Channel Codes – a little more info

UPDATED INFORMATION 05/04/2009

The RevResponse channel codes have been enhanced. For detailed information on channel codes, how they are tracked, and how to create links with channel codes, please visit this updated blog post: http://www.revresponse.com/channel_codes.

A little over a week ago I blogged about some of our latest features. One of these features is the ability to track your promotions/ads more closely with a Report by Channel. Some of our partners have asked for a little clarity about these features; and we aim to please, so here goes.

What is a Channel Code?
A channel code is a short description that you can enter into your promotions which will allow us to track exactly where your subscriptions are coming from. By coding your promotions we’ll be able to tell you whether the majority of your subs are coming from a newsletter mention, a stand-alone offer, a blog post, a widget, etc.

How do I Use a Channel Code?
There are two ways to add a code to your promotions. The first is to add it when you create a promo in the ad wizard.

As you create you promotion and select through the drop-downs to create your offer, you’ll see a box called “Channel Code.” This is optional, but if you decide to track your offers you’ll want to create a code for your promotion. If you’re going to be placing a blue widget that is 250x250 you might name it “blue250.” Currently, the code can be up to eight characters long. In the future we may add the ability for longer codes, but eight is what you get for now!

The other way to add channel codes is to do so manually. This allows you to track the promotions you create for yourself like blog posts that you create for yourself. For this tracking, you’ll add a little bit of code into your links.

If you wanted to promote the white paper Do's and Don'ts of Search Engine Optimization, found at: http://www.tradepub.com/free/w_more01/, you’d need to add a little code.

Here’s what an offer link looks like before you add a channel code: http://www.tradepub.com/c/pubRD.mpl?sr=oc&_t=oc:&pc=w_more01

To track the offer, you’ll add a self-created code into this link after the colon and end it before the ampersand. If you named your code “zorro” this is what the tracked link would look like:

AFTER: http://www.tradepub.com/c/pubRD.mpl?sr=oc&_t=oc::zorro&pc=w_more01

Of course, you can name these codes in any way within eight characters.

**The code does include TWO colons.

If you're really curious to see how this code is created, use the Ad Wizard and mouse over widget links, you'll see how the tracking code works in other cases.**

Where do I See the Results of this Tracking?
Once you’ve named all of your promotions, you can check out the “Report by Channel” in the report list. This will show you exactly which of your modules are bringing in the most subs.

The report will look something like this:

If you have any questions about this feature, don’t hesitate to ask!