eVar Persistence and Marketing Channels Rules

[WesPhg]

We have a unique situation we've been noticing within our Adobe Analytics, we have last touch channels which when we pivot for eVars (which have been set to visit persistence) sometimes unrelated values will appear.

For example of the issue: When pivoting from our last_touch_channel for 'NATURAL SEARCH' we will see under the custom eVar (utm_campaign) the value of a [Display Campaign Name]. 

While in principle I understand why that is happening is due to the custom eVar (utm_campaign) being set to visit persistence.

In that example a user is probably is coming on our site initially through a 'DISPLAY' marketing channel and then leaving, then arriving again (within the same visit/timeframe) on our site through 'NATURAL SEARCH'. Due to 'NATURAL SEARCH' marketing channel set to 'override last touch' PLUS the nature of 'NATURAL SEARCH' not having it's own utm_campaign value, the previous eVar value for 'utm_campaign' is carried over from the initial 'DISPLAY' marketing channel visit. 

Question: Based on the example/scenario above, is there any recommendations on how we can make sure 'utm_campaign' appears blank when a user enters in 'NATURAL SEARCH'? Is there any way we can make sure if a user enters in through 'NATURAL SEARCH' channel the custom eVar ('utm_campaign') is cleared despite any persistence?       

[yuhuisg · Accepted solution]

It's good that you understand that eVars and Marketing Channels have their own persistences. Lots of people fail to understand that, leading to a lot of misunderstanding.

Given your reporting requirements, instead of breaking down by the "utm_campaign" eVar, could you breakdown by Marketing Channel Detail instead? I assume that you have set the "Display" Marketing Channel Detail to the "utm_campaign" query parameter, whereas you have set the "Natural Search" Marketing Channel Detail to the default that AA recommends. If so, then your report with the Marketing Channel Detail breakdown will show the expected values for each Marketing Channel.