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By Greg DiFalco
Conversion Tracking
This is a critical step in setting up AdCenter. You need to be able to track the results of your campaign. First, the Pay-Per-Click conversion tracking code provided by MSN must be placed on your order receipt page (for e-commerce sites) or contact form thank you page (for lead generation). Then, like AdWords and Search Marketing, AdCenter will measure conversions for your site.
Taking this one step further, you should make sure that your analytics program is also tracking conversions via AdCenter by way of tracking codes appended to your keyword ads’ destination URLs. If you’re utilizing Google Analytics, use the URL Builder (http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55578) utility to determine the code. For example, these are the required fields:
Website URL
Campaign Source
Campaign Medium
Campaign Name
So, if you were advertising your website on MSN, and you were trying to create the tracking code for keywords in your “Email Newsletter” campaign, you would enter:
Website URL: http://www.domain.com
Campaign Source: MSN
Campaign Medium: cpc [cost per click]
Campaign Name: EmailNewsletter
The URL that would be generated would be: http://www.domain.com/?utm_source=MSN&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=EmailNewsletter
It might seem tedious to have to append these tracking codes, but unfortunately MSN doesn’t integrate with Google Analytics as well as Google AdWords does. AdWords requires no tracking codes.
Summary
It’s important to keep your eye on AdCenter results after you start running ads, this way you can determine whether or not your ROI/ROAS necessitates a paid advertising budget re-allocation—either up or down. AdCenter is in third place among the major browsers, but it can be a profitable advertising venture if used properly.
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