How to capture visitor information

[richj55]

I have some employees who are sending targeted emails that contain links. I want to create a landing page for the link and then be able to capture the visitors information. I want to know the company name, state and how many pages they viewed. Is there a way I can capture this information and have it written to a text file that I can open to gage effectiveness? I don't want to use a form. Any help is appreciated.

[Tech Manager]

Using ASP or PHP you can capture a considerable amount of data and pass it to a text file quite easily. It's simple to get the IP address, time of visit, pages visited, browser info, etc., but how do you plan on gathering the company name without input from the site visitor?

[deepsand]

Presumably, since you seek to avoid having the respondents provide the desired information, you already know the identity of the recipients of the e-mails.

You need to construct a data base that contains such information, along with a unique Identifier.

Said Identifier needs to be included as a parameter in the URL in the e-mail. On the back end, at the simplest, as that parameter will be included in the data captured by your site's server log, you can extract both it & all associated activity from the log file.

[flhu]

Well, it's definitely a process and will probably take longer to set-up than you are expecting.

If you have this information of the people you are emailing, you can assign a user id to each one and include it in the link you send "http://www.domain.com/page.php?id=123213"

You then have this page.php script record the id# when it processes the page.

[richj55]

How do applications like demandbase stream get the company name? See it here: Demandbase Stream : Widget Signup : Screen 1

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by richj55

How do applications like demandbase stream get the company name? See it here: Demandbase Stream : Widget Signup : Screen 1

They over-promise.

One can only identify the entity to which a block of IP Addresses is assigned. Even if the subscriber has a static IP Address assigned to them, such information is private.

So, if the visitor is using a machine that belongs to a network operated by a company large enough to own their own block of IP Addresses, then said company can be identified. Beyond that, unless you've some black op connections, you're out of luck.

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by flhu

Well, it's definitely a process and will probably take longer to set-up than you are expecting.

If you have this information of the people you are emailing, you can assign a user id to each one and include it in the link you send "http://www.domain.com/page.php?id=123213"

You then have this page.php script record the id# when it processes the page.

Not necessary to process the id# in real-time; it's captured within the server log.

[carol]

Originally Posted by flhu

If you have this information of the people you are emailing, you can assign a user id to each one and include it in the link you send "http://www.domain.com/page.php?id=123213"

Can you then continue to track their path through the site, or only their entry page (page.php)? Most of the email service companies (like Constant Contact and Vertical Response) can tell you who clicked through which links in the email. But, they can't tell you where the visitor went after the landing page.

If you wanted to continue to track their path, would you have to attach the id to every link on each page within the site? Or is there something simpler that I'm missing? Thanks!

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by carol

Can you then continue to track their path through the site, or only their entry page (page.php)? Most of the email service companies (like Constant Contact and Vertical Response) can tell you who clicked through which links in the email. But, they can't tell you where the visitor went after the landing page.

If you wanted to continue to track their path, would you have to attach the id to every link on each page within the site? Or is there something simpler that I'm missing? Thanks!

That's because 3rd parties such as CC & VR do not have access to your server logs.

For so long as the visitor remains on your site, each page request by that user will bear the same IP Address. Since the initial page request will bear the ID parameter, it's simply a matter of collecting all page requests bearing the same IP Address as the one on the page request bearing a given ID. And, as the log records contain a Time/Date stamp, one can track the specific path that the visitor followed.

[carol]

Oh, right! Of course!
Thanks (for so patiently explaining it!)

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by carol

Oh, right! Of course!
Thanks (for so patiently explaining it!)

No problem.

I'm a bit surprised that neither CC or VR is yet offering a log based service that provides full stats for visits generated via their e-mails. (Or, perhaps they are, and I'm unaware of it.)

[astro]

At what stage does the concept of "targeted" emails cease being so and turn into spam?

Especially if targeting block or company IP's. You could be reported as a spammer and get the domain part of your email address banned by the ISP's. You may then experience problems with emailing your existing clients!

Companies are experiencing major problems getting their employees away from their inbox and onto achieving actual productivity. In a survey in the UK it was found most people in offices checked their emails a minimum of 20 times a day, some as many as 90 times! This is overkill. The problem comes with emails not associated directly with work. Time spent on frivolous/spam emails passing them on to email fiends, sorry, friends (Freud will explain) within the company and beyond and visiting spurious websites is counter productive in the extreme. IT depts are now filtering what they believe is spam. You could put yourself in a position of not being able to communicate with existing clients. Be careful.

Personally I believe spam clutters up cyberspace and people who initiate it should be shot. (Greek method of removing problems)

But then again always been a touch radical. I suggest for what it is worth you rethink your marketing strategy in the first place.

/astro

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by astro

At what stage does the concept of "targeted" emails cease being so and turn into spam?

When the recipient's requests that such cease are ignored.

If all were to speak only when spoken to, the world would be silent but got the wind & the waves.

[richj55]

Let me clarify. The "targeted" emails are sent to people who they have made contact with via the phone and who have requested more information be sent to them via email. No spam involved.