Help Center

| Submit or View Help Requests | Developer Docs |

View desktop instructions
View mobile app instructions
Channel Setup Strategy

Important: Familiarize yourself with the following resources before moving on to this article:

This article covers the features and functions of Optimize's Rules To Identify (RTI). You will learn how to develop a strategy to set up the Rules To Identify (RTI) for new channels or modify existing channels in your program.

There is no one catch-all solution that can fit all circumstances. However, you should be able to arrive at a solution that best fits your unique circumstances. Arguments against a certain RTI's setup can always exist, but the purpose of an RTI isn't to work in all circumstances. An RTI is meant to be molded to best fit your specific circumstances.

This document will advance the foundational and functional knowledge needed to design the optimal Rules To Identify for your program.

Keep channel setups focused: Remember that Optimize is about surfacing channel-level insights; when creating your RTI, you must consider how to identify the traffic coming from a particular channel. Keeping this in mind will help keep your RTI simple, focused, and effective.

A quick reminder

  • A Rule Target is "where" the rule will look to apply Rule Logic and find Rule Value(s).

  • Rule Logic is "how" the Rule will attempt to identify traffic.

  • Rule Values are input you provide to the rule for leverage.

Precision & Reliability

When designing your RTI, key concepts to keep in mind are precision and reliability. Choices for the Rule Target and Rule Logic option in a Rule should not be viewed as interchangeable, even if more than one set of components will work for a given scenario. See the following sections for examples of this.

Choose a Rule Target

Rule Targets can be evaluated for precision and reliability. The following chart plots the various Rule targets in terms of their respective precision and reliability. The farther away from the graph's origin a Rule Target is, the more precise (along the x-axis) and more reliable (along the y-axis) a Rule Target is.

63d7a86a32544.png

You should always try to use the most reliable and precise Rule Target you can, and only move left or down the graph if you have no other option. Below are two example cases for how to pick which Rule Target to use.

In this scenario, all paid search traffic is tagged with Google's UTM parameter utm_medium=search. Because of this, the Landing Page Parameter should be the Rule Target. The Rule To Identify will begin to look like this:

Rule Target

Rule Value 1

Rule Logic

Rule Value 2

Landing Page URL

utm_medium

*

*

View the Rule Logic - Example 1 section to see what to fill in for the Rule Logic and Rule Value 2.

Choose a Rule Logic option

Rule Logic can only be evaluated for precision. The following chart plots the various Rule Logic options in terms of their relative precision.

63d7a86c2664e.png

You should always try to use the most precise Rule Logic option you can, and only move down the graph if you have no other option. Below are two example cases for how to pick which Rule Logic option to use.

Since all paid search is tagged with Google's UTM parameter utm_medium=search, the best possible Rule Logic option would be Exactly Matches.

Rule Target

Rule Value 1

Rule Logic

Rule Value 2

Landing Page URL

utm_medium

Exactly Matches

search

Exactly Matches works best here because only traffic with the exact parameter key-value pair of utm_medium=search should considered part of this channel.

If, for example, the Rule Logic option Contains were used instead, any utm_medium value with search in it would be considered part of this channel, which can lead to mis-attributed actions, make-goods, and potentially more. Contains would not, however, be a wrong choice here; Exactly Matches just happens to be the better choice.

These reasons are also why any more precise Rule Logic options cannot be chosen, as they would exclude referring domains that should be considered part of this channel.

Regex Rule Logic options

Due to the complexity in implementing regex solutions, impact.com does not provide general advice or direction on how to implement regular expressions in Optimize. If you think your circumstances are best handled with a regex Rule Logic option, consult with your CSM on how to begin implementing that.

Exactly Matches vs. Matches Any

These two Rule Logic options function exactly the same, but with a small distinction. Exactly Matches will only search for the exact Rule Value 2 as it is written in the RTI. Matches Any will search for all Rule Value 2 as they are exactly written in the Rule.

If you find yourself using Exactly Matches more than once with the AND operator, consider using Matches Any. The same is true for Contains and Contains Any.

Common click IDs

Click IDs are becoming increasingly common for paid media. The following is a list of common click IDs that you can use to identify traffic.

Media SourceClick ID
Google AdsGCLID
Bing Ads/Yahoo SearchMSCLKID
Facebook AdsFBCLID
PinterestEPIK

Disqualifying traffic

Sometimes, creating Rules To Identify that disqualify traffic can be just as helpful to identifying traffic as part of a channel. See the subsections below to see how the examples created above can be set up to disqualify traffic.

Here is the example that was created above:

Rule Target

Rule Value 1

Rule Logic

Rule Value 2

Landing Page URL

utm_medium

Exactly Matches

search

This rule already disqualifies a lot of traffic. By adding another Rule To Identify and using the OR operator, the Rule can be opened up to qualify more traffic:

Rule Target

Rule Value 1

Rule Logic

Rule Value 2

Landing Page URL

utm_medium

Exactly Matches

search

OR

Landing Page Parameter

GCLID

Is Present

--

Now, if either Rule is true, the traffic will be identified as part of this channel.

Now, both Rules must be true for traffic to be identified as part of this channel.

Case sensitivity

Rules To Identify are not case sensitive. For example, if you have a parameter where utm_medium=SEARCH, you can still set your rule up as:

Rule Target

Rule Value 1

Rule Logic

Rule Value 2

Landing Page URL

utm_medium

Exactly Matches

search

What's next?

Review some Optimize setup scenarios. Here, you will find recommendations for common Optimize scenarios.

Did you find it helpful? Yes No

Send feedback
Sorry we couldn't be helpful. Help us improve this article with your feedback.