Common questions
Why do I need a campaign naming convention?
A consistent naming convention makes your ad account searchable, filterable, and reportable. Without one, you end up with campaign names like "New Campaign 3" and "Test - DO NOT DELETE", which makes it impossible to filter by funnel stage, audience type, or creative format in reporting tools. A naming convention also lets you build automated rules, budget scripts, and pivot tables that group campaigns by meaningful attributes. For agencies managing multiple clients, it is a non-negotiable for keeping accounts auditable and handoff-ready.
What fields should I include in my campaign naming convention?
At the campaign level, include: brand identifier, objective (conversions, traffic, awareness), and funnel stage (TOF/MOF/BOF). At the ad set level, include: audience type (lookalike, interest, retargeting, broad) and geography. At the ad level, include: creative format (video, image, carousel), creative concept or angle name, and variant number. Keep names readable and under 60-80 characters where possible. The fields you include at each level should reflect how you want to slice your reporting - think about what questions you will want to answer in six months and make sure your naming answers them.
What separator should I use in my campaign names?
Underscores (_) are the most common separator because they are URL-safe, work in spreadsheet formulas, and read cleanly in ad platform interfaces. Pipes (|) are visually clear but some platforms truncate display names at pipe characters. Hyphens (-) look clean but can create parsing issues if your abbreviations also contain hyphens. Avoid spaces entirely. Whichever separator you choose, stick with it across every campaign - consistency matters more than which character you pick.
How do I structure naming conventions differently for Meta vs. Google Ads?
For Meta: campaigns hold budget and objective, ad sets hold audience and placement, ads hold the creative. A typical structure is Campaign (Brand_Objective_FunnelStage), Ad Set (AudienceType_Geo), Ad (Format_Concept_Variant). For Google Ads: campaigns hold network type and budget, ad groups hold keyword themes. A typical structure is Campaign (Brand_Network_Objective), Ad Group (KeywordTheme_MatchType), Ad (Format_CopyVariant). This tool pre-populates sensible defaults for each platform - just switch the platform selector above.
Should I include dates in my campaign names?
Including a date (format: YYYYMM) at the campaign level is useful for agencies and accounts where you regularly rebuild or refresh campaigns. It makes it obvious which campaigns are active vs. legacy. However, if you use the same campaigns indefinitely and just swap out ad sets and ads, dates add noise without value at that level. A better approach in that case is to include dates at the ad level so you can track creative lifespan and know when fatigue might set in.
