8 ValueTrack Parameters For Better AdWords Campaign Data

ValueTrack is an easy-to-use AdWords URL-tagging feature. ValueTrack works with Google Analytics or your own tracking solution to provide detailed, useful data about each click on your paid search ad. You can use this information to fine-tune your campaigns and settings for better performance.

In order to use ValueTrack, you first need to add a special tag to your ad’s destination URL. Then, when a customer clicks your ad and visits your website, ValueTrack records certain details about the ad in the URL. Details can include the site where the visitor clicked your ad, the specific ad that was shown, the keyword that caused the ad to appear, and more.

When you review your data in Google Analytics or look at your traffic logs, you can use the recorded information to help you analyze your campaign performance and improve your targeting and return on investment (ROI).

Here is a list of important ValueTrack parameters that all B2B advertisers should consider using in their PPC campaigns, and why they are important:

{matchtype}

This tells you whether the keyword that triggered the ad was broad, phrase, exact, or an advanced match type.

Why is it important?

There are numerous reasons you’d want to understand which match types are triggering your web leads. However, first and foremost, a large amount of broad or phrase match keywords generated leads tells you that there is probably room to expand and refine your keyword list.

When collecting sales, lead, or revenue data, it’s also important to be able to trace it back to the keyword level. In many cases long tail exact match terms will generate a much better return or conversion rate.

{network}

This tells whether the click originated on the main Google Search page, one of its Search Partners, or on a publisher site (a.ka. the Display Network).

Why is it important?

Search Partners may only make up a portion of your total ad spend, but for extremely competitive or a niche keyword space, it could still be very expensive. This field will give us an idea as to whether or not Search Partners or Display are generating valuable leads – and how budgets and strategy can be adjusted accordingly.

{creative}

This field gives the unique indicator for the creative that generated the visit.

Why is it important?

Since quality score and keyword relevance requires certain aspects of ad creative to remain very static (e.g. keywords in the header, concept of product or service in text, and call-to-action) when dealing with large search volume, its often easier to upload multiple variations and cross-check the unique creative IDs generated by valuable leads. This can give insight on which ad variations or concepts are resonating with your user.

{keyword}

Simply put, this is for the keyword that triggered your ad

Why is it important?

Most account managers will spend a lot of time mining the search query report to find out which keywords and concepts are generating the most interest for the advertiser. Using this tracker, we go one step deeper: we can use valuetrack to assign a specific keyword string to a lead or sale. This allows us to track and assign value to a set of keywords over a long period of time, as well as the ability to generate ROI at the keyword level, which is the ultimate goal for any campaign.

{placement}

This is only utilized for Display campaigns and is the domain name of the publisher site where the ad was clicked.

Why is it important?

For advertisers using the Display network, this tag is equivalent to the {keyword} tag and equally as important. If you opt into a group of placements or a specific category, it is important to be able to weed out some of the lower quality sites that aren’t providing value.

{random}

Just as it says, this is a random Google-generated number.

Why is it important?

You may need to designate unique identifiers to your keywords so your back-end or CRM can properly read and access the information.

{copy:[name]}

This is used for Sitelinks and PLA extensions only. With this tag, the URL will show any parameters and values you pass over from the destination or landing page URL.

Why is it important?

You may want to encode language in your URL string or destination URL that signifies a specific offer or deal.

{adposition}

This is the position on the page that your ad appeared in on the search engine results.

Why is it important?

This allows us to get an idea of what type of value we are getting from bidding on various positions. If the majority of leads are coming in from a mid or late page position, it may be unnecessary to overspend for the top ad positions.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, ValueTrack allows a B2B marketers to collect additional intelligence on the keyword, segment, and various other indicators. Used in tandem with a CRM or robust back-end system, it will allow marketers to discover ROI on the keyword, ad group, or campaign level, and should be seriously considered for utilization.