Tagging URL's for a More Measurable Digital Campaign

One of the issues I've came across in measuring the performance of digital campaigns was the discrepancy in reporting from our customer's analytics to our own reports. Because of our ad serving software, in Google Analytics (and apparently some others) our ads generally report as "Direct" traffic, which is viewed as if the user entered the URL directly rather than being referred from another site. For customers that monitor their own analytics to track advertising performance, this can cause some confusion.

After doing some research, I stumbled upon Google's Free URL Builder, a simple form that allows you to tag your URL to differentiate campaigns, ad content, etc. in your analytics reporting. For example, I could use the URL Builder to tag my other blog URL (ophorsesense.blogspot.com) for a Yahoo Banner Ad campaign as: 

http://ophorsesense.blogspot.com/?utm_source=Yahoo&utm_medium=Banner&utm_campaign=TEST

Clickthroughs will then appear in my analytics reports with Yahoo as the "Source" and Banner ad as the "Campaign" (see below)

Using QR Codes for Non-Traditional Advertising...

This week I came across a new business, a Mobile Lockout Service, where I was challenged to find a way to create an effective advertising campaign for a non-traditional business on a new business budget. The obvious problem being that it is an "emergency" service and the prospective customer is not likely to take action at the time they see the ad. 


The basic ad message in this case is aimed at enticing the reader to save the contact information in their phone to be available in the event that they are locked out of their car and will need this mobile service (assuming that their cell phone is not locked inside the car). But how do we encourage a reader to take instant action on an ad that does not result in instant gratification? The answer: MAKE IT FUN! 


So I generated a QR code that will automatically download the business' contact information into the user's Smartphone "contacts" when scanned (see Droid example below). 


And better yet, http://myqr.co not only offers a free QR Code generator, but they also offer a free tracking system to report the number of scans!

Digital Training Portal ~ The self-learning solution!

JRC Digital Training Portal

Objective(s):

• To train employees in a learn-at-your-own-pace environment.
• Measure training success with individual course certification.
• Increase employee retention by keeping employees engaged.  
• Increase selling time. 

Allies: Alan Heath, Corporate Sales Development Specialist

Obstacles: Budgeting.

Training needed: n/a

Resources needed: n/a

Accomplishments: n/a

Metrics:  Each training course will host a series of quiz questions, and users must complete the course with a pre-determined percentage to receive a certificate of completion. Managers can log in to see who has completed each training course and what score they received.

Narrative:

Comparison of some available products

§         Mindflash – $999 per month allows for up to 1,000 trainees. Easy to use for both trainer & trainee, provides certification for completed courses. Since the service is free for up to 10 trainees, this could potentially be an entirely free LMS if managed locally and split by departments. Sample Mindflash training course: http://jrc.mindflash.com/PublicCoursePage.aspx?CourseId=14541964&utoken=2_gn3vqs3ojzuv6n22k5iwuu2nongek2kdgz3te888

§         Adobe eLearning Suite 2 - $1,799 flat fee for software.  Does not include a LMS, but combined with a free LMS system, this has the potential to be a cost effective option.

§         FlexTraining - $12,900 one-time license fee supports up to 1,000 trainees, plus about 25% additional annually for support and upgrades. Hosted on our servers for more control and customization. “Log in and Go” packages available with monthly fee, hosted on FlexTraining servers (less control and customization). Used by the US Dept. of Labor. Program has a lot of options, but may not be the most user-friendly.

§         Unison by RapidIntake.com – Great concept, found some system glitches that reduce usability. $711/month for unlimited users, but only 10 developers (25% off through the end of Feb). With unlimited trainees and unlimited projects, this could be a cost effective solution to provide a training portal for all departments across all JRC properties.

§         Virtual Training Studio 1.12 by BrotherSoft – Completely free, but very basic and not engaging for the user. Also, several issues that reduced usability.

§         Design – A – Course – Appears to have annual fee of about $9,099 for up to 500, but limited course storage.

On a sidenote, http://www.gcflearnfree.org/classes offers free online classes for computer programs like Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, etc. and would be a good tool to use for those looking to brush up on computer basics.

Projected ROI:

Using Oakland Press as a sample – By converting to a self-learning environment, the training portal should reduce monthly training time by about 50%. Assuming a current average of approximately 4 hours of training per month and averages of $178.45 revenue generated per hour* for retail reps and $566.66 revenue generated per hour* for auto reps, the Digital Training Portal has the potential to increase revenue at the Oakland Press alone by:

$8,038.40 monthly

*Avg. based on Dec. 2010 revenue totals