3 replies to this topic

[hulio]

Hi all,

I have found myself in a brand new situation (for me): I currently monitor the ppc/analytics for a travel destination site that has the enviable position of having marketing strategies in place, but no real merchandise.

A little background: Our objective is to get people to our site in order to attract visitors to our area, however we don't actually have product to sell. We redirect visitors to our partners who then either sell a package, or redirect to a travel operator; or in some cases, we move the buyer directly to the tour operator. Because we have greater clout and better financial backing, we are able to market more agressively on a global scale. One of our biggest issues is tracking our efforts - once a visitor moves from our site to one of our partners, they're info is gone - or is it?

Is there some way, whether through tracking code or limited access analytics, for us to actually know whether someone has completed a transaction?

This is completely new to me, as previously I worked in a situation where I could track most sales from beginning to end - even if they made the purchase over the phone.

Thanks
Hulio

[Jill]

Do you have access to the partner sites so that you could add code on them?

If not, typically the best you can do is track outbound clicks which you can do through Google Analytics. I think it's through event tracking, but it might be some other way. You have to add special code on your own pages to do it if I remember correctly.

[hulio]

Do you have access to the partner sites so that you could add code on them?

If not, typically the best you can do is track outbound clicks which you can do through Google Analytics. I think it's through event tracking, but it might be some other way. You have to add special code on your own pages to do it if I remember correctly.

That's part of the issue - I might be able to get code added to some of the partner sites, but you know how some businesses are about privacy and such. Although you'd think that since they're giving us money to bring them more business, they'd want more solid numbers.

Currently (due to certain security issues imposed upon us), we are using Webtrends for analytics. I can only assume that there would be a similar option for tracking as with GA?

Thanks for your help, Jill - as always!
Hulio

[Jill]

I would check with the webtrends support people to see what your options are.