Monitoring Print Ads Using Google Analytics in 4 Steps

Digital Tracking of Print Ads Enhances Business Insights

In the digital age, businesses have become adept at measuring the return on investment (ROI) of their advertising dollars, largely thanks to the Internet and tools like Google Analytics. Now, this same level of insight can be applied to traditional print materials, such as business cards, handouts, fliers, billboards, stickers, or a banner at an event/tradeshow.

The key to this digital transformation lies in trackable URLs with UTM parameters and QR codes. By incorporating these elements into your print materials, you can direct users to dedicated landing pages optimized for print campaigns, allowing Google Analytics to capture traffic source, user behavior, and conversions specifically attributed to the print ad campaign.

Creating Trackable URLs

To get started, create URLs with UTM parameters. Add UTM tags such as , , and to URLs in your print ads. This helps Google Analytics identify visits coming from those specific print ads.

Utilizing QR Codes

To make the process more user-friendly, place QR codes on your print ads that link to the UTM-tagged URLs. These codes provide a simple way for print readers to access your digital properties and are trackable within Google Analytics as a distinct traffic source.

Designing Dedicated Landing Pages

To ensure all traffic to those pages can be confidently linked to that print ad effort, design landing pages exclusive to the print campaign.

Analyzing Traffic and Conversions

Once your print ad campaign is live, analyze the traffic visiting via print campaign URLs in Google Analytics by looking at conversion events, session behavior, and engagement metrics to assess the campaign’s success.

A/B Testing

To further refine your strategies, run experiments comparing user behavior and conversion rates between audiences exposed to print plus digital campaigns versus digital-only to measure the added value of print ads.

By implementing these strategies, you can quantitatively measure how print ads drive online activity and conversions through Google Analytics. Without UTM parameters or QR codes, it is nearly impossible to accurately attribute digital traffic to a print source.

Competitive Advantage and Improved Insights

Tracking print ads digitally provides a competitive advantage for companies doing print advertising. Not only does it help businesses understand the traffic generated by print materials, but it also offers insights into how different print efforts are performing.

Traffic from print ads is often classified as Direct or Organic Search in Google Analytics, which can be misleading. By implementing print ad tracking, you can reduce the amount of traffic misclassified as such.

Streamlining the Process

The Google UTM builder can be used to create the tracking URL for the ad in a few minutes. A vanity URL, a unique, short, and simple URL that demonstrates the brand or ad campaign, is also needed for this process.

In summary, digital tracking of print ads in Google Analytics relies primarily on UTM-tagged URLs and QR codes linking to dedicated landing pages, enabling detailed measurement of traffic and conversions from print advertising campaigns. This approach ensures businesses can make informed decisions about their print ad spend and optimize their campaigns for maximum impact.