How to Use Airship Tags and Custom Events for Advanced User Segmentation

If you’re tired of blasting push notifications to everyone and hoping for the best, you’re not alone. Segmentation is supposed to make your user messaging smarter, but most teams just scratch the surface. This guide is for marketers, product managers, and developers who want to actually use Airship’s tags and custom events to build segments that matter—and skip the marketing nonsense.

Why Airship Tags and Custom Events Matter

If you’re using Airship, you’ve probably seen “tags” and “custom events” in the docs or dashboard and wondered if you’re doing enough with them. Here’s the quick version:

  • Tags are like sticky notes you slap onto a user (“interested_in_cats”, “paid_user”, “beta_tester”). They let you group users fast.
  • Custom events are individual actions users take (“completed_purchase”, “shared_article”, “watched_video”). You can use these for behavioral targeting.

Most teams use tags for basic stuff like “iOS_user” and call it a day. But with some planning, you can build advanced segments that actually drive results. Custom events let you go further—if you set them up right.

Let’s cut through the fluff and walk through how to use both, step by step.

Step 1: Get Clear on What You Want to Segment

Before you start slapping tags on everything, step back and ask: What actually matters for our business?

Here’s what’s worth segmenting:

  • User lifecycle: New users, active users, dormant users, churned users.
  • Paid vs. free: Paying subscribers, trialists, free users.
  • Product usage: Features used, levels completed, products viewed.
  • Interests or preferences: Categories browsed, genres liked, settings chosen.

Not worth tagging: - Device models, unless you actually act on it. - “Engaged last 7 days” if you’re never going to target that group. - Anything you’re not going to use in campaigns or A/B tests.

Pro tip: If you can’t think of a message you’d send to a segment, don’t bother tracking it.

Step 2: Plan Your Tagging and Event Structure

Jot down a list of the tags and events you’ll need. Resist the urge to go nuts—too many tags create chaos later.

Tag Naming Tips

  • Consistent: Use lowercase, underscores, and a clear pattern (premium_user, news_reader).
  • Descriptive: Tags should make sense to anyone on your team.
  • Avoid one-off tags: Don’t create a new tag for every little thing. Use tags for groupings, not unique values.

Custom Event Basics

  • Event name: Use verbs (“purchased_item”, “shared_story”).
  • Properties: Attach extra data if you need it (e.g. purchase amount, item type).
  • Don’t overdo it: Only track events you’ll use for messaging, analytics, or triggering automation.

Example Plan

| Segment Goal | Tags Needed | Custom Events | |-------------------------|----------------------|--------------------| | Identify paid users | paid_user | completed_payment| | Target video watchers | watched_video | played_video | | Re-engage deal seekers | deal_hunter | clicked_coupon |

What to skip: Tracking every button click. Focus on meaningful actions.

Step 3: Implement Tags and Custom Events in Your App

You’ll need a developer for this part—don’t try to hack it in the dashboard alone.

Tagging Users

You assign tags using Airship’s SDK (mobile, web, or backend APIs). Here’s the gist for mobile apps:

swift // Example: Swift (iOS) UAirship.channel()?.addTags(["paid_user", "beta_tester"]) UAirship.channel()?.updateRegistration()

java // Example: Android UAirship.shared().getPushManager().editTags() .addTag("paid_user") .apply();

  • When to tag: After a user signs up, subscribes, or hits a milestone.
  • When to remove tags: If a user cancels a subscription, remove paid_user.

Sending Custom Events

Custom events are sent with optional properties. Here’s a skeleton example:

swift // Swift (iOS) let event = UAEvent(name: "completed_purchase") event.setValue(29.99, forKey: "amount") UAirship.analytics().addEvent(event)

java // Android CustomEvent event = new CustomEvent.Builder("completed_purchase") .setEventValue(29.99) .build(); event.track();

  • Attach properties: Only if you’ll segment or analyze by them.
  • Batching: Don’t fire off thousands of events for every micro-interaction.

Common mistake: Tagging users in the wrong place (e.g., before confirming payment). Make sure the action is actually complete first.

Step 4: Build Segments in Airship

Now, log into Airship’s dashboard and actually use those tags and events:

Creating Segments with Tags

You can combine tags with AND/OR logic:

  • Users with paid_user AND news_reader
  • Users with deal_hunter OR deal_subscriber

Pro tip: Keep it simple. Complex logic (“users with tag A but not B, who did event C in the last 3 days but not D”) is tempting, but often fragile and hard to maintain.

Segmenting by Custom Events

Airship lets you create segments based on event activity:

  • Users who triggered completed_purchase in the last 30 days
  • Users who did not trigger watched_video in the last week

You can also combine tags and events for even tighter targeting.

What doesn’t work: Building segments nobody ever uses. If a segment just sits there, delete it.

Step 5: Use Segments in Campaigns and Automations

This is where the work pays off. Use your segments to:

  • Send targeted push notifications or in-app messages.
  • Set up automations (e.g., “Welcome back” for dormant users).
  • Run A/B tests by segment.

Real talk: Don’t blast everyone with every campaign. You’ll annoy users, get unsubscribes, and lose trust. Use segments to reduce noise, not create more.

Examples

  • Re-engage churned users: Target users with no active_user tag and no recent opened_app event.
  • Upsell: Target users with free_user tag who triggered a used_premium_feature event.
  • Personalized content: News readers tagged with sports_fan get sports notifications only.

Step 6: Audit and Adjust Regularly

Set a reminder every month or quarter to:

  • Delete unused tags and segments.
  • Check if your events are still useful.
  • Update your tagging as your app evolves.

Pro tip: If you’re not using a tag or event to drive a campaign, kill it. Less clutter = less confusion.

What Actually Works (and What Doesn’t)

Works: - Tagging for broad groups—paid, free, power users. - Tracking key events, not every possible action. - Combining tags and events for smart targeting.

Doesn’t work: - Tag soup: 100+ tags nobody understands or uses. - Over-segmentation (“users who like blue shirts and visited on a Wednesday”). - Setting and forgetting—segments get stale fast.

Ignore: Vendor hype about “AI-powered” segmentation unless you have clean, actionable data. Focus on getting the basics right.

Keep It Simple—and Iterate

Advanced segmentation with Airship isn’t about having the fanciest setup or the most tags. It’s about picking the signals that matter, wiring them up cleanly, and actually using them to talk to users in a way that makes sense. Start simple, see what works, and tweak as you go. Don’t let complexity sneak in—your future self (and your users) will thank you.