In the dynamic scenario of e-commerce, it often becomes complex to monitor so much important information for business management and healthy sales growth. Often we focus on metrics such as sales quantities, best-selling products, amount invested in marketing strategies, among many others. But an important factor in guiding many other decisions is knowing where customers really come from. So, how to monitor the buying journey?
Implementing effective methods to track the origin of sales and traffic allows marketers to get a complete picture of the leads in their business.
The importance of using referral data
Leads coming from referral partners, directories or engagement with sponsored content usually demonstrate a strong interest in your company. This makes referral channels very valuable resources, although they are often underutilized.
Without the right tools to monitor the effectiveness of these channels and correctly attribute sales and conversions to their respective sources, it is difficult to ensure that your marketing budget is being invested properly.
Below, we explore what you might be missing when tracking referral leads and how you can unlock the full potential of your channels.
What could be missing from your data?
Capturing information on leads from referral channels can be a challenge without the appropriate tools.
To learn how to monitor the buying journey. A common difficulty is that, unlike channels under your direct control, such as paid campaigns and emails, you don’t have detailed analytical access to these leads. Without the use of solutions such as tracking calls to specific numbers or applying UTM tags to links to your website, the data obtained on the traffic generated by these channels is limited.
Some professionals manage to get around this challenge by asking customers to indicate how they got to your company – sometimes by offering an incentive for doing so. However, relying on this method can be inaccurate, as vague answers such as “I found it on the internet” are common.
In other situations, without reference data, sales teams may attribute the origin of the lead to the call they answered, leaving them with no way of verifying the true origin of the contact.
The lack of precise data makes it difficult to attribute each conversion to its exact source, complicating the strategic management of referral channels.
Where can you invest your budget without knowing where the sales are coming from?
Without a clear view of the performance of referral channels, there is no way to compare them. This makes it difficult to decide where to invest your marketing budget.
For example, if you are listed in several directories using the same phone number, you won’t be able to identify which directory is generating the most leads. One directory may be highly productive while another generates little or no engagement.
Without identifying which channel provides the most value, you could end up wasting resources on ineffective channels, missing out on opportunities to increase lead generation from the sources that really work.
For web traffic, tools such as Google Analytics 4 allow you to obtain reference information, albeit with a certain complexity and the need for specific configuration.
Avoid self-referrals
Self-referrals can distort your acquisition data and artificially inflate user sessions. This can happen if the analysis code is not implemented correctly or UTM tags have been used in internal links. It is crucial to implement correctly to avoid such distortions.
How to get more insight into where customers come from
To truly understand the performance of referral channels, follow a few essential steps:
- Use UTM Tags When Linking to Your Site: Applying UTM tags helps you get detailed data on referral sources. When combined with an effective marketing analytics platform, these tags provide valuable information about leads.
- Assign Static Numbers in Referral Channels: Using specific numbers for each place your company appears helps track calls coming from each specific source.
- Implement Dynamic Numbers for Granular Insights: When referral links direct visitors to your site, using dynamic numbers allows for even more detail on the behavior of leads during visits.
- Compare Performances Between Your Referral Channels: With a detailed overview of your referral leads, it’s easier to compare and evaluate the efficiency of different channels.
Strategically managing your referral channels means building a clear view of the leads coming from each source. With accurate data, you can identify what generates real engagement, what falls short and where your marketing budget can be better spent.
Click here and try Super Plural Analytics to optimize and track your customers’ journey.
Are you still at the beginning of your marketing campaigns and need to learn more?
Get to know Linkfree, a tool where you can generate personalized links for each ad or publication, and from them know just how many people came from these actions, as well as the characteristics of this audience! Click to sign up.
