Its probably not what you consider first…
You really have no idea what happens before user converts. Even before IOS14, you really did not know much.
Yes, of course you can track the users every move in several systems, but they cannot give a good view of the customer journey.
Most systems provide last click interactions, and nothing more, which usually leaves us at square 1 in terms of qualitative insight.
And as the data from all Apple devices are gone, and in a while also from Google, the pixel tracking is meeting it’s end shortly.
So how can you attribute your paid advertising sources without tracking?
We need to use the tools at hand.
I have provided a few suggestions on how you can control the attribution.
And honestly, some of them are both easy, and surpisingly good.
And they all have in common that they are almost as, or even more effective than, todays tracking without the pixel – If used correctly.
- Separate conversion points for each source.
One form for Facebook, one for Linkedin, and one for Email etc. You can specify this as much as you need, from campaign down to a single ad. - ASK your users.
After conversion, ask the lead/client where they found you. This has worked for decades before tracking. - Use (coupon) codes
While usually being a sales tactic, different codes also provide an easy option to distinguish sources. - Test doing in-app/platform conversions
While browser tracking will be reduced, leads ads will deliver potential clients whitin Facebook. (Also available on Linkedin and Google) - Rigid UTM and naming conventions.
UTMs are just additions to URLs, and are not removed by Apple systems. By having those in a tight setup, it is easy to atrtibute last click conversions down to the single ad. In systems like HubSpot, you may also create audiences from the converted lists, which allows optimisation within Facebook (And I think Google too) - Conversion API (This is Facebook only)
This relatively new feature from facebook allows for server registered conversions. This means that the events previously picked up by pixel event tracking is now registered by the server. It is not as precise as the pixel used to be, but it is an improvement to not having it.
Lastly, I would point out that I personally do not think that to heavy focus on traceble attribution is healthy for your marketing.
For several reasons, such as the fact that a lot of the user experience is not even digital. Word of mouth, debates, competitor research and calls are extremely hard to measure, but probably more valuable than most paid efforts.
And lot of the digital user journey is simply not trackable. Events such as comments, viewed posts, viewed organic videos, viewed organic events, podcasts and a lot more too.
Still, I wish you happy tracking 🙂