The Urchin Campaign Tracking Module (beginning with version 5.6 and UTM-4) allows you to track email campaign impressions, clickthroughs, and conversions. An email impression is registered when the email recipient opens the email message. A clickthrough is registered when the recipient clicks on a link inside the email message. A conversion is registered when the recipient reaches a goal page on your site or completes a purchase.
This article describes how to:
- create the email message, and
- interpret the email campaign results
Creating the Email Message
You will need to create your email message as described in this section, so that the Urchin Campaign Tracking Module can accurately track impressions (opened emails) and referrals.
- To track the email impressions, embed the __utm.gif image anywhere in the message as illustrated below.
Example 1 (Tracking the email impressions using a master tracking code)
<img src="http://www.mysite.com/__utm.gif?utmt=imp&utmcid=10"> reference the __utm.gif installed on your site. utmt=imp is required. ad campaign tracking codes. Example 1 illustrates how your reference to __utm.gif should look if you are using master tracking codes. (To learn how to use master tracking codes, read How To Use Master Tracking Codes.) In Example 1, the email impressions will be credited to the master tracking code of 10.
Example 2 (Tracking the email impressions without a master tracking code)
<img src="http://www.mysite.com/__utm.gif? utmt=imp&utmcsr=news1&utmcmd=email"> reference the __utm.gif installed on your site. utmt=imp is required. ad campaign tracking codes.
Example 2 illustrates how your reference to __utm.gif should look if you do not use master tracking codes, and therefore explicitly state your campaign tracking variables in the reference. In Example 2, the email impressions would be credited to the source "news1" and the medium "email".Explanation of Variables
The reference to __utm.gif includes campaign variables that are different than the campaign variables you use in links. In your reference to __utm.gif, use:
- utmccn instead of utm_campaign
- utmcsr instead of utm_source
- utmcmd instead of utm_medium
- utmcct instead of utm_content
- utmcid instead of utm_id (for use with master tracking codes)
- To track the email referrals, create links to your site in the email message. Tag these links using the utm_medium, utm_source, utm_content, utm_campaign, and utm_id campaign variables. Continuing with the example above of an email message which you track using the source "news1" and the medium="email":
<a href="http://www.mysite.com/?utm_source=news1&utm_medium=email">ad text</a>
Analyzing the Results
To see the number of clicks, impressions, and the clickthrough rate for email campaigns, look at the Medium Comparison-->Acquisition report under Campaign Tracking. For example, if you have tagged your links with utm_medium=email, this report will show all your email activity summarized under "email". You can drill down on "email" to view each individual newsletter or mailing (source).
If you are conducting A/B testing in conjunction with an email campaign, look at the Content(A/B) Testing-->Acquisition report. For information on A/B Testing, read How To Perform A/B Testing