Tracking Custom Marketing Campaign Data

Whether you're testing a new advertising channel, or measuring the response from an email blast, WebStarts Analytics makes it easy to see exactly how a specific marketing campaign is performing. Check out the steps below to see how to set up and start monitoring Campaigns...

Collect Campaign Data Using Custom URLs
Using campaign parameters in the destination URLs for your site allows you to monitor the effectiveness of a given ad campaign. For example, a recent Holiday Sale you may have run could be generating a lot of new sales, but without proper Campaign tracking via custom referral URLs to your site, you might be wasting money on an add that isn't performing. When a user clicks on a referral link, the parameters you add are then sent to your WebStarts Analytics and the related data is made available under the Campaigns report tab.

Setting Up Campaign Parameters
There are 5 parameters you can add to your destination URLs:

• utm_source: Used to identify the specific ad channel, website, publication, etc. responsible for the traffic to your site. For example: Google Adwords, Facebook, or Email Broadcast.
• utm_medium: Used to denote the type of ad campaign. For example: PPC Ad, Banner Ad, Email newsletter.
• utm_campaign: Used to name an ad campaign, such as 'Holiday Sale' or 'Half Off Sale'.
• utm_term: Identify a paid search term with this parameter. Example: For Google Adwords you would add utm_term={keyword} to the destination URL to dynamically record the specific keyword used for a particular click.
• utm_content: Used to record different actions within the same campaign. For example, if you have two call-to-action links or buttons within the same email message, you can use the utm_content parameter to record each separate action to determine which one is more effective.

Each parameter added must be paired with a value that you assign. Each parameter/value pair then contains campaign-related information.

For example, you might use the following parameter-value pairs for a Holiday Sale campaign:

• utm_source = holiday-sale-email to identify traffic that results from your Holiday Sale email campaign.
• utm_medium = email to identify traffic from the specific email campaign.
• utm_campaign = holiday-sale to identify the ad campaign as a whole.

If you used these parameters in a custom URL to your site, the results would be as follows...

https://www.yoursite.com/?utm_source=holiday-sale-email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=holiday-sale

Keep in mind the following when creating your custom URL...

• Make sure to begin the parameter string after the URL to your site with a question mark (?).
• Each parameter and assigned value needs to be separated by an equal sign (=).
• Separate each new parameter/value you use with an ampersand (&).
• Do not include any spaces in the URL as it will cause the parameters to fail to record the data.
• The order in which you add parameters to a URL is not important, but the formatting is critical.

When adding parameters to a URL, it's a good idea to always use the utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign parameters, with utm_term and utm_content being optional for only a specific type of campaign. utm_ is simply the prefix required for the parameter to properly record data.

Reviewing Campaign Data
Once you have your custom destination URL set up, be sure to test it in a new web browser to ensure it is tracking properly from your Campaigns Report tab. This is also where you will review the data for the Campaign once it is active.

1. From your WebStarts account dashboard, click the Analytics panel.
2. Click the Campaigns tab to view any active Campaign Data.
3. Click on a specific Campaign listed to view all traffic details reported for the specified time frame.