What's the point in using a unique tracking URL code?

I was recently in a meeting with a client, and we were working to set up a digital protocol for all current and future advertising campaigns. One topic of conversation was the kind of URL (Uniform Resource Locator) to use. A benefit that online campaigns have is how trackable they are. In order to maximize this, we discussed attaching unique tracking URL code to the messaging.

When I say unique tracking URL code, I mean that we are taking the landing page address where we want the ads to be directed to, and adding some descriptive parameters to it. In doing so, the client is able to see on the website analytics side more in-depth details like:

·        What website a visitor came from

·        What creative a visitor clicked

·        Which vendor can be attributed to the click (This is                helpful if you use more than one.)

·        What type of medium can be attributed to the click like        display, email, or search engine marketing

For example, if I ran a digital campaign and directed visitors to the Ruth Burke & Associates homepage of rburke.com, I’m not able to know on the analytics side where traffic came from. So, if I’m interested in seeing traffic from our blog, I would create the following URL with descriptors like: Blogspot as the campaign source, Blog as the campaign medium, and Unique URL Blog as the campaign name. That way, I know clicks with that information attached to it came from this particular blog post. It will help me see if it resonated with the audience because of how many or few clicks it received compared to normal traffic. Here is an example of the code:

rburke.com/?utm_source=Blogspot&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=Unique%20URL%20Blog

Knowing this information can help clients do A/B testing with creative to see what messaging leads to more clicks; in addition, clients can see which vendors produce the most clicks or which websites drive the most visitors. This information will hopefully aid the advertiser optimize the campaign to be the most effective and successful it can potentially be.