Be on the right track Part 3 – Efficient trackers

It doesn’t matter what site you run, how awesome your creatives may be, or how unique your campaigns are.  The truth of the matter is, you won't get anywhere without a cold, data-driven optimization strategy. And that all starts by taking full advantage of trackers.  But, you should know that by now.

We've talked at length about trackers and how you should be using them in parts 1 and 2.

Let's continue on the right track and take a look at this epic visual aid we've designed for you.

Jogging your memory

The gist of our table:  to remind you that you should always be consistent with your labels.

The smallest inconsistency can have profound effects on the usefulness of your tracker and may minimize its benefits.

Example:  using lowercase letters when you should be using capital letters.

(e.g., there's a difference between "US" and "us" -  Which one do you mean?  This can create confusion depending on the system you’re using to analyze them.)

Using dozens and dozens of different trackers without consistency will lead to certain madness.  This table should serve as a reference point to ensure that you guys ALWAYS use the same trackers - without always having to check back what you used last time.

Oh, and you should also check the way your trackers are tidied.  As we told you in a previous post, you'd want to start with the most basic, and finish with the most detailed data to end up with something like this:

Our Lifesaver Tables ... on Tracking!

Geo

Well, this may look like an easy one at first glance, but it's actually trickier than it appears. Because there's so many countries and regions around the globe, we like to keep it short and sweet by utilizing one of the numerous GEO lists that already exists - like this one.

CampaignID

You are on your own on this one!  It’s as easy as creating your own table and counting your campaigns.  For example, a campaign on social media in July 2014 = 1; Campaign Media Buying in september 2015 = 2, and so on.  Depending on the number of campaigns you are running per year, you may want to flesh this out a little.

For instance, you can identify your campaigns this way YearMonthCampaignID (YYMMID) and you can be even more precise in your campaign IDs by using abbreviations like SM for social media and MB for media buying, for example.

In the end, it will look something like this:

Source

Another task right up your alley is making sure you know your traffic sources, especially if you are using multiple sources.  Here are a few examples on how we might name them:

Feeling inspired?

Spot

Ads and affiliate links can be promoted almost anywhere on the World Wide Web - not just in the usual banners locations according to their sizes - and naming all these spots can be time-consuming.  Here’s a little table that will help:

And you can add I for IPad and M for Mobile in front of those if you wish to adapt them.

Again, this is not an exhaustive list, but it sure is a good way to start naming your advertising spots with efficient trackers.

BannerID

This is the easiest one.  Simply use the banner ID that shows up in the upper left hand corner of any banner in the ad tool section of any offer - they consist of 5 numbers and 1 letter.  For example, 12345-A.

Product

Last but not least, it’s always best to track your products - even if it’s one of the filters you can use by default in your stats dashboard. Indeed, tracking them can easily warn you if, for example,  there was a high number of redirections.

Needless to say, you can easily convert these trackers for the mobile version simply by adding an “M” in front.

In a Nutshell

The success of your online sales hinges on you being in the “know” and having the ability to conceptualize the inner-happenings of your campaigns.

Remember, trackers are a prerequisite to success.

There’s no such thing as too much information when it comes time to analyzing data to ensure we're making the most money possible with our trackers and labels. On the other hand, make sure not to add too many characters in your trackers. Indeed, there are some networks that won’t let you use more than a certain number of characters.  Therefore, it’s always safer to keep your trackers under 50 characters.

Trackers are our friends and they’re designed to make our lives a whole lot easier.

Let’s_USE_EM!

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Be on the Right Track - Part 1 - Tracking Basics

Be on the Right Track - Part 2 - Analyzing Your Trackers

Be on the Right Track - Part 3 - Efficient Trackers