Data Integration and lead tracking

[GerryFoster]

My apologies if this has been posted elsewhere. This forum is large and I'm still learning how to navigate. That being said...

I am going to be talking with reps from several different 3rd party platforms and I am just curious if anyone here has any insights on the ability to track traffic from those sites.

This isn't a "what is the best lead gen platform" question. More who among them has the best tracking capabilities. My experience so far as of yet is one in which I am struggling to connect dots and show ROI for specific channels of digital marketing...which is frustrating because that is the essential advantage of this method vs traditional media.

Any advice would be super welcome and appreciated.

 

[Alexander Lau]

Gerry,

I'm going to quote my own quote from a Lead Source post, which was posted here the other day. Some of it applies to your questions; some not.

Welcome back, thanks for your post.

It really does depend on the demographic that's being attacked. A vendor's service or product might work in Seattle, but not in Miami, etc. There isn't a real panacea "line-up" for traffic or leads, but there are best practice services out there (that can work for your demographic, which potentially could include the vendors that you had mentioned and quite a few more). Obviously, it takes analysis, money (which at times might not live up to a dealer's expectation of ROI = profits-costs x 100 / costs or ROAS = revenue from ad campaign / cost of ad campaign) and time.

Attribution modelling is a good way to understand what works and there are plenty of automotive solutions out there.

Web Traffic
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1662518?hl=en
An attribution model is the rule, or set of rules, that determines how credit for sales and conversions is assigned to touchpoints in conversion paths. For example, the Last Interaction model in Analytics assigns 100% credit to the final touchpoints (i.e., clicks) that immediately precede sales or conversions.

First and last-click attribution are the most commonly used attribution models. While widely used, these models give poor results and a skewed picture of what sources truly influence customers in their decision to buy at the dealership. Last interaction models are not best practice (regardless of what you've heard), it's all about Multi-Touch Attribution.

Sales Attribution
https://fulcrumtech.net/resources/sales-attribution-optimizing-marketing-roi/
An attribution (marketing related) involves the determination of which media are successfully driving a company’s sales. Prior to making a purchase, consumers are exposed to a variety of marketing touch points. For example, depending on individual campaigns, these touch points could include email marketing, social media, search engine optimization (SEO), organic search, paid advertising, and direct website visits. By using sales attribution, businesses can assign a value to each touch point throughout the customer journey that leads to a conversion or purchase.