Using Tags to Organise Your SMS Campaigns
TL;DR:
- Tags help you categorise SMS campaigns by event type, product line, or customer group
- Consistent tagging makes it simple to filter and find specific campaigns later
- Keep your tag system simple and aligned with your actual business needs
- Check your platform's tag limits before you start building your system
Tags work like digital filing cabinets for your SMS campaigns. Instead of scrolling through endless lists of messages, you can quickly filter to find exactly what you're looking for.
Think of it like organising your email inbox with folders, but more flexible. You might tag campaigns by season ("summer-sale"), audience type ("vip-customers"), or campaign purpose ("product-launch").
Why Tags Matter for Campaign Management
When you're running multiple SMS campaigns, things get messy fast. You might have promotional messages, event reminders, customer service updates, and seasonal campaigns all mixed together.
Tags solve this by letting you group campaigns logically. Want to see how all your Black Friday campaigns performed across different years? Filter by your "black-friday" tag. Need to review all messages sent to VIP customers? Your "vip" tag has you covered.
The real benefit shows up when you're analysing performance or planning new campaigns. You can quickly compare similar campaign types and spot patterns in what works.
Setting Up Your Tag System
Start by mapping out the categories that actually matter to your business. Most businesses need tags for:
Campaign type: promotional, informational, transactional, reminders
Audience segment: new customers, VIPs, inactive users, location-based groups
Product or service: different product lines, services, or departments
Time period: seasonal campaigns, monthly promotions, event-based messaging
Keep your tag names short and consistent. Use "promo" not "promotional-campaign" and stick with the same format across all tags.
Create a simple document listing your tags and what they mean. Share this with anyone who'll be creating campaigns so everyone uses the same system.
Tagging Best Practices
Apply tags when you create the campaign, not afterwards. It's easy to forget what a campaign was about after a few weeks.
Don't go overboard with tags. If you're using more than 10-15 different tags regularly, your system is probably too complex. The goal is to make things simpler, not create another layer of complexity.
Use multiple tags on campaigns when it makes sense. A Valentine's Day promotion to VIP customers might get both "seasonal" and "vip" tags.
Review your tag system every few months. Remove tags you're not using and combine similar ones that serve the same purpose.
TL;DR:
- Tags help you categorise SMS campaigns by event type, product line, or customer group
- Consistent tagging makes it simple to filter and find specific campaigns later
- Keep your tag system simple and aligned with your actual business needs
- Check your platform's tag limits before you start building your system
FAQs
How many tags should I use per campaign?
Most campaigns work fine with 2-3 tags. More than that usually means your tag system is too complicated or you're over-thinking the categorisation.
Can I change tags after a campaign is sent?
This depends on your platform, but most allow you to edit tags on completed campaigns. It's still better to tag properly from the start.
Should I use the same tags across different campaign types?
Yes, consistent tags across all your campaigns make filtering and reporting much more useful. A "vip" tag should mean the same thing whether it's on a promotional SMS or a service update.
Jargon Buster
Tags: Labels you add to campaigns to group them by type, audience, or purpose
Filtering: Using tags to show only campaigns that match specific criteria
Campaign segmentation: Dividing your campaigns into groups based on audience or content type
Wrap-up
A good tagging system turns campaign management from a headache into a simple filtering exercise. Set up your categories based on how you actually think about your campaigns, keep the names simple, and use them consistently.
The time you spend setting this up properly will pay off every time you need to find old campaigns or analyse performance across similar message types.
Learn about QuickSMS: https://www.quicksms.com/