Have you ever wondered why the internet seems to know exactly what you want? Whether you’re switching devices or scrolling through social media, digital marketing strategies are working behind the scenes to keep up with you. But why do businesses track your movements, and how does it benefit them—and you?
In this post, we’ll uncover the secrets behind how digital marketing strategies track users across the web, delivering personalized ads that connect with your needs.
Wondering about the exact digital marketing technique we’re discussing above? Right! That’s digital tracking. The term refers to the process of collecting data and insights based on the performance of online activities.
The cornerstone of a marketing strategy depends on building legitimate relationships with the audience. For the same, you need to scrutinize your consumer base and cater to their needs. This will help you not only generate revenue but also attain customer loyalty.
Digital tracking is an effective way to turn your losses into profits. Tracking can be performed differently based on the platform a user is using. The success of a website or an ad campaign can only be analyzed by tracking.
As a website’s bounce rate is important, so is an ad campaign engagement. Tracking your digital marketing metrics measure both the in-depth data, as well as the quality of traffic generated. For a company to attain a higher level, they should employ digital tracking in their work process.
Data obtained through digital tracking can spot the trend and pattern of an user’s search. Consistently practicing this strategy can help in making smart decisions, and foster strong connections.
Marketers rely on various techniques to gain a comprehensive understanding on user journeys. These techniques help to inform users, gather their consent, and provide a better experience. However, digital tracking is also regulated by advisory boards like, CPRA, GDPR, and others.
To orient in the digital tracking sphere, here are the most common technologies used to associate and identify user activity across different platforms.
It’s no doubt that you had tossed across the term, ‘Cookies,’ or ‘Third-Party Cookies.’ Cookies are nothing but small text files stored in your computer via your web browser. This is the simplest technology that’s around since the early days of the internet.
Cookies are divided into first-party and third party cookies. Both of these pieces of code puts information on a user’s web browser, then later retrieves it for various purposes.
In detail, first-party cookies are stored by the website a user has visited. These basically help offer optimal user satisfaction, collect analytical data, and remember language settings. On the other hand, third-party cookies are created by the websites a user has not yet visited. These are usually placed on a website through a tag/script.
Some cookies are less disruptive. However, some are very unsettling. For this reason, cookies and data regulations exist as a spectrum. For example, Instagram sets a cookie in your web browser to remember your email and audio settings. This will prevent you from entering it again and again. This shows cookies are very privacy-conscious, hence only the web server that sets it can retrieve it.
The general definition of Pixels relates to the smallest units present in a window screen. For marketing, pixel tags are used in the context of tracking technologies and data security.
Pixel tags, also known as image tags, are building blocks used to generate images. Though it is virtually invisible, still it serves just like the images that appear online. By way of instance, if you visit www.abc-sample-site.com, that exact page may include a command like <img src=”https://www. sample-persistentroi-co.com/picture.jpg>, this prompts the browser to send this information to another web server, the sample-persistentroi-co server, to derive the picture.
Henceforth, the above example shows that actions are triggered upon a request from the pixel server. The pixel server receives all the information about the IP address, OS used, browser used, and more. Digital marketers use this for advertising purposes.
Script tags, UTM Codes, or tracking tags are website container tags that hold portions of code segments written in the form of JavaScript or HTML. These small pieces of code control the information designated into the pixels. Also, decide whether to “fire” or display a pixel tag.
The most basic use of tracking scripts is to analyze website traffic and user behaviour. As tags define the page elements, they are useful in describing the codes embedded in any app or website to transfer and collect data.
The untouched points in a user’s journey are recorded with scripts. This is done by the multi-touch attribution methodology used by JavaScript (JS). Example, if a user rejects cookies, then the tags related to it don’t fire.
Digital marketing experts leverage these scripts to optimize campaigns for businesses by attributing conversions across various touchpoints.
Before asking what is the digital marketing strategy that tracks users across the web?, you should ask how to track the data. A competitive digital marketing strategy takes care of the ways first before diving into the specifics of digital tracking, and analysis. If you’re thinking of tracking the results using certain tools, the process can be a bit unwieldy, however it would be worth your time.
Pretty enough. The marketing attribution is sorted, but what should be tracked?
Metrics and aspects, of course!
Yes! You read it right. Check below to get a detailed understanding of what to focus on.
One of the most important components of digital tracking is analyzing the website traffic. As a portfolio is important for an influencer, similarly, a website is for a company.
A famous person said, “Website acts as your storefront.” Rightly according to it, measuring website analytics is crucial to understand the company’s growth rate. Website analytics are essential online tools that gather complex data about the website traffic, bounce rates, page views, traffic sources, and more.
To measure all of the above, and gain an in-depth understanding, analytical tools like Google Analytics, SEMRush, and Ahrefs can help.
Data collected from different channels helps to understand the success rates of brands in spreading value beyond sales. The metrics derived from these channels helps to understand customer reach, engagement and retention rate.
Increasing followers and connections in social media have come a long way since the craze began. Many times, businesses use ‘comments’ and ‘likes’ as an indication of a well-performing post. However, likes, comments, and shares are not the only indicators that indicate a content’s success. To understand the areas of improvement, you need to check the social media analytics.
With digital tracking, businesses can categorize their prospects and run targeted campaigns. Customer data platforms (CDP) use CRM systems to manage customer data and create a comprehensive view of them. This helps to track potential customers in relation to specific ad campaigns. Brands can also leverage such CRM software to write personalized emails for various channels.
Monitoring activity across platforms enables digital marketers to make data-driven choices. It’s crucial to understand the key performance indicator (KPI) dashboard, which collects and analyzes data of customers through various channels. This synthesizes business performance in less intrusive ways to make more informed decisions.
Custom events are set at the top-end of the marketing funnel (TOFU) to analyze specific activities. This includes normal clicks, rage clicks, dead clicks, hovers, text inputs, etc. On the other hand, metrics in the middle of the funnel (MOFU) checks engagement and conversions. In both cases, data analysis can uncover areas that require immediate improvement and attention.
Digital tracking is not only done through qualitative, but also through quantitative approach. Conversion tracking assess website operational traffic to understand interaction at each point. Understanding customer journeys is the key to increase a business’s bottom line by addressing user’s pain points.
Conversions are divided into micro and macro. As per the bottom of the marketing funnel (BOFU), a micro conversion just adds engagement to a website, while a macro conversion adds monetary value to a business.
After you’ve understood ‘What is the digital marketing strategy that tracks users across the web?’ you should move on to measuring your efforts. For this, your returns on investment (ROI) are the best way to check if the marketing strategies applied to you were positive or negative. If it’s positive, then it’s good to go. Contrarily, if it’s negative, then you need to re-strategize again.
Digital tracking is the best way to understand what performs well, and what doesn’t. Hence, it has many benefits and has the ability to refine the strategy when needed.
Monitoring customer data gives the ability to boost user interaction and experience. Additionally, conversion rates might increase when audience segmentation is done.
Moreover, proper content, when published online via effective marketing channels, can help target the intended customers, ensuring their possibility of returning.
Every business’s desired course of action is different. Launching and tracking a campaign can help analyze the costs and ratios related to particular marketing initiatives. This data can help identify the factors contributing to success. For example, the desired course of action for a B2B SaaS brand would be to agree on an optimal pricing plan for their products/services.
An efficient digital strategy can help target more leads, who are likely to turn into prospects. As competition is fierce in this data-ruled world, priority should be given to real-time data to optimize marketing strategies. This will allow you to understand the loopholes you can avoid in your upcoming marketing initiatives.
For years, users have noted the detail that digital marketers have gleaned from online surfing habits. Periodically, tech companies have also started phasing out cookies. This raises a question on privacy protections. However, majority have accepted this as a part of raising technologies like AI and ML.
“From a consumer standpoint, what that means going forward is that, hopefully, you’re going to have more transparency about what’s going on online.”
By Aridor, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Kellogg School
The recent revolution brought in by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in the market is devouring traditional approaches to tracking. AI and ML use powerful algorithms to analyze cognitive abilities.
Apart from predictive analytics and user segmentation, these technologies can identify trends and patterns to gain insights and recommendations for updating brand performance. For instance, the introduction of Netflix can give users binge-worthy recommendations from the comfort of their homes.
ML extracts information from semi-structured and structured data to perform specific tasks, like predicting revenue rates. This technology’s major breakthrough was noticed when AutoML was introduced in the market to reduce mundane tasks. The most common examples are Google translation and image recognition.
The technology upgrades force people to become more concerned about their security and privacy. No matter what type of digital tracking process you use, it should strictly comply with the relevant laws aimed at safeguarding customers’ confidentiality.
For this, regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in California, United States, protect consumer rights by regulating the collection of their personal information.
Businesses should comply with the above-stated laws to respect user choices regarding data extraction. Failure to abide by these laws can result in huge fines and a significant loss of business reputation, trust, and authenticity.
The indelible part to analyze in digital tracking is how it leaves a footprint. Hence, conducting an in-depth analysis can help you understand where your business is performing. Tracking is, of course, the best digital marketing analytic used to tailor strategies to improve performance. With the right tools and strategies, you can optimize the same. If you require any assistance, feel free to drop a line to us at WebIndia Inc. and we’ll be happy to help you.
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