External Marketing Variables
External MVs are used to track inbound traffic to your website | web application.
External MVs are assigned by adding query params to clickable links: like text links, or images. If you don't use query params, Angelfish uses other information to populate the External MVs.
To paraphrase, External MVs are either:
- Declared: assigned with query params
- Automatic: no query params present
There are 5 variables you can use to assign External MVs.
- External Source
- External Medium
- External Campaign
- External Variation
- External Keyword
With Declared MVs, 3 of these variables are always required: Source, Medium, Campaign
Handy Tool: Marketing Variables Builder
External MV Terms
EXTERNAL SOURCE - agfs - Required
This refers to the website on which an ad is placed, or the overall referring entity. If the ExternalSource is an email, we recommend adding a YYYYMMDD date component to the ExternalSource - this allows you to sort ExternalSources by send date in the reports.
ExternalSource examples are:
- sales.intranet.corp.com (company sales portal)
- mediavine (an ad network)
- 20211001-fishreport (Angelfish email newsletter, sent Oct 1, 2021)
EXTERNAL MEDIUM - agfm - Required
The ExternalMedium describes the type of ad, like an email, banner ad, or a text link. For example:
- banner
- text-link
- cpc
- social
The ExternalMedium reports are most useful when the fewest options are used. For example, it's best to use one ExternalMedium for "email" instead of multiple options (like e-mail, emailnews, e_mail, newsletter).
The Automatic Mediums are described in "Automatic Values: Medium" in the Pro Tips section, near the end of this article.
EXTERNAL CAMPAIGN - agfc - Required
The External Campaign variable allows you to stitch initiatives together by a common thread. You can use the ExternalCampaign variable however you choose - common uses are for a product/service or for a seasonal promotion:
- 2022-summer
- open-enrollment
- recruiting
- womens-collection
Similar to ExternalMedium, the ExternalCampaign reports are most useful when the fewest options are used.
EXTERNAL VARIATION - agfr
The ExternalVariation allows you to identify different versions of images, links, ad placements, etc. For example, the ExternalVariation is used to differentiate between multiple links in a marketing email:
- top-banner-bogo
- body-text-www.yoursite.com
- footer-300x150-flashgame
We recommend using a "location-type-description" format for ExternalVariations.
"bottom-button-rsvp" is easier to understand than "v98423".
EXTERNAL KEYWORD - agfk
When Declared, this variable is used for Paid Search marketing, and should reference the bid term for a specific ad. The value used with this parameter will show up in the ExternalKeywords reports.
When not declared (i.e. Automatic), the ExternalKeywords variable stores search phrases used on other websites that led people to your website via an inbound link. "Other websites" means major search engines and any website | web application that includes a search function.
Most major search engines mask the External Keyword - this is represented by "(not provided)" in Angelfish.
If you're a Google AdWords advertiser, you can use the dynamic keyword insertion function to automatically populate agfk with the bid term that triggered the ad, like this:
agfk={keyword}
EXAMPLES
Here are a few examples of External MVs in action:
1) Email
Scenario:
Consider an email that contains 3 clickable links. Here's what the External MVs could look like for each link:
agfs=20221001-news&agfm=email&agfc=retention&agfr=top-banner-screenshotagfs=20221001-news&agfm=email&agfc=retention&agfr=body-text-webinaragfs=20221001-news&agfm=email&agfc=retention&agfr=leftnav-text-demovideoSource, Medium, and Campaign is the same for each link - this makes it easy to see the overall performance of the email in the reports. The Variation then allows you to compare clicks each link receives.
Link Destination URL
Landing Page:
External MVs:
agfs=20221001-news&agfm=email&agfc=retention&agfr=body-text-webinar
2) Banner Ad
Scenario:
A 500x150 banner ad on randomsite.com in the page footer, offering a 20% discount for the 2022 summer sale promotion.
External MVs:
agfs=randomsite.net&agfm=banner&agfc=2022-summer-sale&agfr=footer-500x150-discount20
Full Destination URL:
PRO TIPS
RE-USE EXISTING MARKETING VARIABLES
If you have already tagged links with MVs for another analytics product, you can re-use them in Angelfish without updating the tags! The External MV params are configured in the Advanced tab of every Profile.
Help Article: Use Google Analytics Campaign Variables in Angelfish
Help Article: Use Urchin Campaign Variables in AngelfishENACT STANDARDS
MVs are flexible and you can use them however you wish. However they get out of control quickly if not managed. Here are some lessons learned:
- Always use lowercase
- Never use spaces
- Use 1 Medium for each type: e.g. email, banner, image
- Use 1 Campaign for each type
If your External MVs get out of control, you can add a Filter to the Profile to fix them.
OFFLINE CAMPAIGNS
You can also use External MVs to track offline initiatives that drive Visitors to your website. Print ads or radio/podcast ads can use a vanity URL, which redirects visitors to a Landing Page with MVs.
AUTOMATIC VALUES: MEDIUM
organic
External Keyword search on a popular public search engine
referral
Visits from another website that doesn't match the addresses in the Hostname(s) field
search
Visits referred from a search results page on another hostname, identified separately from the "referrer" and "organic" Mediums.
self
Visits referred from this website, meaning it matches the Hostname(s) field
none
Visits that come directly to the website OR an empty / absent referrer field in the log file