Should I use tags, labels, or saved searches?
For most grouping needs, use Labels instead of legacy tags. Labels let you manually group contacts and then filter or bulk-action those contacts.
If you want a group that updates automatically, use Advanced Filters and save it as a Saved Search. Saved Searches can include labels plus criteria like:
- contacts not contacted in the last 90 days
- contacts with appointments
- contacts who clicked links
- production, status, owner, campaign membership, and other activity or engagement fields
💡 The tagging instructions below are legacy behavior. They still work for simple text searches, but Labels, Advanced Filters, and Saved Searches are the recommended tools for organizing contacts.
From the Recruiting or Retention screen, select an agent to open their profile. Just below the top action bar, click Edit next to Referrer Notes.
To create a tag, you'll want to type a unique identifier starting with a hashtag and using underscores for any spaces. For example, #RE_School_List_Passed or #RE_School_List_Failed. The more unique, the better.
📝 Note: Tags are only searchable from the Referrer Notes. Tags entered using the Note Icons will not work as they'll fall into Recent Activity, which is not searchable, as a lead may have dozens of timestamped notes in their timeline.
When you need to find your leads, enter the tag in the Search bar and press enter. To perform any bulk action on this group, simply click Select All and Send Email or Add to Campaign.
📝 Note: If you have tags that are similar (i.e., "#Update_1_12_19 and #Update_2-13-19) or if the search is pulling other leads, surround your tag in "quotes" when searching to pull only an exact match.
Here are a few tips to make sure your tags work as desired:
- Make sure each tag is unique. Search engines try to be helpful by showing terms that are one character different, and not everyone remembers the "quotes" trick, so use completely different terms. For example, #alc-nov-2018 and #alc-dec-2018 instead of #alc-12-18 and #alc-11-18.
- Keep your tags short to help you remember what you're using and prevent issues during the search. Extremely long tags tend to pull far more partial matches and confuse the results. For example, instead of #alc_portland_oregon_december_2018_something, use #alc_portland.
- Be sure the tag is added to Agent Notes. Notes that are timestamped, which are created with one of the four icons next to the label Note, for example) are not searchable.
- If you and your team are using a lot of different tags, it's based on keeping a shared Google Doc or Sheet to help you manage them and prevent overlaps.