In my last blog post I described how I was planning a multi-channel campaign using Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, printed materials, QR codes, a mobile-optimized web site, my e-newsletter and postcards. I am using Google campaign tagging along with short urls to see which channels are the most effective.
To make use of Google Campaign tagging, first create a Google Analytics account for yourself if you don't already have one and put the Google Analytics code on your web pages. Your webmaster can help you add the Google Analytics code if you need assistance.
Next, add a question mark to the end of any urls you want to track and add tags for "campaign", "medium" and "source" as in this example. There are five available codes but you can do a lot with just these three. (If the question mark does not work, try an & sign instead, that worked for me on one type of url.) The bold part is the campaign code added to the original url.
http://www.example.com/?utm_campaign=spring&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter1
campaign - is what you select as the identifier for the whole campaign. For example for my clearance sale I picked "clearance2013".
source - is where the traffic is coming from.
medium - is what type of media was used, for example two urls could be on the same web site but one is a banner and one is a link so I could use "banner" for one and "link" for the other.
Here are what two of my urls look like that are for the clearance sale campaign, coming from the web site www.sell66stuff.com but one is a banner and one is a link. The bold part is the campaign code added to the original url:
http://carolynsstampstore.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=48&utm_campaign=clearance2013&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=sell66stuff
http://carolynsstampstore.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=48&utm_campaign=clearance2013&utm_medium=link&utm_source=sell66stuff
For more help with Google Custom Campaigns, see the Google documentation.
Long urls such as those are fine for situations where the end user cannot see them, but for a printed advertisement or a social media post that is too long and confusing. You can use a url shortening service, such as the one offered by MobExMeTM - QR Code Generator and URL Shortener, to generate one of the above urls into something like this: http://mobex.me/clearweb.
Once your campaign is underway, you can check Google Analytics to review and analyze detailed tracking data. Log into Google Analytics then go to "Traffic Sources", "Sources", then "Campaigns". You will see a graph of visits with a list of your campaigns below it. Click on the name of the campagin to see more detailed information. All of the parts of my campaign are not yet built but some parts are working already and have left a record in my stats:

This information will be very valuable to me the next time I plan a multi-channel marketing campaign!

Normandy, Missouri - June 20, 2011 - Webinar Resources is proud to announce the launch of a new web site,
From in-store displays to magazine ads to packages of organic spinach, these funny-looking squares are becoming more and more common in our environment. A QR ("quick response") Code or Tag is a square 2D barcode that you can scan with your smartphone's camera with the help of a QR Code Reader app to immediately launch mobile links to a variety of media on your mobile phone's web browser. Said another way, QR Codes are a simple way to connect the offline world with the online world.
Send a personalized ghoulish Halloween greeting to your guest and join our Webinar Resources email newsletter. Enter your name and email address and the name and email address of your guest and we will send your Halloween greeting on your behalf.
iStockphoto is a stock photo resource that I use frequently. When you complete a design that uses images from the iStockphoto collection, you are eligible to submit it to the Design Spotlight. The image I made to illustrate the concept of creating a webinar replay that can be viewed on a mobile device has been accepted into the
We at Webinar Resources would like to extend our congratulations to UncoverMe Naturals upon the completion of their new eCommerce site. UncoverMe Naturals sells cosmetics, soaps and personal care products that are free from preservatives, dyes and harmful chemicals. Webinar Resources was hired to bring to completion a web site which had been started by another firm. The client provided beautiful product photography which made the site a joy to work on and produced a very attractive finished result. The site is based on the WordPress platform, reflecting the trend I've seen over the last several years of clients wanting to build their web sites on platforms that contain a content management system so that they can take more control over their web site updates. We wish UncoverMe Naturals much success!
When our team at Webinar Resources created the personalized interactive web presentation 
