I recently had a strategy session with a client and tracking offline channels came up. I thought that it would be good to share some of the basic URL strategies for tracking offline channels and the advantages/disadvantages of each.

Just to set the stage, I’ll outline things in terms of a single website or landing page with the address (URL) www.domain.com. Advantages will be “+” and disadvantages will be “-”.

UNIQUE DOMAIN

+ Allows for tracking effectiveness by channel
- Does not track down to creative or market level
- Campaign can seem disjointed with multiple domains in market

domain.com - used for all TV ads
url.com - used for all print ads

I’ve recently seen quite a few variations of the unique domain where the root term is placed after a unique number. (www.15domain.com, www.16domain.com) I would assume that this helps make some connection in the users mind when exposed to multiple spots, but I still think that using a unique domain can hurt a campaign that relies on a level of branding. On the positive side, by putting the unique identifier first, I would also assume that fewer users would fall through the cracks by not including it, since it is seemingly required.

UNIQUE DIRECTORY

+ Maintains domain/brand/campaign cohesiveness
+ Unlimited number of unique tracking addresses available (can get as granular as you need to)
- Percentage of users will not type the directory, therefore be unaccounted for

domain.com/ABC- used for TV spot 1
domain.com/QRS - used for TV spot 2
domain.com/XYZ - used for print ad 1

I feel that although not all users will include the directory (characters after the “/”), in most cases, this is the best approach and will give you a relative measure of effectiveness across all of your offline media channels. Since some of the direct URL type-in traffic will be accounted for by these offline channels, you can make some assumptions by setting a baseline before the campaign begins, then use the amount of lift after campaign launch to calculate an estimate of the effect from this campaign. To get a bit more granular, the ratio of the channels that were tracked through the unique directories can be put against the amount of lift to get a breakdown estimate.

Keeping the directory name both related to the campaign as well as easy to remember are things to consider when utilizing this approach. For example: domain.com/free would most likely garner more visits than www.domain.com/tv123

UNIQUE DOMAIN + UNIQUE DIRECTORY

+ Allows for channel and creative metrics
+ Ensures channel is tracked at minimum
- Campaign can seem disjointed

domain.com/ABC - used for TV spot 1
domain.com/123 - used for TV spot 2
url.com/ABC - used for print ad 1

This combination of both tactics can be used in some situations, such as where multiple campaigns are live at the same time or where constraints do not allow for spill-over from other channels.

Based on the feedback that I get on this initial outline, I will most likely follow up on this topic.