How To Effectively Track Your Online Advertising

Whether you’re searching for a giant forest-dwelling ape or trying to find the right message to connect with potential customers, effective tracking is essential to success.

If there’s one thing we urge clients to consider when starting a marketing campaign, it’s to develop an internal process for tracking results. Without tracking, you won’t be able to accurately measure the impact of your marketing efforts.

Here’s one example of a typical online advertising campaign and how you can implement tracking.

4 Steps for Tracking Your Online Advertising Campaigns

Google AdWords is always a smart move. So let’s pretend you want to launch a new ad campaign. Here’s the process you want to have in place:

1. Set up a customized landing page

First, you’ll probably want to set up a custom landing page on your website where you’ll drive your targeted ads. These pages should contain content that coincides with your ad, and the targeted keywords and messaging.

2. Create a specific and unique call to action

Once you set up your ad, make sure it points to your landing page. And make sure to identify a unique call to action you can track. You could use unique and highly trackable phone numbers, email addresses, or a code that’s only accessible from that page.

3. Determine what’s working and what isn’t

If you have multiple campaigns and ads, your unique call to action will help you identify the successes from the failures. If you have Google Analytics installed on your site, you’ll also be able to use them to track what initiatives are outperforming others.

4. Use your results to adjust and improve

The combination of targeted ads and the relevant landing pages you’ve created will shed some light on the messages that are driving results. Even if it’s not Google AdWords, most ad management interfaces provide information about your ad and the interaction your customers have with it.

Now you can use that data to customize the ads and landing pages even further—building a more personalized relationship with your customers.

The Ultimate Goal of Tracking: Create Stronger Connections and Produce Better Results

This is just one example of how you can use online advertising to build stronger messages and drive better results. Depending on the type of campaign you’re running, where you’re promoting it and the types of online Web stats you have in place, the sky is the limit.