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Conversion Tracking for Pharmaceutical Paid Search Campaigns
You might have heard what gets measured gets done. There is an update to that, too: What gets measured can be improved. And when it comes to conversions, few things are more important to clients than enhancing conversions.
Both you and your client need conversion tracking to measure your results from PPC campaigns. Clients need conversion tracking to understand their return on investment and the user journey for the campaign. You need conversion tracking metrics to optimize your ads, bidding strategy, and the landing pages’ efficacy to earn your keep.
But what should you measure in your conversion tracking? This question gets even more complex with a client like a pharmaceutical company where there isn’t a sale, per se, and instead other priority behaviors. You can create a few different types of goals for PPC conversions, per Seer Interactive, a digital marketing agency.[1]
- Destination goals: This is a priority-use behavior page(s) with which you want the client’s users to interact, like a landing page, an information page, or a form submission page.
- Duration goals: These goals are about how long the client’s user is on the site, indicating an intent to purchase or another priority-use behavior the campaign wants to inspire.
- Pages or screens per session goals: This metric measures how many pages the user visits during one visit.
- Event goals: These are specific user actions you want the campaign to inspire, like a form submission or a purchase.
- Smart goals: Machine learning, which is a form of artificial intelligence, facilitates these goals; an example could be the machine learning determines which user visits and behaviors are more likely to create a conversion.
However, misleading results can occur with smart goals. Sometimes, user behavior doesn’t always accurately represent the intent of the priority behavior. An example is time spent on the page metric. When you have a pharmaceutical company’s landing page about a drug, a certain amount of time on the page would indicate that the user was learning about it and comprehending what they see there. However, smart goals may or may not have that as part of the algorithm.
BFW Life Sciences is a full-service agency that specializes in healthcare advertising. BFW recommends creating a workaround for a time-spent-on-page conversion with Tag Manager. It will optimize for conversions.[3] for consideration-influencing campaigns.
Seer also has how-to instructions on confirming conversion tracking setup. To read more, please click here.
Conversion tracking is essential to all clients, and pharmaceutical companies are no exception. Pharmaceutical firms want to know that their investment in PPC ad campaigns works, and it’s up to you to show them. Here’s are some helpful tips for conversion tracking, per Method, a digital healthcare marketing agency:[2]
- Link the CTA to Google Analytics as a goal for one-source traffic.
- Create unique UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) URL codes for your campaigns for multiple-source traffic.
- Optimize your social media tags to include relevant tracking pixels.
And also…
- Remember, the Golden Rule of Conversion Tracking is to keep testing; testing provides invaluable insight to what works and, perhaps more importantly, what doesn’t.
When it comes to pharmaceutical company conversion tracking, it is crucial to bear in mind the company’s goals for the campaign. It’s not purchasing so much as a chance for physicians to learn more about the drug they might prescribe. Pharmaceutical companies have many specific conversion tracking behaviors that can be helpful for them to see how your campaign is working on their behalf. Consider the following examples:
- Doctor discussion guide PDF downloads
- Video views
- Engaged visits (which we define as 2+ page visits)
- Other PDF downloads
- Contact form submissions
- Co-pay coupon download
- Visits to significant safety info page
Pharmaceutical companies, and any other clients, need to know how your efforts bring them new opportunities. When you are setting up conversion tracking for them, be sure that you consider all the different ways your PPC campaigns work for them and show them the numbers. Not only will it increase their confidence in your ability to get them what they need but also they may show you the numbers you need to make your boss impressed with your conversions, too.
Sources:
[1] Best, Emmilly. “PPC Conversion Tracking 101: Setting Up Tracking.” Seerinteractive.com. 3 August 2020. Web. 30 April 2021. < https://www.seerinteractive.com/blog/ppc-conversion-tracking-101-setting-up-tracking/>.
[2] “Conversion rate optimization for the healthcare industry.” Wearemethod.io. Web. 30 April 2021. < https://wearemethod.io/website-optimisation/conversion-rate-optimisation-for-the-healthcare-industry/>.
[3] “Tips for Advertising Pharmaceutical Products on Google Ads.” www.healthcareadvertising.gobfw.com. Web. 30 April 2021. < https://healthcareadvertising.gobfw.com/6-tips-pharmaceutical-google-ads/>.
