Visits in Marketing channel v/s evar containing Query parameters

[GV16]

Hi. I'm documenting the emails that have been dispatched using query parameters. Within the marketing channel detailed report, the number of visits surpasses the count of visits in the evar that includes query parameters. Is it a regular occurrence for the marketing channel to display higher visit counts? The counts of unique visitors are nearly identical.

[Jennifer_Dungan · Accepted solution]

What is the expiry of each item set to?

eVars have a default expiry of Visit, Marketing Channels have a default expiry of 30 Days.

Since Marketing Channels have a lot more logic to them (i.e. there are some Marketing Channels that do not override previously set Channels - at least in the default setup) this can be a harder concept to understand for people just starting out.

 In general "Direct" Marketing Channels will not override previously set channels.

So let's look at a scenario:

• Visit 1 - Direct
  • Marketing Channel is Direct - this will remain for 30 days or until over written
  • eVar (not having any query parameters) will be unspecified and last for the Visit
• Visit 2 - Paid Search
  • Marketing Channel will be overwritten with Paid Search - this will remain for 30 days or until over written
  • eVar (having Paid Search query parameters) will be set to paid search campaign and last for the Visit
• Visit 3 - Email
  • Marketing Channel will be overwritten with Email - this will remain for 30 days or until over written
  • eVar (having Emails query parameters) will be set to email campaign and last for the Visit
• Visit 4 - Direct
  • Marketing Channel will continue to be "Email"... there are no parameters, but Direct (under default behaviour) will not overwrite a specific campaign
  • eVar (not having any query parameters) will be unspecified and last for the Visit

Therefore, in the above scenario, Visit 4 in your Marketing Channel will be "Email", but in your eVar it will not be associated to anything.

[GV16]

Hello, I appreciate your response. I've calculated a net variance of approximately 355k. I've comprehended your message regarding the approach you've outlined. Following your guidance, I've created a segment in which, at the visitor level, when the Marketing channel is labeled as "Email," Then Marketing channel= either "Internal" or "Direct." This manipulation has brought the discrepancy down to 155k. However, I'm still uncertain about the remaining 200k difference. Could you provide any insights or suggestions to address this aspect?

[Jennifer_Dungan]

Sorry for the delayed response... I had to put this aside to think about so that I could help come up with the best approach for you.

It's hard, it's usually much easier to sit down with someone and dig into the details together... I am not sure if you are even allow to share data with someone outside your organization, but if you are, maybe we should book a chat to see if we can figure it out.