I use UTM parameters to do my own ROAS analysis by different paid advertising channels. I'm able to collect some customer conversion data from different advertising channels like Adwords, but I get a lot of "Direct" customer conversion data to whic I then don't know if Adwords had anything to do with these conversions. Since UTMs are cookie based, I'm sure I'm not 100% capturing all my UTM data accurately. I then took a look at Google Analytics MCF section, and I can see all the different reports from "Top Conversion Path" and "Model Comparison Tool", but I don't really feel 100% confident making marketing budget decisions based on the data I see here. So when I do my ROAS analysis, if I just compare my Adwords advertising spend against the Adwords UTM parameters channel my ROI is horrible (negative ROI). However, if I combine my Adwords UTM parameters channel and "Direct" conversions against my Adwords advertising spend for customers that signed up during that period, my ROI looks a lot better (positive ROI). So my question is, should I be grouping "Direct" conversions with my Adwords UTM tagged conversions when measing my ROAS for Adwords advertising spend? How do I accurately know that these "Direct" conversions actually came from my Adwords campaign through a multi-channel funnel?
Make sure you've setup advanced analytics. You'll get a better picture of which conversions were direct, and which ones were assisted by another channel. Use tags and make sure your urls include all the detailed parameters - note that savvy users might truncate that link, so use a link shortener (like bit.ly) to mask it.
Answered 9 years ago
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