer stands and act accordingly. We do track lifecycle stages via the campaign audience segment but using tags will enhance visibility throughout the app.
3. Tag Important Characteristics and Preferences
If you have customers with specific preferences, you can tag them for personalised follow-ups. Some examples:
“No Phone” for supporters who have expressed a desire to not be contacted by phone
“Freeloader” for supporters who register for every campaign only to get a free incentive and then never participate
This allows stewardship and and support teams to adapt their interactions based on customer preferences or behaviours, leading to better customer experiences.
4. Use Supporter Tags for Campaign Tracking
Tags are also helpful for keeping track of campaign participation and lead source. For instance:
“Q4-2024” to mark supporters generated from a specific campaign/time period
5. Use tags for Geographic or Demographic Segmentation
Where appropriate based on your organisation's service areas you could tag contacts with locations, e.g., "South East", "Scotland" or "London" to manage outreach/stewardship in specific regions.
6. Final tips
Be Consistent: Use standardized tag names to avoid duplicate or redundant tags.
Limit the Number of Tags: Too many tags can lead to confusion. Focus on essential categories to maintain clarity.
Review Tags Regularly: Periodically review tags to remove outdated or irrelevant ones.