1. Home
  2. Docs
  3. Using etracker
  4. etracker Analytics
  5. Web Analytics
  6. Campaign Links

Campaign Links

In etracker Analytics, the campaign attributes are read out of the referrer, the URL parameters and the entry page. An attribute consists of three components: name, parameter and value. The name is the column title which is used in the reports. The parameter is the (usually cryptic) value which is transferred in the link. The value specifies a unique allocation and can be seen as a characteristic.

Automatically Filled Campaign Attributes

etracker Analytics generally tracks each time a website is accessed and automatically assigns the respective medium, provided this is not transferred via the URL parameter in the link or on the landing page. The medium attribute describes the channel or type of campaign (e.g. email, SEO, SEA, Display, Affiliate, Price search engine). The following tracking is done automatically for the “Medium” attribute:

  • Link/Referrer All contacts are assigned to the ‘Link/Referrer’ for which an external referrer is detected and they are not already in the list of search engines or Social Media sites.
  • Social Media Everything is assigned to the ‘Social Media’ medium if the referrer is in the list of Social Media sites.
  • Type-In If it is not possible to detect any referrer or other campaign parameter when a visitor enters the site, this is classified as “Type-in or Direct entry”. This means that the URL is entered directly into the browser or opened using a bookmark, or that the referrer transfer is disabled.
  • SEO Contacts are assigned to the “SEO” medium if a referrer is detected who is listed in the list of search engines and if it cannot be discerned from the URL that they are coming from an SEA campaign. To guarantee 100% correct allocation to either SEO or SEA, the SEA links must have a campaign parameter (this can be done automatically via the interface to Google AdWords).
  • SEA Traffic which can be identified uniquely from the referrer as SEA or which was given a campaign parameter is assigned to this medium.
  • No allocation (Other) In rare cases, it is possible that the referrer or the URL parameter for the medium cannot be determined, but other campaign attributes are transferred. In these cases, assigning to a medium is not possible.

Alongside the ‘Medium’ attribute, there are additional ones which are automatically filled in by etracker.

  • Origin Origin domain if there is a referrer.
  • Origin / Path Origin path if there is a referrer.
  • Entry page
  • Campaign If the parameter does not provide a campaign name, then the campaign will be automatically classified as ‘organic’.

All additional attributes will be filled in using specific URL parameters.

Additional Campaign Attributes

To exploit the full potential of etracker Analytics, you should map further information to your campaign structure by affixing simple parameters to the URL. In etracker Analytics, you can avail of the following predefined parameters.

NameDescription
Campaign (etcc_cmp)The 'Campaign' attribute is used to differentiate between different advertising campaigns and makes it possible for them to be compared with each other: Parameter: etcc_cmp.
Medium (etcc_med)The 'Medium' attribute describes the type of campaign (e.g. email, paid search, organic search, Social Media, display, affiliate, price search engine): Parameter: etcc_med.
Group (etcc_grp)The 'Group' attribute serves as a subgrouping for campaigns and shows, for example, a channel in etracker Web Analytics or an AdGroup in Google AdWords®: Parameter: etcc_grp.
Origin (etcc_ori)The 'Origin' attribute describes a reference to the origin of the type of advertising. Examples for this are search engines, the name of the newsletter or the website on which the advertising was placed. Often, this is determined from the referrer. Example: Origin of the visitor or where the advertising was seen? Parameter: etcc_ori.
Partner (etcc_par)The 'Partner' attribute describes the advertising partner or network (e.g. Google, Zanox, Affilinet: Parameter: etcc_par.
Keyword (etcc_key)The 'Keyword' attribute refers to the search word or phrase used in Search Engine Marketing: Parameter: etcc_key.
Advertiser (etcc_adv)The 'Advertiser' attribute describes who is running the ad. This parameter is first and foremost for differentiating between multiple clients: Parameter: etcc_adv.
Agency (etcc_acy)The 'Agency' attribute describes an advertising agency or performance agency: Parameter: etcc_acy.
Target (etcc_tar)With the help of the 'Target' attribute, you can set the target of a campaign (e.g. 'Sales', 'Branding', 'Leads', 'Registration'): Parameter: etcc_tar.
Display (etcc_ctv)The 'Display' attribute refers to the technical name or the description of an advert.
Variant (etcc_var)The 'Variant' attribute describes advert version on which a visitor clicked. It is used for content-relevant advertising and content tests (A/B test) to determine which version of an advert attracts volume-increasing new customers in the most effective way: Parameter: etcc_var.
Placement (etcc_plc)The 'Placement' attributes specifies an area of a website in which advertising is activated: etcc_plc.
Matchtype (etcc_mty)The 'Matchtype' attribute specifies the search type for a booked keyword in Google AdWords: Parameter: etcc_mty.

The campaign link for a newsletter could look as follows: www.targetdomain.com?etcc_med=Email&etcc_ori=gmx&etcc_cmp=Newsletter_Juni&etcc_var=Split3&etc_ctv=iPhone4&etc_plc=2 Here, the attribute is based on the following structure (example): Medium = Email (static) Campaign = Campaign name Origin = of the email host if necessary Target = optional for differentiating, e.g. weekly emails vs. system mails or for rating products after the purchase Creative = Paragraph where you can find the link or the advertised product Placement = Paragraph position (no.) of the contained link Variant = if necessary for differentiating between segments inside the newsletter or A/B tests for content variants Only the parameters for the campaign (etcc_cmp) and the medium (etcc_med) are mandatory parameters. All other parameters can be inserted optionally and should be used uniformly for your individual structure. To provide support for uniform use of campaign attributes, there is an Assistant as well as Link Management available as an Excel download under Marketing ReportsSourcesCampaign Help.  

Note: The Assistant should merely assist you when it comes to creating campaign links. You can also adjust the parameters directly in the links. You just need to create the ‘My Attributes’ section in the configuration in order to make it known to the system.

Creating Campaign Links with the Assistant

The Advertising Media Link Generator in etracker Analytics helps with the creation of links. This also enables the creation of your own attributes or parameters should the predefined parameters be insufficient for your campaign structure. The link generator is for illustrating the syntax of the URL parameters. The links can be created dynamically and independently based on the pre-defined attributes, so they do not need to be “generated” in etracker Analytics. To create campaign links within etracker Analytics via campaign links, etracker provides you with an Assistant.  

Proceed as follows:

  1. Select Marketing Reports > Sources > Campaign Help.
  2. Enter the obligatory properties:
    • Target URL: Indicates to which website your campaign link should later lead (see 1).
    • Campaign: Refers to the campaign for differentiating between different advertising actions and slogans (see 2).
    • Medium: Indicates which medium is used (see 3).
  3. If necessary, supplement the link with additional attributes via the +Add Attribute button (see 4). In the ‘Attribute’ window, you can select the attributes from the list of available attributes by double-clicking on them. The more attributes you select, the more you can evaluate the data in detail later on. Click on OK to end attribute selection.
  4. Enter the attribute values into the input fields after the attributes, check that all of the entries are correct and click on Generate link or Generate redirect (see 5). The link will then be shown in the output field below it.
  5. Create additional links by customising the available values or by clicking on Reset input (see 6). In this case, all fields will be emptied. After clicking on Generate link, the new link will appear in the output field over the previously generated one.
  6. Copy the generated links from the text field and integrate it into you advertising.

Creating My Media

The ‘Medium’ attribute describes the type of contact/advertising channel. The following media are preset and automatically recorded.

  • Link/Referrer
  • Social Media
  • Type-In
  • SEO
  • SEA

You can add my media by selecting “My media” under the mandatory properties. You can also use abbreviations for when naming the medium.

Articles