Problems with old-fashioned UTM spreadsheets
Why are marketers increasingly switching to alternatives such as Link Management Platforms instead of staying with the old-fashioned UTM spreadsheet? Well, here are a few reasons why ditching spreadsheets is recommended for marketing analytics.
They are prone to breaking
As spreadsheets depend on people entering correct data and equations, they may be prone to human error, especially with larger and more complex data. Simple mistakes, such as typos, can lead to completely inaccurate numbers, misrepresenting a campaign’s performance. And consequently, suboptimal decisions and inefficient marketing spend.
They can be difficult to navigate
As spreadsheets become larger with more and more data being tracked in the long-term, navigating them can become especially difficult. Manually finding specific data can be tiresome and an inefficient use of people’s time. This, in turn, can lead to slower decision making, delaying important business decisions.
Visualising data can be difficult
Campaign analytics is all about understanding how customers are engaging with your content. Visualising your results is a great way to understand large amounts of data. Doing so in spreadsheets is often time-consuming and frustrating. And there is always proneness to human error.
Multiple people working on them leads to confusion
Multiple team members working on the same spreadsheet can result in conflicts and overwriting of data. Important data may be accidentally deleted or altered. Moreover, managing various versions of UTM spreadsheets can lead to confusion about the most up-to-date version. Team members may update the wrong versions, leading to discrepancies and complications. Unauthorised changes due to improper access controls could also lead to important sections getting modified or deleted.
Therefore, it is crucial for marketers to either be highly organized and vigilant about how they manage their spreadsheets or switch to Link Management Platforms that ensure that their campaign links are all correct and easy to use and access. The latter is recommended as it allows for far more efficient use of time. Link Management Platforms like Uplifter have various features, such as link trackers, UTM builders, URL shorteners, and QR code generators that allow error-free tracking of both online and offline campaigns and easy to understand campaign reports, thus saving both time and money while maximizing marketing ROI.
