Understanding Conversion Tracking

This topic includes the following sections:

About Conversion Tracking

Learn more by watching the video!

Conversion Tracking allows you to evaluate how effective your campaign is in driving a particular post-clickthrough action (such as making a purchase). With this feature you can monitor and report on the success of a campaign (with link-tracking enabled) based on its resulting conversions.

A typical conversion occurs after a campaign recipient receives your email message and takes some desired action (purchases an advertised product, signs up for a newsletter or a training class, pledges for a charity, etc.) as requested in your originating campaign message.

When a recipient clicks your email link, this clickthrough action is recorded. If the recipient then completes the desired action, the recipient's browser is then directed to your specified confirmation browser page, known as the Conversion Acknowledgment page. At this point, a conversion is then registered, and reflected in Oracle Responsys logs and reporting.

Note: This is the Web page that a recipient reaches only after performing your desired action.

Conversion Tracking Terminology

  • Conversion Tracking Tag—Recording conversions requires placing special snippets of HTML code on your Conversion Acknowledgment page. This Conversion Tracking Tag is available on the Campaign URL page. You can copy and customize it to meet the objectives of each or all of your Conversion Tracking campaigns.
  • Conversion Acknowledgment page—Your browser-viewed confirmation page sent to your customers after they have completed the action you requested via your campaign message clickthrough link.

    Tip: To open this page, click The Folders icon Folders on the side navigation bar, then select your campaign name, click , and click Campaign URL.

  • Campaign URL page—This page contains the Conversion Tracking Tag source code you will need to copy, edit and paste into your Conversion Acknowledgment browser page. To open this page, click The Folders icon Folders on the side navigation bar, then select your campaign name, click , and select Campaign URL.

What is a Conversion?

The goal of any conversion campaign is to convert a customer by having that person complete a desired request, for example, make a purchase, through a link in your email campaign.

Example: Your targeted customer clicks on a Confirm Order, Confirm Reservation or similar button or link on your website, and thereby commits to taking some action.

This means that your campaign was successful – your email recipient has been converted from a browsing, uncommitted customer to a customer who has completed the action you proposed in your campaign message.

Conversion Tracking Cookies

Conversion Tracking processing requires that your email recipients have their browsers set to accept cookies. A recipient can also prevent a conversion from being recorded by clearing cookies between clicking the tracked link (when the cookie is written to that recipient's computer), and visiting the Conversion Acknowledgment page (when the cookie data is used in conjunction with the Conversion Tracking Tag data to record a conversion).

Note: Conversion Tracking uses cookies that are compatible with the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) project. This means that Internet Explorer 6 (and above), as well as other P3P-enabled user agents accept them, and your conversions will be recorded as expected.

Important: Recent updates to the Chrome web browser (version 80 and beyond) may have an impact on email conversion tracking. These changes only affect accounts using the Responsys conversion tracking feature if the email tracking link (Response handler URL) is different from the main website/conversion landing page. Learn more about these changes and how Oracle Responsys can help you adapt to them.


Conversion Tracking Walkthrough and Requirements

The following details the general steps and requirements that complete the Conversion Tracking process.

  1. (Required) Create a campaign with tracking links that request some type of call to action or follow-through from your email recipient.
  2. (Required) Your campaign must include an associated link table. If you haven't already established one during creation of your campaign, follow these steps.
    1. On the campaign Dashboard, click the Link Table link.
    2. (Required) Select the Track Link Clicks in This Campaign option.
    3. Select and enter a link table containing the named links that you want to use in your associated campaign message. (If not yet created, use the Click Here link to set up a new link table.)
  3. (Required) Be sure that Track Conversions is selected on the Campaign Options page. If your campaign does not include an associated link table, a warning appears notifying you that this must be completed before Conversion Tracking can be enabled for your campaign.
  4. Click The Folders icon Folders on the side navigation bar, then select your campaign name, click and select Campaign URL to open the Campaign URL page.
  5. (Required) Copy the Conversion Tracking Tag image source code, and place IMG tag on your associated Conversion Acknowledgment page. See Conversion Tracking Tag for full details about requirements and options for this IMG tag.

    (Optional/Recommended) Include additional Conversion Tracking parameters within your IMG tag coding. Example: Revenue, Order ID, Item description.

    Note: If your Conversion Acknowledgment landing page is using SSL, then the email click tracking domain (Response handler) should be on SSL too and you should use the https:// version of the Conversion Tracking Tag. For example, if the landing page is https://www.example.com/conversion, then the Response handler should be https://email.example.com and not http://email.example.com.

  6. (Optional/Highly Recommended) Use Proof Launch option to test your entire Conversion Tracking campaign and process.

    Important: This test should include completing the actual Conversion Tracking action. Retail Example: Click the campaign message link, make a purchase, and view the Conversion Acknowledgment page ("Thank you for your purchase").

  7. Launch your campaign to your recipients.

    Conversion Tracking requires that your recipients have cookies enabled.

  8. Email recipient receives your campaign message, and clicks a link leading to further recipient action that can lead to a conversion.
  9. Clickthrough link action records a browser cookie on recipient's computer, and recipient is directed to your destination URL.

    This cookie identifies the originating campaign and tracking link that was clicked.

  10. Recipient follows through with your desired action such as makes a purchase.
  11. (Required) Confirmation of that action is sent, and viewed via a Web browser. Retail Example: Thank You message.

    This confirmation is the Conversion Acknowledgment page containing your Conversion Tracking Tag.

  12. Recipient cookie data is compared to Conversion Tracking Tab-enabled data. If data matches, results are logged as a conversion event.
  13. Analyze your resulting conversions using the Live Report, Live Report drill-down links, Campaign Analysis Performance and Clickthrough Link reports and/or a third party reporting mechanism.

Note: You may also review your conversions for this campaign, the most recent conversion of this campaign or all Conversion Tracking campaigns in your Oracle Responsys account.


Conversion Acknowledgment Page

The actual conversion for your campaign message request is recorded only after the data is collected from the recipient's receipt of your Conversion Acknowledgment page.

This page should in some way confirm or acknowledge the action that your targeted recipient has just completed.

Note that you probably already have several types of acknowledgment pages, for example "Thank you for your recent purchase". With a small modification, you can easily turn an existing page into a Conversion Acknowledgment page for all of your Oracle Responsys Conversion Tracking campaigns.

To make a Conversion Acknowledgment page, you need to insert a Conversion Tracking image tag within the page. See the Conversion Tracking Tag section for details about how this tag can be used to record and monitor your conversions, and any additional parameters you can include.

Important: To accurately record a conversion, your Conversion Acknowledgment page should be displayed after your email recipient commits to your requested action. It should not be the same page as the clickthrough-link destination URL in your email message.


Conversion Tracking Tag

Recording conversions requires placing special snippets of HTML code, known as the Conversion Tracking Tag, on your Conversion Acknowledgment page. This Conversion Tracking Tag is available on the Campaign URL page, and you can copy and customize it to meet the objectives of your Conversion Tracking campaigns.

The Conversion Tracking Tag is an IMG tag. It creates a transparent 1-by-1 graphic on the page that you should need to place anywhere between the opening and closing BODY tags. We recommended placing it near the closing BODY tag.

Use a text or HTML editor to paste the IMG tag into your Conversion Acknowledgment page.

Important

When copying/pasting the IMG tag source code, be sure to include all code between the opening and closing angle brackets (<>) as shown in the example below.

<IMG SRC="http://rsp.ServerName.net/pub/cct?_ri_=X0Gzc2X%3DS%3AzbHS%3ASRCR%3Aq&_ei_=EnVd2LoBFEIeOzPXj3wLH0Y"
  WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">

Important: Your IMG tag must not break inside the “quoted” campaign conversion URL assigned to the SRC attribute (IMG SRC="...") as shown in the highlighted code below.

<IMG SRC="http://rsp.ServerName.net/pub/cct?_ri_=X0Gzc2X%3DS%3AzbHS%3ASRCR%3Aq&_ei_
  =EnVd2LoBFEIeOzPXj3wLH0Y"
  WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">

Conversion Tracking Tag Process and Options

The following section details the process of retrieving, editing, placing, and testing your Conversion Tracking Tag.

Campaign URL Page and Conversion Tracking Tag

These steps show where to find and retrieve your Conversion Tracking Tag.

  1. On the Folders page, click next to your desired campaign name, and select Campaign URLs.
  2. Under the Conversion Tracking Tag section, copy the full IMG tag source code, including left and right brackets ("<IMG SRC...>").

    Note: If your Conversion Acknowledgment landing page is using SSL, then the email click tracking domain (Response handler) should be on SSL too and you should use the https:// version of the Conversion Tracking Tag. For example, if the landing page is https://www.example.com/conversion, then the Response handler should be https://email.example.com and not http://email.example.com.

  3. (Optional) Edit your tag to include additional parameters or to add code restricting the number of times a conversion can be counted for the same action. See Conversion Tracking Tag Variations for more details about these options.
  4. Open your Conversion Acknowledgment page using your preferred text or HTML editor.
  5. Paste your IMG tag into your Conversion Acknowledgment page. Place this IMG tag (a transparent 1-by-1 graphic) between the opening and closing BODY tags. We recommended near the closing BODY tag.

    Important: Your IMG tag must not break inside the “quoted” campaign conversion URL assigned to the SRC attribute (IMG SRC=”...”) as shown in the highlighted code below.

    <IMG SRC="http://rsp.ServerName.net/pub/cct?_ri_=X0Gzc2X%3DS%3AzbHS%3ASRCR%3Aq&_ei_
  =EnVd2LoBFEIeOzPXj3wLH0Y"
  WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">

Example: Conversion Tracking Tag Placement

The following shows a simple example of a Thank You confirmation Conversion Acknowledgment page. Note the placement of the Conversion Tracking Tag.

<html>
  <head>
  <title>Thank you!</title>
  </head>
  <body>
   <p>Thank you for your order! We appreciate your business.</p>
   <IMG SRC="http://rsp.ServerName.net/pub/cct?_ri_=X0Gzc2X%3DS%3AzbHS%3ASRCR%3Aq&_ei_=EgwtZPFqF5KnjZtjC44v7Bc "WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
  </body>
</html>

Conversion Tracking Tag Variations

There are two variations for the Conversion Tracking Tag that you may choose to include on any of your Conversion Acknowledgment pages.

Following sections detail both variations.

  1. Stopping Tracking after First Conversion: 
    <IMG SRC="http://rsp.ServerName.net/pub/cct?_ri_=X0Gzc2X%3DS%3AzbHS%3ASRCR%3Aq&amp;_ei_=EgwtZPFqF5KnjZtjC44v7Bc_ =&action=once "
  WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
  2. Tracking Additional Parameters (such as ITEM and COLOR choice): 
    <IMG SRC="http://rsp.ServerName.net/pub/cct?_ri_=X0Gzc2X%3DS%3AzbHS%3ASRCR%3Aq&amp;_ei_=EgwtZPFqF5KnjZtjC44v7Bc _&ITEM=Shirt&COLOR=Red_="  
  WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">

    Note: Within the Conversion Tracking Tag source code, your account name and campaign name are always automatically encrypted for you. For the purposes of simplifying the following examples, all applicable references are displayed as AccountName and CampaignName. Also note that your Responsys server reference is always rsp.ServerName.net in this document.

Recommended Conversion Tracking Tag

It is recommended that in the majority of cases, the Conversion Tracking Tag code selection should be the action=once tag.

1. Stopping Tracking after First Conversion 

<IMG SRC="http://rsp.ServerName.net/pub/cct?_ri_=X0Gzc2X%3DS%3AzbHS%3ASRCR%3Aq&amp;_ei_=EgwtZPFqF5KnjZtjC44v7Bc " 
  WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">

As long as your Conversion Tracking campaign cookie remains on a recipient's computer, another conversion will be recorded by the Event Capture System, and associated reporting each time the Conversion Acknowledgment page is visited by that same recipient.

You can prevent this by automatically clearing the cookie as soon as it is first used by including &action=once as one of the name value pairs within your Conversion Tracking IMG tag. See example above.

Important: &action=once string must be within the “quoted” string, and not part of the WIDTH or HEIGHT specification. <IMG SRC=”…&action=once” WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">).

2. Tracking Additional Parameters

<IMG SRC="http://rsp.ServerName.net/pub/cct?_ri_=X0Gzc2X%3DS%3AzbHS%3ASRCR%3Aq&amp;_ei_&ITEM=Shirt&COLOR=Red_=" 
  WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">

You can use custom fields to record extra data that is passed back when a recipient views your Conversion Acknowledgment page. Examples: SKU numbers, amount spent, item descriptions, transaction IDs, customer IDs, etc.

Note: ITEM type and COLOR choice are shown in example above.

Use custom fields to embed those fields into the IMG source code on your Conversion Acknowledgment page.

The data for those fields are then included with all individual conversion event records that are made available using the Event Data Feeds feature. You can then analyze your resulting conversions using the Live Report, Live Report drill-down links, Campaign Analysis Performance and Clickthrough Link reports, and/or third party reporting mechanism

Example for Adding Revenue Tracking Parameters

The following is an example of all the required steps specific to adding extra tracking data to your IMG tag source code so the collected data can be included in your Conversion Event Data Feeds Export and reporting.

Revenue Example Details

Campaign Analysis Performance reports generated by Oracle Responsys include metrics for Revenue and Average Order Size. To leverage this functionality, construct your Conversion Tracking Tag with the following parameters. These are the standard Name/value pair names:

  • ORDERTOTAL
  • ORDERID (must be unique)
  • NUMITEMS: Number of items in order (optional).
  • CUSTOMERID (optional).
  • TYPE (Requires a custom column to be captured)

Using this scenario, follow these steps.

  1. Go to Campaign URL page for your campaign, and retrieve your desired Conversion Tracking Tag.
  2. Embed the field names into your Conversion Tracking Tag as follows. 
    <IMG SRC="http://rsp.ServerName.net/pub/cct?_ri_=X0Gzc2X%3DS%3AzbHS%3ASRCR%3Aq&amp;_ei_&OrderID=<%=OrderID>&OrderTotal=<%=OrderTotal>&NumItems=<%=NumItems>&Cust_ID=<%=Cust_ID %>” 
  WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
  3. Once constructed, your Conversion Tracking Tag IMG SRC attribute will look similar to the following. 
    <IMG SRC="http://rsp.ServerName.net/pub/cct?_ri_=X0Gzc2X%3DS%3AzbHS%3ASRCR%3Aq&amp;_ei_&OrderID=123&OrderTotal=120.99&numItems=5&customerID=456&Type=purchase”>
  WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1">
  4. If there are other name-value pairs you wish to capture with the Conversion, define them using the Custom Column feature:
    1. Click The Account icon Account on the side navigation bar.
    2. From the Global Settings listing, select Define custom columns.
    3. Click the Add a new column link and enter the new column name (all uppercase) and an optional description.
    4. Click Save.

Notes

  • If the extra fields (beyond the standard name-value pairs) specified in the Conversion Tracking Tag are not defined as custom columns, the information will be lost.
  • Required: Add these new fields as Custom columns before launching your Conversion Tracking campaign.
  • As with &action=once coding, you may include coding for additional parameters with other combinations of the Conversion Tracking Tag. See example under Step 4 above.

Testing Your Conversion Tracking Campaign

It is strongly recommended that you test the entire Conversion Tracking process before launching your campaign.

  1. On the Dashboard for your Conversion Tracking campaign, click Test Launch.
    The test launch sends campaign message to your email address.
  2. When you receive the campaign message, click the clickthrough link that leads you to the destination URL.
  3. Complete the action that the clickthrough link in the message requested until your reach the Conversion Acknowledgment page. Example: Make a purchase, and receive a confirmation Thank You.
  4. Repeat this process for all Conversion Tracking links in your test-launched campaign message.
  5. Check the Live Report to verify that the appropriate conversions have been recorded. (Click Reports to select the Live Report.)

    Note: Each time a conversion is recorded, the Live Report Conversions link reflects that count.

Conversion Tracking Reporting and Analysis

Using the data collected via the Conversion Tracking process, you can analyze your resulting conversions using the Live Report, Live Report drill-down links (opens Campaign Analysis Performance and Link Clickthrough reports, and/or third party reporting mechanism).

Analyzing Live Report Conversion Data

The Live Report provides high level Conversion Tracking campaign counts, individual campaign counts, as well as details about each conversion. These are the options for analyzing this data via the Live Report.

  • Conversions Link – Review totaled conversion counts next to Conversions links with breakdowns by campaign type for recent and cumulative activities.
  • Conversions Link Drilldown – When the Live Report includes conversions for several campaigns, you may choose to drill down to individual results.

    View up to 25 individual results for each campaign by clicking the Conversions link under Recent Activity or Cumulative Activity sections. The individual campaign names and their conversion counts are displayed.

Campaign Analysis Performance & Link Clickthrough Reporting

In addition to the Live Report, conversion data is recorded on the Campaign Performance Interactive Dashboard.

To review this dashboard, click The Insight icon Insight on the side navigation bar, and select Interactive Dashboards. On the Email tab, expand Performance and select Campaign.

Learn more

conversion tracking, revenue tracking