Are You A Hacker or a Tracker
| Category: Traffic and Tracking | Date: 2003-06-26 |
There is a fine line between Hacking and Tracking when marketing on the internet. One results in Sweet Success and the other results in Flat out Failure. Which one you choose is vital in determining your level of success on the internet. So, which one of these scenarios describes you?
Bad Idea: (Hacker) Create 1 Ad. Purchase ezine advertising in 10 different publications, place that same ad in every publication, including the same URL, and sit back and wait for the sales to pour in. Wow you just got a sale! Where did it come from? Which ezine pulled the best for you? In which newsletter should you continue to advertise? In which newsletter should you never purchase advertising again?
Good Idea: (Tracker) Create several different ads. Test them in different ezines. Change the headline, change the length of the ad, change the bonuses offered. Create a Unique URL for the ad. Even if you adjust the ad just a little bit, it can make all of the difference in the world.
Editors Note: For a true test you must run different ads in the same ezine. Since some ezines have a higher readership than others, this would give you a more pure test of the ads responsiveness.
If you publish your own ezine you can you can run a "split" where you run one ad to half your subscribers, and another ad to the other half of your subscribers. This technique would give you clear results on which ad is pulling better.
You must Test and Track Your Advertising Efforts in order to be successful marketing on the internet.
Think of your advertising efforts as your vehicle to making sales. For example, if you were going to purchase a car, you would test drive many different models, price ranges, and dealers until you found the one that fits your desired performance level and price range. You definitely dont want to be driving a lemon, because all they do is cost you money and get you nowhere.
Advertising on the internet is no different. You need to test drive many different ads (models), price ranges and dealers, (all advertising sources etc. are not created equal) until you find the sources that fit your desired performance level. In this case your desired performance level are the ads that are pulling in the most responses to each product or service that you are marketing, for the most reasonable price, and in turn leading to sales.
To find out which ads are pulling the best, you must track the results of your ads. This can be done by creating a unique URL or redirect on your server for each ad. Then you can check the server logs to see which ad pulled in the most responses. I have found that creating many different pages on my server to track individual ad campaigns to be very time consuming and cumbersome. Then you must go through your server log files, and this can turn into a confusing mess! There are also many different CGI scripts that out there that help you track your advertising efforts which are very effective. However, for those of us that think CGI means: Cant Get It Working...there is an easier way.
Recently I started using a stand alone browser based ad tracking product called Roibot that is a lifesaver for me. I use it for every single campaign that I launch, and the results have been excellent.
You have to know exactly which ads are pulling the best, which advertising sources are giving you the most leads for you dollar, and ultimately which leads are consistently pulling in sales for you. Just imagine what would happen to your monthly commission checks if you targeted your successful campaigns and quickly eliminated those that were not effective.
Guess what? Your sales are going to explode.
You can keep shooting in the dark, or you can hit the bullseye...Its Your call!
Get Tracking!
About the Author
Article written by Kris Stringham Publisher of Xtreme Marketing Tips/Webmaster at Ezinehits.com. Hire a Roibot! Roibot available immediately for tracking orders, clicks, referring URLs, operating systems, and browsers used for each of your advertising campaigns. Click here to set up a free trial account and see just how powerful and easy it is to use.
http://www.roibot.com/r.cgi?R201_A-1
webmaster@ezinehits.com
http://www.Ezinehits.com
Bad Idea: (Hacker) Create 1 Ad. Purchase ezine advertising in 10 different publications, place that same ad in every publication, including the same URL, and sit back and wait for the sales to pour in. Wow you just got a sale! Where did it come from? Which ezine pulled the best for you? In which newsletter should you continue to advertise? In which newsletter should you never purchase advertising again?
Good Idea: (Tracker) Create several different ads. Test them in different ezines. Change the headline, change the length of the ad, change the bonuses offered. Create a Unique URL for the ad. Even if you adjust the ad just a little bit, it can make all of the difference in the world.
Editors Note: For a true test you must run different ads in the same ezine. Since some ezines have a higher readership than others, this would give you a more pure test of the ads responsiveness.
If you publish your own ezine you can you can run a "split" where you run one ad to half your subscribers, and another ad to the other half of your subscribers. This technique would give you clear results on which ad is pulling better.
You must Test and Track Your Advertising Efforts in order to be successful marketing on the internet.
Think of your advertising efforts as your vehicle to making sales. For example, if you were going to purchase a car, you would test drive many different models, price ranges, and dealers until you found the one that fits your desired performance level and price range. You definitely dont want to be driving a lemon, because all they do is cost you money and get you nowhere.
Advertising on the internet is no different. You need to test drive many different ads (models), price ranges and dealers, (all advertising sources etc. are not created equal) until you find the sources that fit your desired performance level. In this case your desired performance level are the ads that are pulling in the most responses to each product or service that you are marketing, for the most reasonable price, and in turn leading to sales.
To find out which ads are pulling the best, you must track the results of your ads. This can be done by creating a unique URL or redirect on your server for each ad. Then you can check the server logs to see which ad pulled in the most responses. I have found that creating many different pages on my server to track individual ad campaigns to be very time consuming and cumbersome. Then you must go through your server log files, and this can turn into a confusing mess! There are also many different CGI scripts that out there that help you track your advertising efforts which are very effective. However, for those of us that think CGI means: Cant Get It Working...there is an easier way.
Recently I started using a stand alone browser based ad tracking product called Roibot that is a lifesaver for me. I use it for every single campaign that I launch, and the results have been excellent.
You have to know exactly which ads are pulling the best, which advertising sources are giving you the most leads for you dollar, and ultimately which leads are consistently pulling in sales for you. Just imagine what would happen to your monthly commission checks if you targeted your successful campaigns and quickly eliminated those that were not effective.
Guess what? Your sales are going to explode.
You can keep shooting in the dark, or you can hit the bullseye...Its Your call!
Get Tracking!
About the Author
Article written by Kris Stringham Publisher of Xtreme Marketing Tips/Webmaster at Ezinehits.com. Hire a Roibot! Roibot available immediately for tracking orders, clicks, referring URLs, operating systems, and browsers used for each of your advertising campaigns. Click here to set up a free trial account and see just how powerful and easy it is to use.
http://www.roibot.com/r.cgi?R201_A-1
webmaster@ezinehits.com
http://www.Ezinehits.com
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