Google Analytics Campaign Tracking Guide - Loves Data

To track your custom marketing campaigns into Google Analytics, you need ... Social' default channel grouping in Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Courses Blog About Contact FreeAnalyticsCourse May1,2022 DigitalAnalytics BenjaminMangold GoogleAnalyticsCampaignTrackingGuide Here’syourguidetocorrectlytagging(andtracking)yourmarketingcampaignsintoGoogleAnalytics.Let’sgo!TotrackyourcustommarketingcampaignsintoGoogleAnalytics,youneedtousecampaigntags(whicharealsocalledUTMtags),thesetagsallowyoutoseeyourmarketingreportedseparatelyinGoogleAnalytics.Andwhenyoucombinecampaigntrackingwithconversionmetrics,includinggoalcompletionsandtransactions,youcanpinpointwhat’sworking(andnotworking).Thismeansyoucanadjustyourfuturemarketingcampaigns,informyourstrategyandevenreallocateyourbudgettocampaignsthataredeliveringthebestresults. ThemoreinboundmarketingcampaignsyoutrackintoGoogleAnalytics,thebetter.Thisisbecauseyouwillhavemoreaccuratedataandaclearerpictureofthesessionsassociatedwithyourmarketingactivities.Whensomeonecomestoyourwebsitefromoneofyourcampaignsandtheyaren’ttaggedcorrectly,youlosetheabilitytoclearlyseehowyourcampaignsareperforming.It’scriticaltoonlytrackyourinboundmarketingusingcampaigntags.Nowyoumightbewondering–‘Whyjustinboundmarketing?’Thisisbecausecampaigntagsworkinaveryparticularway.Ifweweretousethemwithinourwebsitetotrackpromotions,wewouldbeimpactingourdata(andnotinagoodway).Soifyouwanttomeasurepromotionswithinyourwebsite,thenyoushouldreadmypostontrackinginternalcampaigns.Campaigntrackingcanbeconfusingifit’sthefirsttimeyou’reusingcampaigntagsandthat’sreallybecausethey’respecifictoyourorganization.Youcannameyourcampaigntagsanythingyoulike.We’lllookatsomerecommendednamingconventionsforyourtags,butit’salsoimportanttounderstandifsomeoneelsehasalreadybeenusingcampaigntags,youmightseesomeunexpectednamesshowingupinyourreports.Whatarecampaigntags?CampaigntagsareextraparametersthatyoucanaddtotheendofURLsusedforinboundcampaigns.Theyallowyoutocapturedetailsaboutwherethelinkwasseenandhowitwasshared.Thisallowsyoutounderstandandcomparetheperformanceofdifferentmarketingcampaigns.HereisanexampleofacampaigntaggedURL: https://www.lovesdata.com/courses?utm_source=twitter.com &utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=twitter%20ads&utm_id=twitter052022Andhereisthesamelinkwithoutthecampaignstags: https://www.lovesdata.com/coursesYouwillnoticethatthereareextraparametersattheendofthetaggedURL.TheGoogleAnalyticstrackingcodeautomaticallycapturesthevalueofeachoftheseparametersandpresentstheminyourreports.Theparametersare:utm_sourcewhichisusedtodefinethesourceofthecampaign.Thebestwaytothinkofsourceistoask–‘Whereisthemessageseen?’Fortheexampleabove,thelinkwaspostedonTwitter,sothesourcebecomestwitter.com.utm_mediumallowsyoutodefine‘howthemessagewascommunicated’(inourexamplethiswassettopaid).IwilltalkaboutwhyIhaveused‘paid’inamoment,butfornow,thisallowsmetounderstandthatthelinkwassharedonasocialnetwork.utm_campaignisusedtodefinetheoverarchingmarketingcampaign.Inourexample,thisistwitteradswhichquicklyallowsmetoseethatthiswasapaidmarketingcampaign.utm_idletsyouassignyourownidentifiertothemarketingcampaign.Ifyouplanonuploadingthird-partycostdatatoGoogleAnalytics(forexamplefromFacebookAds)thensettingthisparameterisrequired.Inourexample,wesettwitter052022asthecampaignID.utm_termandutm_contentaretwooptionalcampaigntags.Theyaredesignedfortrackingkeywordsandheadlinesofnon-GoogleAdsCPC(CostPerClick)campaigns.Forexample,ifyou’rerunningadsonBing.Althoughyoucanmakeuseoftheseforothertypesofcampaigns,Iwouldrecommendavoidingthemunlessyouknowwhatyou’redoingastheycanhaveunintendedeffects. TheseallmaptodimensionsavailablewithinyourGoogleAnalyticsreports.Forexample,youwillfindthevaluesyousetforutm_campaign,utm_source,andutm_mediumintheAcquisitionreport.TheywillalsobemappedtoGoogle’sautomaticmarketingchannelclassificationswhenyouapplytheDefaultChannelGroupingdimensionstoyourreports.AndyoucanalsocreateyourownexplorationreportstopresentthevaluesthatGoogleAnalyticshascollectedfromyourtaggedURLs.HowdoIaddcampaigntagstoURLs?Thereareafewdifferentwaystoaddcampaigntagstoyourlinks.ThemostcommonmethodistousetheGoogleAnalyticsCampaignURLBuilder.ThistoolallowsyoutoquicklyseethedifferenttagsthatcanbeusedandyoucancreateataggedURLwhichyoucanthencopyandpasteintoyourcampaign. Onceyou’recomfortablewiththedifferentcampaigntagsavailable,youcanaddthemdirecltytotheendoftheURLswithinyourcampaigns.Oryoumightdecidetouseanothertool,forexample,aspreadsheettoaddcampaigntagsandkeeparecordofallthetagsyou’vepreviouslyused.There’snorightorwrongwaytoaddtags,sogowithwhateverworksforyou.HowshouldInamemycampaigntags?Thisisagreatquestion!Thereisnoonewaytonameyourcampaigns,I’veseenverycustomcampaigntagsrightthroughtosimpletags.Iwouldalwaysrecommendgoingwithsomethingsimpleandreadableoversomethinglikeaninternalcode–itmakesiteasierforpeopletounderstandthecampaignswithinyourreports.Nowlet’slookatmybestpracticerecommendationsforthemostcommoncampaignsyouaregoingtotag. EmailCampaignsWhenyoubegintotrackemailcampaigns,therearethreeoptions.Youcantrackeditions,emailsegmentsoracombination.Here’sanexampleofusingthe‘Source’totracktheedition: SourceMediumCampaignTermContent march2022emailemailnewsarticlelink march2022emailemailnewsbutton march2022emailemailnewsimage Here’sanexampleofusingthe‘Source’totracktheemailsegmentorlist: SourceMediumCampaignTermContent membersemailemailnewsarticlelink previousbuyeremailemailnewsbutton generalemailemailnewsimage Andhereisanexamplewhereweusethe‘Source’totracktheeditionandthe‘Campaign’totracktheemailsegment: SourceMediumCampaignTermContent march2022emailemailmembersarticlelink march2022emailemailpreviousbuyerbutton march2022emailemailgeneralimage Manyemailsystems,likeMailChimpandCampaignMonitor,allowyoutoaddcampaigntagstoyourlinksautomatically.Thisisagreatoptiontospeedupcampaigntagging,butinsomecases,youmightchoosetomanuallytagyourlinkstohavemorecontroloverwhatappearsinyourreports. Non-GoogleAdsCPCCampaignsHereisanexampleofhowwemighttaganon-GoogleAdsCPCcampaign: SourceMediumCampaignTermContent bingcpc Youwillnoticetheuseof‘Term’and‘Content’forthistaggingconvention.Inthisexample,thecampaignname,keywordandadIDwillbeautomaticallyplacedintothetag. SocialMediaCampaignsExamplesoftaggingpaidtrafficonsocialmedia: SourceMediumCampaignTermContent linkedin.compaidlinkedinadsadversionone facebook.compaidfacebookadsadversionfive Settingthe‘Medium’topaidforaninboundcampaignwillshowupwithinthe‘PaidSocial’defaultchannelgroupinginGoogleAnalytics4(GA4).Itwillalsomeanyoucancomparetheperformanceofyourorganic(free)andpaidsocialinitiativesbecauseyourorganicsocialpoststhatlinktoyourwebsitewillappearasreferraltraffic(andalsoincludedinthe‘OrganicSocial’defaultchannelgrouping).Forexample,linkedin.comwouldbethesourceandreferralwouldbethemediumforanuntaggedlink.Ifyou’reusingUniversalAnalytics,thenit’simportanttohighlightthatsetting‘paid’asthemediumwillmeanthatthissocialtrafficisreported,butnotinthededicatedsocialreports.Thisiscoveredinourtrackingsocialmediapost. OfflineCampaignsAnexampleoftagginganofflinecampaignthatsendstraffictoyourwebsite: SourceMediumCampaignTermContent newspaperofflineprintad Onceyou’vecreatedyourcampaigntaggedlinkforyourofflinecampaign,youwillneedtocreatearedirectthatisthenusedintheprintad.Continuingourexample,youmightsetupthefollowingURL: www.example.com/printThiswouldbeincludedinyourprintad,butitredirectstothecampaigntaggedURL: http://www.example.com/content/promotion?utm_source=newspaper &utm_medium=offline&utm_campaign=print%20adThisallowsyoutotrackpeoplewhoentertheURLfromyourprintedadtovisityourwebsite. IsthereanythingIshouldn’ttag?Idon’trecommendtaggingGoogleAdscampaigns.Instead,youshoulduseGoogle’sintegration.Thisprovidesyouwithbetter(andmoreaccurate)datawithinyourreports.TolinkGoogleAdsandGoogleAnalytics,headto‘Admin’andyoucanthenlinktheproducts.IcovertheexactstepsyouneedtotakeinmypostonlinkingGoogleAdstoGoogleAnalytics.Oh,anddon’tforget,asImentionedatthestartofthispost,campaigntagsshouldonlybeusedforinboundlinkstoyourwebsite.Makesureyoudon’tapplythemtolinkswithinyourwebsiteoryouwillseeincorrectsessionnumbersandattributionforyourmarketingcampaigns. NewerPost11ThingsYouShouldKnowAboutTrackingSocialMediawithGoogleAnalyticsOlderPost6BenefitsOfMakingTheSwitchToGoogleAnalytics4 LearnhowtosetupandusethelatestversionofGoogleAnalyticsinthiscomprehensivecourse. ViewCourse   LearnhowtouseGoogleTagManagertoimplementtrackingtagstomeasureyourusers. ViewCourse   LearnhowtobuilddashboardsandreportsinGoogleDataStudioquicklyandconfidently,usingdatafromGoogleAnalyticsandGoogleSheets. ViewCourse   LearnthebestwaystomanageyourGoogleAdscampaignstoachievemaximumimpact. ViewCourse Gettheinsidescoop.Subscribeforupdates.