Tactic Labeling Best Practices

Decide on Clear, Mutually Exclusive Labels

Why It Matters: Tactics should be distinct categories—e.g., “Paid Social,” “Search,” “Display,” “Shopping,” etc.—so that each campaign fits only one.
How to Do It: Begin by identifying the most common types of advertising in your media mix. Make sure your definitions aren’t overlapping (e.g., “Paid Social” vs. “Paid Social – Retargeting”).
Watch Out For: Overly similar labels (like “Search – Brand” and “Brand Search”); consolidate whenever possible to prevent confusion.

Keep Your Labeling Strategy Consistent Over Time

Why It Matters: Consistency is key for historical comparisons and accurate attribution. Drastic or frequent changes in naming conventions can create reporting gaps.
How to Do It: Document your tactic definitions in a shared location. Align stakeholders—media planners, marketing ops, leadership—on the final list.
Watch Out For: Tweaks that get made ad hoc by individuals. Encourage everyone to follow the agreed-upon naming rules.

Use Bulk Editing to Save Time

Why It Matters: Many organizations run hundreds or thousands of campaigns. Updating Tactics one by one can be tedious and prone to error.
How to Do It: In Settings > Tactics, check the boxes next to multiple campaigns. Assign or update Tactics to all selected campaigns with a single action.
Watch Out For: Forgetting to click Save after bulk edits. Changes won’t take effect if you skip that step.

Revisit Tactics Periodically

Why It Matters: As marketing strategies evolve—new channels, testing initiatives, or retired campaigns—your labeling system might need a refresh.
How to Do It: Schedule routine audits (e.g., quarterly) to confirm that current tactics reflect your actual campaign mix.
Watch Out For: Letting old or irrelevant Tactic labels sit unused. If you no longer run “Influencer” campaigns, consider removing or renaming that Tactic.

Leverage Tactics for Reporting

Why It Matters: Mid-level reporting provides more context than Channel-level or Campaign-level alone, letting you see how different groups of campaigns perform.
How to Do It: On the Performance page, select the Tactics sub-navigation to view aggregated metrics (e.g., Spend, ROAS, CAC) per Tactic.
Watch Out For: Overly granular Tactics that result in low campaign counts, making it harder to glean performance trends at scale.

Combine Tactics with Other Prescient AI Features

Why It Matters: Tactics enhance not just reporting but also optimization scenarios. They can serve as a mid-level roll-up in the Optimizer’s Outcome screen.
How to Do It: Run an optimization in Prescient AI and view recommendations grouped by Tactic. Compare these with campaign-level insights to understand how budget shifts might affect broader categories.
Watch Out For: Failing to cross-check Tactic data with other segmentations like funnel stage or brand/non-brand. Tactics are one dimension; funnel or brand targeting might also influence performance.

Manage & Maintain Tactics with Care

Why It Matters: Clean data structures improve attribution modeling and prepare you for future benchmarking capabilities.
How to Do It: Go to the Tactics Settings page to add, edit, or delete Tactics. Use the hover-over X to remove a tactic if it’s obsolete; for multiple updates, select Tactics via checkboxes and choose the bulk action.
Watch Out For: Accidentally deleting a Tactic still in use; campaigns assigned to it will default to “no tactic” until reassigned.

Tactic Labeling FAQs

What if a campaign fits more than one Tactic?

You can only assign one Tactic to each campaign. Pick the most relevant one. If you need further segmentation—such as distinguishing brand vs. non-brand—consider using additional labels or funnel positioning.

How often should I update Tactics?

Generally, no more than once a quarter or whenever there’s a significant shift in your marketing strategy or media mix. Infrequent, planned updates preserve historical consistency.

Can I create or delete Tactics in bulk?

Yes. In the Tactics Settings page, select multiple campaigns or Tactics at once to add, edit, or delete them in a single action. This is especially helpful for large-scale changes.

What if Prescient AI’s recommended tactic structure doesn’t perfectly align with my internal categories?

Start with Prescient’s out-of-the-box structure, then adapt it to fit your organizational needs. Try to retain high-level groupings so data remains comparable and easy to interpret.

Why do Tactics matter for the Optimizer?

Tactic-level recommendations can highlight broader budget shifts—like moving spend from “Search – Non-Brand” to “Paid Social”—that might yield bigger gains than focusing solely on individual campaigns.

When we create tactic labels (e.g., “TOF” or “Prospecting”), are they global or per-user?

Tactic labels are global within the organization. Once they’re created or modified, all users see the same labels.

By following these tips and ensuring your Tactic assignments make sense for both your team and your broader marketing goals, you’ll maximize the usefulness of Tactics in Prescient AI—from streamlined reporting to more strategic budget optimizations.