In this article we will discuss how tracking can be used to enhance online marketing practices.
Online marketing is now an integral part of the marketing. We see that the click prices are constantly increasing and Google, Facebook or Instagram are taking the lion’s shares from the advertising budgets. The potential in online marketing is enormous using modern tracking methods and advanced analytics tools. However, most agencies and companies hardly use it. There are many reasons for this.
To find out which method will bring in success you need a knowledge of modern tools
Ultimately, tracking means nothing more than tracking the customer journey. But it often fails because there is a lack of knowledge in many agencies or companies, which ultimately leads to the fact that many do not know which advertising channels can create the best leverage to generating income. In order to optimally use advertising budgets, tracking must be professionally set up.
Customers often only receive monotonous campaign reports that only show clicks and impressions of the campaigns. And in best case, these reports show conversions as well. However, a conversion is individually defined and can be anything from the time on site (length of stay) to a click on a certain element. So what exactly a conversion means must be discussed with the agency in advance.
Depending on the type of conversion and website, setting up conversion tracking can be complex and time-consuming. We would recommend Google Tag Manager, which is a very helpful tool in this manner. All tracking codes such as Google Analytics etc. can be managed via this system. You can even set up tracking without having access to backend or customer’s server.
The conversions then only have to be stored professionally with Google Analytics or in the respective advertising system.
How to be fair about which channel triggered the conversion?
Ând sometimes -especially when there are several advertising channels active simultaneously- it is not easy to understand which channel triggered the conversion. In order to evaluate the conversions fairly, the advertising channels offer various attribution models.
For example, in Google tools you can see First Click, Last Click & Linear. Depending on how you design the customer journey, you can pick a suitable model. With linear attribution, for example, each advertising channel is allocated a small share of the conversion.
Timing is always important
Different advertising platforms such as Facebook, Instagram or Google measure the attribution period differently. The attribution period, or often called the attribution window, describes the period in which an action on the website can be counted as a conversion.
If the attribution window is set to 180 days, for example, a user who visited the website through an advertising campaign 179 days ago and booked a day ago, is counted as a conversion.
The period can usually be set differently depending on the advertising platform. You should also ensure that this period isn’t too short, otherwise your measurements won’t reflect what really happened . Especially with high-priced products, there are often several days or even weeks between the first contact via the advertising platform and the final purchase.
Use tracking wisely to reach your goals
A significant advantage of online marketing is of course, its measurability. However, many agencies and companies only measure to a limited extent. A meaningful return on ad spending (ROA) is often missed out. With data-driven marketing decisions based on tracking, budgets can be better positioned and used in the right advertising channels.
