© 2013 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 1

Best Practices for Marketing Channels Reports Brent Dykes | Evangelist, Analytics Aaron Hadley | Product Specialist, Adobe Analytics

1

© 2013 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 2

Why am I here? I haven’t heard of Marketing Channels. Tell me more.

I use other channel reporting. Why should I use Marketing Channels?

My Marketing Channels reports are not working as I expected. How can I improve them?

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Agenda

1. What are marketing channels?

2. Evolution of channel reporting

3. Marketing Channels – What do I get?

4. Marketing Channels setup – Tips & tricks

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Marketing channels

Web Properties

keyword

Natural Search

URL

keyword

Ad

Paid Search

Ad

Display Ads

Social Networks

Email Affiliate

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Evolution of Channel Reporting

Traffic Sources

Only paid & natural search

No other channels

Campaign Tracking

Driven by tracking codes

Emphasis on classifications

Not holistic

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Basic Elements of Campaign Tracking

External Site

Ad

Your Site

example.com?cid=DSP_ABC123

Query String

URL Parameter = cid Tracking code = DSP_ABC123 Tracking prefix = DSP

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Evolution of Channel Reporting

Traffic Sources

Only paid & natural search

No other channels

Campaign Tracking

Driven by tracking codes

Emphasis on classifications

Not holistic

Unified Sources (VISTA)

Cost No visibility into

code Requires

manual updates

Channel Manager

Plugin More visibility

and control over updates

IT resources required

Adds weight to the JavaScript file

Marketing Channels

Marketer controlled with no additional tagging required

No additional cost

Leverages managed lists for search engines

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Where Marketing Channels Data is Processed

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Marketing Channels Report Overview

First Touch Last Touch

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Marketing Channels Report Overview Ch

anne

l Bre

akdo

wn

Channel Detail

Channel

First-Touch Last-Touch

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Marketing Channels Set-up

Configure Rules Add Channels

1 2

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Marketing channels?

Web Properties

keyword

Natural Search

URL

keyword

Ad

Paid Search

Ad

Display Ads

Social Networks

Email Affiliate

Other Channels

???

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Marketing channels?

One of these things is not like the other”

“

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Marketing Channels Setup

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Auto Setup – First-time Only

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Channel detail breakdown

Rename channels

Color options

Override allocation

Warning when rules not configured

Marketing Channel Manager

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Marketing Channels is Unique

eVar (Original value)

30 days

Marketing Channels (First-touch)

30 days 30 days

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Marketing Channels Set-up

Configure Rules Add Channels

2

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2 1

Marketing Channel Processing Rules

1. Adobe detected

2. Hit attributes 3. Conversion

variables

Processing Rules

Channels keyword

Ad Ad

Website

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Wellington, NZ

© Matt Boulton

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© Brett Taylor

Marketing Channel’s Waterfall Approach

Incoming Traffic Rule #1 Paid Search?

Rule #2 Natural Search?

Rule #3 Email?

Rule #4 Social Network?

© Brett Taylor

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Order is important

Paid Search 1 Natural Search 2 Campaigns (w/ tracking codes) 3 Display Ads Email Affiliates Other campaigns (catch-all)

Social Networks 4 Affiliates/Partners (referring domains) 5 Internal (session refresh) 6 Direct (typed/bookmarked) 7 Referring Domains 8

© Brett Taylor

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Why Overrides Matter (Last-touch)

Direct (Typed/bookmarked)

Internal (Session refresh)

Website

keyword

Ad

Paid Search Website

URL

Direct Access

Website

keyword

Ad

Paid Search Website

Session Refresh

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Basics of Marketing Channel Rules

IF Adobe detected Hit attributes Conversion variables

Criteria

Internal referrers Search detection First page of visit

Adobe detected Page URL Referring domain Query string parameter

Hit attributes Tracking code Any eVar variables

Conversion variables

OR OR

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Basics of Marketing Channel Rules

IF Adobe detected Hit attributes Conversion variables

Criteria

THEN 1. Identify channel 2. Set value for channel detail

breakdown

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It’s time to roll up our sleeves

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Paid Search 1 Natural Search 2

Search Channels (Paid & Natural)

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Paid Search 1 Natural Search 2

Paid Search Detection :: Admin Tools > Report Suites > (choose report suite) > Edit Settings > General > Paid Search Detection

Search Channels (Paid & Natural)

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Paid Search 1 Natural Search 2

Search Channels (Channel Details) 1

Search Type (MC) = Paid Search Search Engines (MC) = google Search Keywords (MC) = powerpoint tips

Default channel details isn’t useful.

p:google:powerpoint tips

2 Use Classification Rule Builder to parse the data into more useful breakdowns.

Create separate search buckets via classifications

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Paid Search 1 Natural Search 2

Search Channels – Branded and Unbranded Search

OR

Add additional rule to isolate branded (and unbranded) paid/natural search

: Branded

: Unbranded

Due to the waterfall approach, the unbranded rule doesn’t need additional logic other than the default search detection.

2

1

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Campaigns (w/ tracking codes) 3 Display Ads Email Affiliates

Campaign Channels (w/ Tracking Codes)

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Campaigns (w/ tracking codes) 3 Display Ads Email Affiliates

Requires a channel-specific parameter OR channel-specific tracking code prefix

pid = email xid = display cid = affiliates

pid = EML_1234 (email) pid = DSP_1234 (display) pid = AFF_1234 (affiliate)

OR

Campaign Channels (w/ Tracking Codes)

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Campaigns (w/ tracking codes) 3 Display Ads Email Affiliates

Campaign Channels – Catch-all “Other Campaigns”

Checks to see if a query string parameter is present and buckets as other campaigns.

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Social Networks 4 Affiliates/Partners (referring domains) 5

Social Networks and Other Referring Sources

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Social Networks 4 Affiliates/Partners (referring domains) 5

Social Networks and Other Referring Sources

Audit social network list periodically to keep it up-to-date. Add industry-specific or local social media sites.

t.co

youtubevideo download.com

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Social Networks 4 Affiliates/Partners (referring domains) 5

Social Networks and Other Key Referring Sources

Referrer www.example.com/path/page.htm?abc=123&xyz=456

Referring Domain Referring Parameter Referring Domain & Path

Root Domain

1 2 3 4 5

1

2

3

4

5

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Social Networks 4 Affiliates/Partners (referring domains) 5

Social Networks and Other Key Referring Sources

Add rule to capture Google+ traffic.

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Internet Email by Referring Domain

Look at referring domains for web-based email providers.

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Internal (session refresh) 6 Direct (typed/bookmarked) 7 Referring Domains 8

Internal, Direct, and Other Referring Domains

No Channel Identified

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Internal (session refresh) 6 Direct (typed/bookmarked) 7 Referring Domains 8

Internal (Session Refresh)

Internal URL Filters :: Admin Tools > Report Suites > (choose report suite) > Edit Settings > General > Internal URL Filters

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Four Common Session Refresh Scenarios

1 2

3 4

Scenario #1 - Timeout Scenario #2 – URL Redirect

Scenario #3 – Untagged Page

TAG TAG

Scenario #4 – Multisuite Tagging

TAG TAG

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Internal (session refresh) 6 Direct (typed/bookmarked) 7 Referring Domains 8

Direct (Typed / Bookmarked)

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Internal (session refresh) 6 Direct (typed/bookmarked) 7 Referring Domains 8

Referring Domains (Last Chance Channel)

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Marketing Channels in Action

Cost data

Classifications

Marketing Channels Reports Reports & Analytics Breakdowns Segments Dashboards Report builder Data extracts Data warehouse APIs

Ad-hoc Analysis

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1. Order is important

2. Carefully consider rule settings

3. Don’t just set and forget

4. Changes are not retroactive

5. Don’t compare to other channel reports

Key Marketing Channel Takeaways

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