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How to Automatically Tag Subscribers
How to Automatically Tag Subscribers

Step-by-step instructions for automatically tagging new subscribers in your email list.

Updated over a week ago

Step-by-step instructions for automatically tagging new subscribers to your email list.

Let’s say a subscriber joins your email list. Yay! But now what? Do you want them sitting on your list collecting dust, or would you rather send them down a specific path where they get sorted automatically? The second option, of course!

That’s why automatically tagging subscribers is so useful.

There are two options for automating within ConvertKit: visual automations and automation rules.

When it comes to automatically tagging a subscriber, either option works! Some people prefer the visual layout of visual automations, whereas some like the "if this, then that" nature of rules.

NOTE: We recommend starting to familiarize yourself with visual automations sooner rather than later, in case you want to start building out more complex applications down the line.

Option 1: Tagging with visual automations

1. Create a new visual automation

Find your automations page by going to Automate > Visual Automations from the top navigation menu.

Next, click the 'New Automation' button:

On the next page, click the 'Create Automation' button:

2. Add your entry point(s)

The entry point is what triggers the automation to start.

For example, if you want your subscribers to be tagged after signing up to a particular form, click 'Joins a form', select your form from the dropdown, and then click 'Add Event':

If you want your automation to have more than one entry point, no problem! Just click the plus sign to the right of your current entry point(s), and repeat the same process as above. Subscribers can enter the automation via any of the entry points.

NOTE: Automations can have a maximum of 5 entry points, but if you need more than that, we have a separate tutorial here for a workaround to combine a group of entry points into a single tag.

3. Create an action step to add a tag

Click the plus sign below your entry point. Then select Action > Add or remove tag (leave the toggle set to 'Add') > select your tag from the dropdown > click 'Add Action':

NOTE: If you want to add more than one tag, just add another action step under this one! It'll be added immediately after the first.

4. [Optional] Give your automation a name

We recommend giving your automation a name from the top left for your own reference:

5. Set your automation live

Once your automation is ready, you’ll need to unpause it by clicking the toggle towards the top right of the page. Here's what the toggle looks like when the automation is paused:

Here's how it'll look once it's live:

Option 2: Tagging with automation rules

1. Create a new automation rule

Find your rules page by going to Automate > Rules from the top navigation menu.

From the rules page, click the ‘+ New Rule’ button:

2. Select your trigger step(s)

This is what triggers your rule to fire!

For example, if you want your subscribers to be tagged after signing up to a particular form, select 'Subscribes to a form' and then select your form from the dropdown:

If you want your rule to have more than one trigger, no problem! Just add additional triggers on the left pane of the create rule screen. Any of the triggers will cause your rule to fire.

3. Select 'Add tag' as an action

On the right pane under 'Action', select 'Add tag' and select your tag from the dropdown (or create a new one):

NOTE: If you want to add more than one tag, just add additional 'Add tag' steps on the Actions pane! Any of the rule's triggers will cause all of its actions to fire.

4. Save your rule

When you're done, click the 'Save Rule' button towards the lower right corner of the page:

That's it! Here's how your rule might look on the rules page once it's been created:

NOTE: If your rule is showing as disabled, check out our guide here.

Using either of these methods, your subscribers will now automatically be tagged as soon as they take action.

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