How to Track Marketing Through Your Website Today

We know a lot of effort, time and money goes into building marketing campaigns and we know you want to make sure you're getting the results you're aiming for. What if we told you it's possible to track each of your campaigns individually, giving you the ability to see what's performing and what isn't? And not just your standard stats of click-through rates, impressions and views - but an entire big picture view of your marketing campaigns. Say you're running a holiday special over the Christmas period which is going really well, but it's on multiple social channels. How can you know which social channel is the one generating the most revenue for you throughout the duration of this campaign? Thanks to the Campaign URL Builder - you can.

With a Campaign URL Builder, you can track your marketing through your website. It helps you identify how consumers are finding their way to your website, giving you a more precise and clear view of which of your campaigns is bringing you the best ROI. Additionally, you'll receive more detailed insights to who your audience is. You can track any campaigns, from email, through to forms on your site.

In simple terms, what the URL builder provides you is a link. This link includes code that is created by Google Analytics. Then, when a potential consumer or client clicks on your link, that code will report how they got to your website by analysing the referral URL.

How to Use the Campaign URL Builder

Once you're logged in to your Google Analytics, locate the "Campaign URL Builder" tab on the left-hand side, under "Demos & Tools".

Step 1:

You'll have to add in all the UTM parameters in the tool provided (these are parameters that make Google Analytics track your data, logging it in your page view). The UTM's are:

• Campaign Source - The platform in which you're sharing your trackable link. For example: Facebook, Twitter, Google.
• Campaign Medium - This refers to the link you're sharing (post, tweet, email or even AdWords if you're tracking Google as a source).
• Campaign Name - Make these descriptive enough that you will recognise which campaign effort it belongs to when the data appears in your Google Analytics. Ensure you're consistent with capitilisation and spelling, as Google is case sensitive.
• Campaign Term - This isn't a highly used option, but it refers to tracking specific keywords for paid organic campaigns if you choose to use it. However, this data is also provided through AdWords.
• Campaign Content - This is also optional, but refers to if you have multiple links in the same campaign, such as two links in one email. This UTM allows you to differentiate between those two links.

Once your source and medium are entered, which are the two most important UTM's in the above list, it'll automatically be built and attached to an adjusted URL.

Step 2:

Copy the URL or Convert URL to Short Link once it's generated.

Step 3:

Paste this generated URL code into your social media updates.

Step 4:

Once the campaign is up and running, you can see your results, which will be located in your Google Analytics account. Just follow through Acquisition -> Campaigns.

Extra Hot Tips For Collecting Your Campaign Data:

Only tag what you really need

Save time and effort by keeping in mind what you do and don't need to tag. GoogleAds are automatically tracked by Google Analytics. You also shouldn't try to tag unpaid keyword links from search engines. As long as you are auto-tagging, you don't need to tag Google Ads URLs. On that note, if you're using other search engines, you'll need to tag the URL for those ads.

Only use the campaign UTM's you need

Keep it simple!

Use a spreadsheet if you feel necessary

This is helpful if there are multiple people working on the campaign for the purpose of helping you track the shortened and full URL, as well as all the associated UTM codes in those URLs.

Don't forget UTM's are case sensitive

This means "facebook", "Facebook" and "FaCeBook" will all be tracked as separate sources - separating your data as well.

Now you've read these tips, you're ready to get tracking! With more detailed data, you can make more well-informed decisions about your business's marketing.

Do you still want detailed insights to your marketing campaigns, but want some extra help with any of the above techniques? Feel free to reach out to your internet marketing specialists here for more information!