6.2 Types of Tracking

LISTSERV Maestro supports four different levels of tracking information about e-mail recipients. Each type of tracking will yield different data sets based on the recipient list and any database information available to the system. However, not all types of tracking are available for all recipients. Choose the level of tracking desired based on the kinds of information already in the system and the permission received from recipients, keeping within the boundaries of what is legally allowable in the user’s jurisdiction.

• Personal Tracking – Records open-up and click-through events traceable to the individual who triggered them. Very specific information can be gathered about an individual’s interaction with a message such as how many times a link has been clicked. This data can be augmented with information from the database from which the recipient data was extracted. Personal tracking is available:
  • For recipients uploaded from a text file when the option "Use additional recipient data for mail merging and tracking" is selected from the "Recipients Details" page in the recipients wizard.
  • For recipients selected from a database by LISTSERV Maestro and the option "Use additional recipient data for mail merging and tracking" chosen on "Recipients Details" page in recipients wizard.
  • For recipients defined by a LISTSERV list with the option "special list message" chosen on the "Source" page in recipients wizard
  • For recipients defined by a database selected by LISTSERV.
  • For recipients defined "Based on Reaction to a Previous Job" chosen on the "Options" page in the recipients wizard.
    
    

  When personal tracking is used, LISTSERV Maestro creates a profile for each individual mail recipient and stores this information in an internal or external database. The creation of this profile takes place during the delivery of the mail, as the job is being transferred to LISTSERV. With a large recipient list, the additional work of creating profile entries in the database will make the transfer to LISTSERV noticeably slower. If general statistics are required, without the need to trace events back to individuals, use unique tracking instead because the processing time is much faster.

• Anonymous Tracking – A unique ID is assigned to each recipient that cannot be followed back to identifying information about the individual recipient, but that is associated with non-identifying demographic information, such as age, gender, or zip (postal) code. It is the responsibility of the user to analyze the data and determine what is and what is not identifying data. For example, if the data contains one zip code that corresponds to just one recipient, then the zip code becomes identifying data for that recipient and should not be used, unless the input data is changed so that sparsely populated zip codes are all lumped together into an "other" category for the purposes of tracking. Anonymous tracking is available:
  • For recipients uploaded as a text file and the option "Use additional recipient data for mail merging and tracking" chosen on the "Recipients Details" page in recipients wizard.
  • For recipients selected from a database by LISTSERV Maestro and the option "Use additional recipient data for mail merging and tracking" chosen on the "Recipients Details" page in recipients wizard.
  • For recipients defined "Based on Reaction to a Previous Job" chosen on the "Options" page in recipients wizard, as long as "Use additional recipient data for mail merging and tracking" is chosen on the "Recipients Details" page in recipients wizard.

  When anonymous tracking is used, LISTSERV Maestro creates a profile for each individual mail recipient and stores this information in an internal or external database. The creation of this profile takes place during the delivery of the mail, as the job is being transferred to LISTSERV. With a large recipient list, the additional work of creating profile entries in the database will make the transfer to LISTSERV noticeably slower. If general statistics are required, without the need to trace events back to anonymous profiles, use unique tracking instead because the processing time is much faster.

• Unique Tracking – Records the number of times open-up and click-through events happen to unique recipients but is not associated with individual users or other identifying data. Unique tracking is available:
  • For recipients uploaded as a text file and the option "Use additional recipient data for mail merging and tracking" chosen on "Recipients Details" page in recipients wizard.
  • For recipients selected from a database by LISTSERV Maestro and the option "Use additional recipient data for mail merging and tracking" chosen on "Recipients Details" page in recipients wizard.
  • For recipients defined by a LISTSERV list with the option "special list message" chosen on the "Source" page in recipients wizard.
  • For recipients defined by a database select by LISTSERV.
  • For recipients defined "Based on Reaction to a Previous Job" chosen on the "Options" page in recipients wizard, as long as "Use additional recipient data for mail merging and tracking" is chosen on the "Recipients Details" page in recipients wizard.
• Blind Tracking – Collects unspecific tracking data, recording only the number of times open-up and click-through events occur. In other words, blind tracking cannot discern between one person clicking a link 100 times and 100 people clicking a link once. The total count will be 100 events in both instances. Therefore, all blind tracking events are considered "non-unique." This has specific implications for "Sum of Events" report types. See Section 7.3 Running Test Reports and Section 10.1 Tracking Reports for more details. Blind tracking is always available.

The table below summarizes the types of tracking available based on how the recipients are defined.

Types of Tracking Available Based on Recipient Definition

Figure 36 Selecting Tracking Type

Click Next -> to continue.

If Personal Tracking or Anonymous Tracking is selected, the Type Details screen appears. Because both of these types of tracking are linked to individual recipients, it becomes necessary to select a value that is unique for each recipient, and in the case of anonymous tracking, traceable columns, those associated with identifying information such as a name or telephone number, need to be separated from anonymous columns.

There are three versions of the Type Details screen:

This version is for personal tracking when the recipients are defined from a text file or from a LISTSERV Maestro selected database:

Figure 37 Tracking Type Details

Select the column from the recipient list that contains the recipient ID. The recipient ID must be a value that is unique for all recipients on the list. Click Next -> to continue.

This version is for personal tracking when the recipients are defined from a database selected by LISTSERV or by a LISTSERV list with the option "Special list message" selected.

Figure 38 Personal Tracking Type Details

Type in the column that contains the unique recipient ID in the box labeled "ID Column:"

Click Next -> to continue.

Anonymous tracking is independent of recipient type, but columns have to be selected as either anonymous or traceable. Traceable columns contain information about individual recipients than can be used to identify them, such as name and telephone number. Using traceable columns in recipients' profiles creates profiles that are not anonymous, and could violate recipients' privacy. Anonymous columns, on the other hand, contain information about individual recipients that cannot be used to identify them, such as gender, age, or city. Using anonymous columns creates recipient profiles that will not identify individual recipients. See Section 10.2.3 Recipients Details Reports for more information on running reports from anonymous tracking jobs and downloading demographic information.

Figure 39 Anonymous Tracking Type Details

Click Next -> to continue.

A summary of the tracking behavior will be presented. Click <-Back to return to an earlier screen to change selections. Click Finish to return to the Job Details screen and the Workflow or Summary diagram.

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