How can I track whether my advertising is working?

The easiest way to know your North Shore Mums advertising is working is to set up a simple way to track it before your campaign goes live. Most of the ideas below are free, take less than 30 minutes, and work for any package, from a Directory listing to a School Holiday Guide or Review.

You don't need to use them all. Even one or two will give you a much clearer picture of where your enquiries and bookings are coming from.

1. Check your Google Analytics referral traffic

If your website uses Google Analytics, you can already see how many visitors North Shore Mums sends you, at no extra cost.

1. Log in to Google Analytics.
2. Go to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition.
3. Change the primary dimension to Session source / medium.
4. Look for northshoremums.com.au / referral (and facebook.com or m.facebook.com for our Facebook posts).
5. Set the date range to cover your campaign, and compare it with the weeks before.

Beyond the number of visitors, look at what they did once they arrived, such as visiting your bookings page, submitting an enquiry form, or making a purchase. If you've set up key events (conversions) in Google Analytics, you can see these by source too.

Tip: our e-newsletter and Facebook links can show up under several different sources, so a UTM tracking link (below) is the most reliable way to capture all of it in one place.

2. Use a UTM tracking link

A UTM link is your normal website address with a short tag added to the end. It tells Google Analytics exactly where each visitor came from, so North Shore Mums traffic is labelled clearly in your reports.

Google's free Campaign URL Builder creates these in seconds. Just enter your website address, a source, a medium and a campaign name.

Send us your tagged link when you book, or add it yourself to your Directory listing. Using a different link for each channel shows you which part of your campaign worked hardest.

In Google Analytics, you'll then find these under Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition by searching for northshoremums.

Tip: keep your tags in lowercase and consistent. Google Analytics treats "NorthShoreMums" and "northshoremums" as two different sources.

3. Add a North Shore Mums special offer or promo code

A special offer gives our readers a reason to act now, and gives you a result you can count. Every redemption is a customer you know came from North Shore Mums.

Ideas that work well:

• A promo code unique to North Shore Mums, such as NSM10, entered at online checkout
• "Mention North Shore Mums" for a discount, free trial or bonus when booking by phone or in person
• A value-add, such as a free first class, free delivery or a gift with purchase

Use a different code for each channel or campaign (for example, NSMSPRING for a School Holiday Guide and NSMNEWS for an e-newsletter ad) to see which performed best.

One of our School Holiday Guide advertisers, Bop till you Drop, used discount codes to attribute six new customers to the guide and eight to their Facebook group posts.

Gold Directory listings include a special offer field, and our Promotion Package is built entirely around one.

4. Ask customers how they heard about you

This is one of the simplest and most reliable ways to measure results, because it captures word of mouth as well as clicks. Many local parents see a business on North Shore Mums, then search for it on Google or recommend it to a friend, which won't always show up as referral traffic.

• Add a "How did you hear about us?" drop-down to your online booking, enquiry or checkout form, with North Shore Mums as an option (and separate options for our website, e-newsletter and Facebook group if you'd like more detail).
• Ask the question when customers call, email or come in, and note the answer in your booking system or a simple spreadsheet.
• Include it in your welcome or new-customer survey.

5. Use a dedicated landing page, email or phone number

Sending North Shore Mums readers to their own page or contact point makes every visit and enquiry easy to count.

• A landing page just for our readers, such as yourwebsite.com.au/northshoremums, with a warm welcome and your offer. Page visits and form submissions from that page all come from North Shore Mums.
• A separate email address, such as hello+nsm@yourbusiness.com.au (many email providers support this), or a new address used only on your North Shore Mums listing and ads.
• A call-tracking number, available from providers such as CallTrackingMetrics or a second mobile number, if most of your bookings come by phone.
• An online booking link with a source tag, if your booking platform (for example, Mindbody, Fresha or Bookwhen) lets you add one. Check your platform's help pages for referral or source tracking.

6. Reporting from North Shore Mums

We email a campaign report once your campaign is complete, so you can combine our figures with your own tracking.

For context, our weekly e-newsletter has a 40% open rate (against a 23% industry benchmark) and a 6.7% click rate (against 4%), based on the MailChimp Campaign Benchmark Report. Each School Holiday Guide typically receives 5,000 to 10,000 page views per edition.

• Set it up before you go live. Tracking can't be added to results after the fact.
• Give it time. Parents often save a listing or post and come back to it weeks later, especially for classes, childcare and schools. Directory listings, Reviews and Essential Guides stay live for months, so measure over the full period, not just the first week.
• Look at the whole picture. Combine website visits, offer redemptions and "how did you hear about us" answers, since no single method captures everything.
• Make it easy to act. A clear offer, good photos and a direct link to your booking page all lift results.
• Keep your listing fresh. Up-to-date details, photos and customer reviews help your listing convert more of the parents who find it.

If you'd like help choosing the right package for your goals, or setting up a tracking link for your campaign, simply get in touch with our team by email.

Related articles

• Tips to improve your Directory listing
• Promoting your Directory listing
• Why testimonials matter and how to get more
• Advertise with North Shore Mums