The panic of facing an issue with ad tracking pixel during a live campaign is all too real. We’ve all been there at least once, right? But what if the pixels seem to be working, yet the insights they deliver isn’t entirely dependable?
Research lays the groundwork for a strong marketing planning & strategy, while tracking pixels serves as the building block to keep it effective. With so much effort invested at the campaign level to analyze performance, optimize strategies, and maximize budget efficiency, it’s crucial to bring the focus back on pixels and understand how they can enhance marketing insights on a deeper level.
Why is implementing ad pixel on website important?
Running campaigns without pixels is like navigating without a map. Ad pixels are implemented in website primarily to collect traffic data for remarketing, user behaviour analysis, and performance measurement. The gathered data when integrated with analytics tools, provides actionable insights that strengthens performance marketing strategies and supports business growth through informed decision making.
What is being overlooked when it comes to pixel tracking?
Tracking pixels hold data of the website visitors – some existing and many potential. As Performance Marketers, we often overlook the fact that we are the ones fueling this data by driving traffic to the website. It goes without saying that, depending on the budget, strength of the research, varied short and long term goals and human error, a significant amount of unwanted and irrelevant traffic ends up on the website, directly diluting the pixel data and affecting the accuracy of the insights.
What is ad tracking pixel optimization?
In simple terms, it is the process of improving the effectiveness of pixels by filtering out the irrelevant extra traffic from our marketing efforts. At this time, when companies are reporting majority of the ad spend as wastage, the idea is on being extra cautious and having more confidence on the data-driven decisions.
Some common benefits of doing this –
- Derive more reliable insights from the collected data
- Less random & more focused targeting for lasting results
- Gradual but significant improvement in performance metrics
Some uncommon ones –
- Providing clearer & more precise signals to the algorithm
- Save budget to increase allocation for test & learn opportunities
- Promotes cross functional team collaboration for the ultimate business growth
What to do in tracking pixel optimization?
I believe the core objective of any overall marketing team is to generate 4 types of traffic through various channels, while chasing different goals. These audiences fall into: top funnel, middle funnel, bottom funnel, or the Test & Learn segment. Here’s how I would approach this.
- Pre-Launch :
- Tighten strategy by questioning each and every line item in the media plan, refer historical performance, check exclusions etc.
- Stay engaged with teams who are directly or indirectly involved in driving traffic to the website, re-align on target audience, reduce audience overlaps & others
- Re-check implementations against media plan & strategy for any misunderstanding caused due to siloed working style and communication gaps
- Post-Launch : I would drive this with a business mindset. It demands a mix of layered remarketing expertise, behavioral data analysis, problem-solving, meticulous planning, and eliminate skills. The truth? It’s complex and won’t happen overnight. Group with the right people. Stop only when the irrelevant audience & their source have been identified and simultaneously, a system also got created to identify, categorize, prioritize the incoming traffic in pixel based on their potential and eventually reduce uncertainty in marketing efforts
Why should you not ignore pixel optimization?
From my perspective as a Performance Marketing Consultant – If we invite the wrong audience, we’re not just misleading them – we’re misleading ourselves. So let’s push the marketing boundaries based on pixel data instead of platforms!
In conclusion, filtering out irrelevant traffic and optimizing tracking pixels does ensure the accuracy of data and insights that ultimately leads to better targeting, reduced wastage, and more efficient marketing strategies. Plan it well before execution.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. If you have any insights, thoughts, or stories to share, feel free to reach out via the contact form or leave a comment below.
Stay Motivated!