At my digital marketing agency, we help small businesses in Maui stay up to date on the latest strategies to reach new customers. Last week, I shared tips about competing through Google Adwords, and this week I’m continuing the conversation about ads. 

Ad tracking gives marketers a way to evaluate data concerning the performance of digital advertisements. When you run an ad campaign, you need this information to see where the ads create leads and where you need to adjust your aim. Marketers use a variety of methods to track and assess data, so they can test ads and revise where necessary, depending on the interactions the ads get from users.

With our cutting-edge strategies, we’ve helped a number of small businesses and organizations develop strong marketing campaigns. Today, I’ll show you some available options to fine-tune your marketing strategy by tracking your ads

Also Read: How Hawaii Businesses Can Optimize Their Google Ad Budget

Get the Most from Ad Campaigns

Since digital ads cost money, you need to keep up with the progress you gain through them. Make sure your investment provides you with the best benefits, and doesn’t just waste time and money.

Especially when you get started with online ads, consider the metrics by which you’ll measure ads. You can use several types of tools or choose from platforms to track data about views, clicks, and user behavior. These statistics will help you to determine which aspects of your campaigns work best to draw in new leads and which parts you need to reevaluate. 

With successful ad tracking, you’ll stay on top of the marketing campaigns you run and know exactly what they do for you. This ongoing process takes regular work, but with the right tools in place, you can make ad evaluations a painless and habitual part of your business strategy. Then, you can avoid siphoning your marketing budget away on ads without demonstrated results.

The following three tips give you a plan to get started ad tracking and see results based on your goals.

Also Read: The Definitive Guide to Pay-Per-Click Advertising

How to Start Ad Tracking and Seeing Results

Use these three ways to find success with your ad tracking goals:

  • Determine Your Metrics

What kind of user behavior do you want to see as a result of your ad? The answer to this question will help you determine the method you use to track it.

If you want clickthroughs to your website through a social media ad, you can consider the options available through that social media platform or third-party programs. If you want to see purchases straight from ads, such as on Google Marketplace, you’ll need to consider methods that track search engine results.

Your first step is to nail down the desired outcome from each kind of ad you place and where you place them. Then, you have the criteria for the right method and platforms you should research for your own potential use.

  • Find Your Tracking Method

The type of ad you run as well as its location determine the types of tracking methods you have access to. Certain tools work better with certain methods, too, so keep that in mind. Some technical tools for this include options for tracking URLs straight from your website, email, or sidebar ads. You can also use tracking pixels and cookie-based tracking.

A tracking URL is a normal page URL from your website with a tracking token added to the end of it. It helps you keep track of the source the user found you from. Tracking URLs will give you the number of visits, leads, and conversions you get from various campaigns, like pay-per-click ads, ads in emails, or ads on other websites.

Tracking pixels are tiny “images” placed in emails, near visual ads across the web, or just on a webpage you want to track. It signals your tracking tool that someone has viewed the page when it loads on their browser.

To use cookies, marketers need to request and acquire user consent. Then, they can customize that user’s experience by tracking their habits across web activity. Advertisers leverage this information to show ads geared specifically towards that user’s interests. Cookies also provide information about the user’s location, their browser, and their preferred language. That means you, the advertiser, can serve them ads that appeal to them based on their specific activity and interests.

  • Expand with Search and Social Tracking Tools

If you want a way to streamline some of your ad campaigns across several websites and channels, check out an ad platform. It’s kind of like those digital billboard trucks with the changing screens you see driving around big cities, except it’s more customizable to user activity. Many marketers use Google’s DoubleClick, which manages and serves ads over any website that rents out ad space. That way, the management platform serves ads to target audiences based on their interests.

Google’s ad tracking usually makes use of cookies. When you use this service, you collect information about when users viewed certain ads and which web address they visited when they saw it. It also tracks IP addresses to show a location.

Facebook also has an ad tracking pixel. It can track the path a user takes from viewing an ad on Facebook, visiting your website, and purchasing a product. Since Facebook owns several social media platforms, including Instagram, it can help you track across all of them. By tracking across numerous platforms like this, you can see which work best for your business type and what kind of ads resonate with audiences.

For instance, Instagram tends to attract users with visual, image-driven content, while Facebook tends to have more text-driven posts and content. It may depend on your audience and product as to which platform gets you more leads.

When we run ads for clients, we track all these and more. We also give clients detailed reports at the end of every month, so they can see their results from multiple angles. If you want to learn more or want help placing and tracking ads, reach out to us today!

Further Reading: 4 Steps to Improved Instagram Engagement for Businesses in Hawaii

Photos Courtesy of Look Up Look Down Photography, Christina Branco, & Firmbee.com

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