CONVERSION TRACKING
Conversion tracking may be the most important concept in marketing today. The ability to track conversions of all types and tie that conversion back to a specific marketing channel, such as PPC Sponsored Search, Shopping Search, Email Newsletter Links and Email Sponsorship ads, gives marketers a power they have never possessed before – to turn marketing into a sales or lead generator versus being a cost center.
Conversion tracking comes in different forms based on the channel and tools being used as well as the type of conversion. Many companies assume that since they have no ecommerce that they can not track conversions. But a conversion could be:
- A visit to a web page
- A phone call
- An email newsletter signup
- A contact us form
- An event registration
- A store locater
- An online sale
- A software download
- A membership registration
Coupon redemption may be the simplest method of tracking conversion. A coupon is delivered via some medium which could be either online or offline and the number of coupons which are redeemed is tracked. The only difficulty with coupon redemption is that it generally requires some sort of discount offer to entice the conversion event which does not fit with all business models.
Unique phone numbers can be used to track conversions which take place over the phone. With this method each marketing vehicle or campaign uses a separate phone number and then calls to that phone number are tracked to determine response. Unique phone numbers are common in infomercials in TV/Cable advertising but can also be used to differentiate online publisher channels or simply to give the website its own phone number to track calls coming from the website versus a yellow pages ad or business card.
Unique URLs are similar to phone numbers, but instead of the call to action of making a phone call you are asking a prospective customer to visit a web page. Every time someone visits that page they are tracked separately to tell how successful different campaigns or ads were in driving traffic.