A consistent naming system helps your team find assets quickly, filter reports accurately, and avoid duplication as your ContactMonkey library grows. This article provides a practical naming framework you can adopt across emails, templates, and List Management contact lists.
The Naming Pattern
Build every name from a set of standard "blocks" in a fixed order:
[Brand/Product]_[Audience]_[Purpose/Theme]_[Region/Language]_[Channel]_[YYYY-MM-DD]_[Owner/Team]_[Version]
Key rules:
- Use underscores (
_) between blocks for easy scanning and filtering. - Use
YYYY-MM-DDdate format so names sort chronologically. - Use version numbers like
v01,v02,v03so everyone knows which file is current. - Leave out any block that doesn't apply — don't force a placeholder.
Email Naming Examples
A good email name shows who it's for, what it is, and when it's being sent.
| Name | What it tells you |
ContactMonkey_Customers_Newsletter_ProductUpdates_NA-EN_2026-03-12_JohnS_v01 |
March newsletter for North American customers, owned by John S |
ContactMonkey_Leads_Nurture_OnboardingTips_UK-EN_2026-03-20_JohnS_v02 |
Second version of a UK onboarding nurture email |
ContactMonkey_Customers_Renewal_90DaysOut_Global-EN_2026-04-01_CS_v01 |
Global renewal reminder, 90 days out, owned by Customer Success |
Tip: When you create a new email in ContactMonkey, you're prompted to add a name before entering the Email Builder. Apply this convention at that moment — it's much harder to rename assets retroactively across a large library.
Template Naming Examples
Templates are reused across many sends, so the focus shifts to use case, audience, and format rather than a specific send date.
| Name | What it tells you |
ContactMonkey_Newsletter_Customers_NA-EN_2Col_MarketingOps_v03 |
Third iteration of a two-column newsletter layout for customer comms |
ContactMonkey_ProductAnnouncement_All_Global-EN_Simple_Marketing_v01 |
Clean single-column product announcement for all regions |
ContactMonkey_Nurture_Leads_UK-EN_PlainText_Sales_v02 |
Plain-text nurture template for UK sales outreach |
Optional status tags you can append at the end:
-
_Approved— marks templates that have passed review and are ready to use -
_Draft— flags templates still in progress -
_OutlookSafe— indicates the template has been tested and formatted to Outlook standards
Contact List Naming Examples
List names work best when they communicate the data source, any applied filters, and how the list is refreshed.
| Name | What it tells you |
ContactMonkey_Prospects_Salesforce_Industry-SaaS_Size-200plus_NA-EN_Dynamic_SalesOps |
Dynamic list of SaaS prospects with 200+ employees, synced from Salesforce |
ContactMonkey_Customers_HubSpot_Plan-Pro_Renewal-90Days_Global-EN_Dynamic_CS |
Dynamic list of Pro-plan customers up for renewal in 90 days |
ContactMonkey_EventLeads_ZoomWebinar_Webinar-Mar2026_NA-EN_Import_2026-03-05_MarkG |
Manual import of March 2026 webinar attendees |
Note: For imported lists that won't be refreshed, include the import date so your team knows how recent the data is.
Approved Terms Reference
To keep names consistent across your team, choose from this standardized vocabulary:
| Block | Approved Terms |
| Audience | Leads, Prospects, Customers, Trials, Partners |
| Type | Newsletter, Nurture, Onboarding, Renewal, Reactivation |
| Region/Language | NA-EN, NA-FR, UK-EN, EU-EN, Global-EN |
| Owner/Team | MarketingOps, SalesOps, CS, Product |
Share this list with your team and store it somewhere accessible (a shared doc or pinned Slack/Teams message) so everyone uses the same terms when naming new assets.