In today's fast-paced digital landscape, where competition is fierce and customer acquisition costs are rising, it is imperative to make data-driven decisions that maximize the return on your marketing investments. By analyzing the performance of your marketing channels and campaigns, you gain valuable insights that empower you to allocate resources more effectively, optimize your strategies, and ultimately drive greater revenue and profitability for your business.
In this article, we'll guide you through the process of determining the performance of your marketing channels and campaigns using two different methods. With this data, you'll be more equipped to make better and more wholistic marketing decisions.
Important Note on Attribution:
Before we detail these methods, it's important to note that there are two ways you can approach attribution in Polar.
Ad Platform / Google Analytics Attribution: If you'd like, you can analyze your attribution using the data reported by each of your ad platforms or Google Analytics. However, trusting attribution data solely from ad platforms should be approached with caution as ad platforms may prioritize their own channels, leading to overestimation and sometimes inaccurate attribution data.
Polar Pixel Attribution: If you'd like to gain access to more accurate attribution data, you can leverage the Polar Pixel - a first-party model that will allow you to gain accurate attribution insights with server-side tracking. The Polar Pixel is a powerful tool if you'd like to see a more holistic view of the customer journey and make more informed decisions for optimized marketing strategies.
Method #1: Performance by Quantity of Conversions
Understanding campaign and channel-level performance by quantity of conversions provides insights into the overall effectiveness of your marketing efforts in driving initial customer actions. Metrics such as total number of conversions and total number of sessions attributed to specific channels or campaigns offer a high-level view of engagement and the quantity of desired actions taken by customers. This analysis helps you evaluate the reach and impact of your marketing initiatives, identify successful channels, and uncover opportunities for improvement.
To analyze your channel or campaign performance by quantity of conversions, you can leverage the Channel Performance table in the Acquisition Tab. We recommend editing the report using the edit icon on the top righthand corner of the report to pull in your own metrics. When in edit mode, you can add any number of quantitative performance metrics such as:
Ad Platforms Conversions to see the total number of conversions
Polar Pixel Conversions to see the total number of conversions, as attributed by the pixel (only available if you have the Polar Pixel)
Sessions from either Google Analytics, the Polar Pixel, or Shopify to see which channels or campaigns prompted the most visits
Blended Impressions
Blended Clicks
Once you've saved the report, you can sort any of the metrics by descending value to quickly identify the top channels or campaigns by any of the data points.
To adjust between Channel Performance and Campaign Performance, simply adjust the breakdown using the process below:
Method #2: Performance by Quality of Conversions
Equally important is assessing performance by the quality of conversions. By diving deeper into metrics such as conversion value, long-term retention, and customer lifetime value (LTV), you gain a more comprehensive understanding of the actual value generated by each marketing channel and campaign, rather than the overall reach. This analysis enables you to identify high-value customer segments, optimize marketing spend, tailor messaging and targeting, and foster long-term customer relationships that drive sustained revenue growth.
To see this data, you can use the same process as above, but add in qualitative performance metrics to your reports instead, such as:
LTV to understand the lifetime value and retention of your customers based on the channel or campaign their first saw
Conversion Value (either from your ad platforms, the Polar Pixel, or both) to see the total value of the conversions
By leveraging the reports detailed above, you'll be equipped to assess the performance of your marketing channels and campaigns, refine your strategies, and capitalize on opportunities to maximize your marketing ROI.