Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) is a premium platform that combines CRM, email automation, and payment processing. It is more expensive than most options in this space, but the depth of automation and business workflow features justifies the cost for the right business. Setup takes longer than simpler tools -- here is how to do it efficiently.
Total setup time: 3-4 hours. Difficulty: Moderate. You do not need any technical background to follow this guide.
Keap at a glance
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Starting price | $299/mo (Pro, 1,500 contacts) |
| Free plan | No |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial |
| Setup time | 3-4 hours |
| Difficulty | Moderate |
| Best for | Small businesses needing CRM + automation + payments in one place |
How to set up Keap in 7 steps
Go to keap.com and start your 14-day free trial. Enter your business details. Keap will assign you an onboarding specialist -- take advantage of this; it is included in the price and can save significant setup time. The specialist can help you configure your account for your specific use case.
Go to Settings > Email & Broadcasts > Email Sending. Keap will provide DKIM records to add to your domain's DNS. Add them as TXT records at your registrar and verify in Keap. Keap also uses its own sending infrastructure, so your from address will show your domain but route through Keap's servers.
Go to CRM > Contacts and review the default contact fields. Add custom fields for your business under Settings > Custom Fields. Then go to CRM > Opportunities and set up your sales pipeline stages. Keap's CRM is more built-out than most email tools -- it supports contact tagging, scoring, task management, and appointment booking, all connected to your automation sequences.
Go to Contacts > Import Contacts. Upload your CSV and map each column to a Keap field. You can apply tags to all imported contacts during this step, which makes it easy to trigger automations based on where contacts came from. After import, review the import log for any errors.
Go to Marketing > Forms and create a new web form. Keap's form builder lets you add any contact or custom field to the form. Embed the form on your website using the provided script. When a contact submits the form, it can trigger a tag and kick off an automation sequence automatically.
Go to Automation > Easy Automations for simple sequences or Campaign Builder for complex multi-step campaigns. Easy Automations are pre-built templates (welcome sequence, lead nurture, appointment follow-up) that you can launch quickly. Campaign Builder is Keap's full drag-and-drop automation canvas -- you can build sequences with email, SMS, tasks, internal notifications, and conditional logic.
Go to Marketing > Broadcasts > Email Broadcast. Choose a template or build from scratch. Set your subject line, select your recipients (by tag or saved search), send a test, and schedule or send. Keap's broadcast tool also supports sending to specific contact segments based on any combination of tags and contact fields.
Tips before you start
- Use Keap's Easy Automations to get basic sequences running quickly while you learn the Campaign Builder.
- Tags are the core of Keap's segmentation system -- plan your tag structure before importing contacts.
- The Keap payment processing feature lets you collect payments from within automation sequences -- powerful for service businesses.
Next steps
Once your account is set up, focus on building your first automation before sending any broadcast campaigns. A working welcome sequence ensures every new subscriber gets a consistent first experience. After that, review your migration guide if you are moving contacts from another platform, and use the recommendations quiz to confirm Keap is the right long-term fit.