Most people involved with the marketing facet of a company would agree that there are countless avenues to market with.Websites, banner advertising, e-mail marketing, direct mail marketing, cold calling…the list goes on and on.Over the past decade, it’s become increasingly important to monitor marketing effectiveness.Web analytics tools have been improving as quickly as the rest of the internet has, allowing for more dynamic, in-depth analysis with every new update.With these new updates and improvements, it has now become possible to monitor much more than just a website.
When implemented properly and in the hands of a web analytics ninja, platforms like Google Analytics can be used to monitor and track the effectiveness of more than just websites.Using advanced integration methods such as event tracking, virtual pageviews, and cross-domain tracking, these tools can be used to track everything from your organization’s social media efforts to phone calls.That’s right: phone calls. Call tracking is the latest trick in the analytical magic bag, using a hidden, blank web page bound to a specific phone number to track calls via “pageviews”. Call tracking isn’t the only trackable avenue of marketing that isn’t limited by the internet.Using things like custom phone numbers and vanity URLs, it is also possible to use web analytics platforms to effectively track direct mail and even billboard advertising.
As human beings, we can’t help but think in silos.In today’s marketing world, it is crucial that we break away from this old way of thinking and see how all of these facets and avenues of advertising are tied together.When data from all of these areas of marketing is combined, it can generate crucial business intelligence and reveal insights that could give your organization the edge it needs.