When to Use Tags

Mailchimp offers a variety of methods to organize your contacts so you get send targeted campaigns. One key to using SugarChimp effectively is knowing when to sync a field from your CRM versus using a Mailchimp tag. 

What does it mean to sync a field?

Syncing a field refers to data that SugarChimp moves between your CRM and Mailchimp. SugarChimp can sync things like drop-downs, text fields, dates, and multi-select fields.

What are tags?

Tags are labels that can apply to any contact within your Mailchimp audience. They allow you to segment or categorize groups of subscribers, such as those with a certain purchase history or attendees of events. SugarChimp doesn't sync tags.

When should I use tags versus syncing a field?

One of our more common questions is when tags should be used as opposed to syncing a field from the CRM. If a compatible field can be synced from CRM and is needed to segment subscribers in Mailchimp, we recommend using our field mapping features to sync that field. Tags are best used when there is no relevant field in your CRM or the contact is related to a specific shorter-term project. 

Scenarios to sync fields

• Data field appears at the contact, target, or lead level.
• Data field appears at the account level.
• Data housed in the CRM that's regularly maintained in the CRM.

Scenarios to use tags

• Contacts generated at a specific industry event.
• Influencers you met at a pop-up shop.
• Partners you don't track in the CRM.
• Affiliates that have referred customers to you previously.
• Customers that like physical mailers or freebies.

Both tags and fields are incredibly useful. Knowing when and how to use them is key to maintaining your overall marketing strategy and simplifies targeting specific subscribers in Mailchimp. Both options are flexible and easy to use so you can decrease the time needed for mundane tasks, like importing, manually updating, and generating reports.