Tracking Codes

Tracking Codes

Tracking codes enable you to track the results of your advertising or public relations tactics precisely. A tracking code is an identifying mechanism that you build into each tactic that you want to measure. It allows you to determine which tactics induced which prospects/customers to become prospects/customers.

An Example

Here is a traditional (that is, old-fashioned and manual) example:

You run an ad in a newspaper. The ad includes a coupon that includes the code 2674. Whenever someone mails you the coupon, the code tells you which ad he responded to – even when the ad is several years old.

Don't laugh – long-delayed responses are not unusual, especially in the case of a print ad or sales letter. Some people will drop the ad/letter into a "decide later" folder or a desk drawer and act on it several years later. I've heard anecdotes involving delays of up to seven years.

The coupon containing the tracking code may have offered a discount off the retail price of a product; that is to say, the person who mails in the coupon becomes a customer.

Or, the coupon may have been a request for additional information or a request for a sales rep to call; that is to say, the person who mails in the coupon becomes a prospect. In this case, you later use that same code to track if/when that prospect "converts" to a customer.

Of course, modern contact software and tracking software does all this for you, automatically or semi-automatically.

Sequential Format

Generally speaking, there are two formats for tracking codes. The simpler format is just a sequence number, like the check number on a check. You keep a "code book" (traditionally a bound journal) that lists every code, in sequence, and a description of the specific ad or sales letter or press release associated with that code. So, the code book is analogous to your check register.

For example, if you use direct mail, you assign a different code not only to every sales letter but also to every version of every sales letter. Even the versions you use in your test panels.

Of course, you can use contact software or your own Excel spreadsheets to store the codes and related information. However, many direct mail veterans also keep manual code books. One such veteran told me, "I keep it on the corner of my desk, where I can grab it in case of fire." I happen to know that he keeps backup copies, too.

Typically, contact or tracking software will use sequential numbers.

Descriptive Format

The second general format for tracking codes contains descriptive information. For example, you might use "LAT20091109" for "Los Angeles Times, November 9, 2009."

This format offers more convenience than a meaningless "check number type" code, but remember: if you are actively analyzing your ads to see which elements worked and which didn't, you still may have to look up the ads themselves. And it's still prudent to keep a code book, or use software, or both.

The second format also has a slight drawback: the reader of your ad may recognize it as a tracking code. Some readers may feel that you are manipulative, tacky or "crassly commercial" for testing the effectiveness of your advertising.

This reaction is especially likely if your prospects are soulful or socialist types; for example, ecotourists. Even if they respond to advertising, they prefer to repress the fact that it is advertising; so, it pays not to wake them up.

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