It is available to define so-called variables when setting up a traffic source template. These variables are used to write and store information passed from the traffic source when clicking on a link in an ad.
Technically speaking, variables can represent a URL parameter and store its value. The value of the parameter is written to the variable, so you can use this variable placeholder with special syntax throughout the system: inside the lander code or as a parameter value in your URLs.
You can define up to 20 custom variables in addition to the predefined variables: External ID, Cost, Group, Placement, Keyword.
Variables are configured in the traffic source template settings:
Parameter
The Parameter field is used to specify the name of the variable to be substituted into the URL. Example: naming the variable Var1 as v1 - a parameter named &v1= will be substituted into the final link of the campaign.
Attention:
Despite the fact that you specify the parameter name directly, to use the substitution of the value stored in the variable anywhere in Zeustrack, you must use the so-called placeholders. For the example above, the placeholder will be looking exactly like {var1}.
Refer to this article to know more about Zeustrack placeholders.
Name
In this field you can specify the name of the variable in a human-readable form. This name will be used in the detailed campaign report.
Attention:
Despite the fact that you can specify a value in the Name field for the predefined variables External ID, Cost, Group, Placement, Keyword in the Zeustrack interface, their name will not change!
Placeholder
This field is intended for specifying the default value of the variable, or as a reminder of what value should be entered manually at the time of the formation of the final link of the campaign. Example: the variable Var1 for which the parameter name is v1 and the value of the placeholder field [v1] in the final link of the campaign will look like &v1=[v1].
Predefined Variables
This section provides predefined variables that are intended for specific purposes.
External ID | Third-party service visit identifier. Some traffic sources have their own visit IDs. They can be written to this parameter using the appropriate placeholder (if provided by a third-party service). The value of this variable is written to Zeustrack in the {visit.externalid} placeholder. |
Cost | If the traffic source has the technical ability to pass the value of the visit cost and has a placeholder for this, you can specify this data in the corresponding fields of this variable. At the same time, when setting up a campaign, in the Advanced section on the General tab, you specified Cost model - Auto, then the value of this parameter will be automatically placed in the campaign statistics. |
Group, Placement, Keyword | Predefined variables for grouping visits according to certain criteria. Visits with the same values of these parameters will be grouped in a detailed campaign report on separate tabs. |
User Defined Variables
You can add up to 20 custom variables to a traffic source template.
Traffic source template variables are a powerful tool for tracking your campaigns to optimize to get the maximum ROI. See this article as an example of using such variables.