Getting started with Custom Tagging
Custom tagging gives you the flexibility to label ads with any criteria you want, even if you didn't capture it in your original naming convention. Think of it as a way to add context to your creative after the fact.
Common use cases:
Noting visual elements (beach vibes, fall aesthetic, etc.)
Marking performance tiers (success, follow-up needed, failure)
Tracking seasonal vs. season-agnostic creative
The best part? You can add custom tags as you notice important details, then use them to build comparative reports and spot what's actually driving performance.
Adding custom tags to your ads
To add tags to your creatives, you need to have collaborator access or higher. Guests can still view tags.
Tags are added on the creative asset level. Therefore, they are not added to the specific ad name, but rather the creative asset itself.
To add custom tags to a creative:
Click into any ad thumbnail preview, you'll see a bar for custom tags appear.
Select a pre-made custom tag, or create your own. You can add as many custom tags as you need.
(Optional) Click the three dots next to a custom tag to open the color coding options, this lets you further organize how they appear in Motion.
Three custom tags to start with:
Success - Ads performing well
Follow - Ads that need more time/testing before declaring success
Failure - Ads that didn't work out
Viewing your custom tags
There are two sections where you will see tags listed. You will see tags under each creative preview, and in its own column in the table chart.
To enable the table chart view:
Click on Table settings
Toggle on Show tags column
Filtering reports with custom tags
Once you’ve created your custom tags, you can use them to filter your reports.
Select Add filter at the top of your report.
Choose Custom tags, and pick the one you're analyzing.
Comparative Analysis reports with custom tag filters are powerful. Here's an example using success vs failure custom tags.
Let's say you've been marking your ads as "success" or "failure" for a few weeks. Now you want to see how they compare:
Create a new comparative report
Apply the "success" custom tag as one category
Apply the "failure" tag as another category
Add "follow" if you want to see your middle-ground ads, too.
Now you'll see an overview of how much you invested in each category and how they performed against each other.
This matters so you can spot patterns like:
Do successful ads have higher thumb-stop rates?
What's the add-to-cart ratio difference between winners and losers?
Are certain formats or hooks showing up more in your success group?
It's much easier to take insights back to your creative team with actual data, not just gut feelings.
Deleting custom tags
You can delete them by opening a creative preview, selecting the three dots next to a custom tag, and deleting from the Manage tags pop-up.
Custom Tagging is only available on some plans. Contact our support team through the chat bubble below for information on getting access!
Other use cases for Custom Tagging
For creative teams managing sprints:
Ad custom tags at the end of each sprint cycle (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) to track how many made it to "success" vs. needed more iteration vs. failed. Great for showing progress and understanding your creative hit rate.
For catching things you missed in naming conventions:
Notice an ad is crushing it because of a specific background or music choice you didn't originally track? Add a custom tag. Now you can find all ads with that element and see if it's a pattern worth doubling down on.
For external creative partners:
Use custom tags to create clear performance reports that show partners exactly which concepts worked and why, without needing to explain every metric.
FAQs about Custom Tagging
Can I add a custom tag to multiple ads at once?
No, each tag must be applied one at a time to a creative.