If you run marketing campaigns across more than one channel—think email, social, ads, and maybe the odd podcast sponsor slot—you already know what a pain it is to pull everything together and figure out what's actually working. This guide is for anyone tired of juggling spreadsheets and browser tabs, and looking for a grounded way to get useful answers using Icypeas. Whether you’re at a startup, a small business, or wrangling a side project, let’s get your campaigns under control.
1. Know What You’re Actually Trying to Measure
Before you dive into any tool, including Icypeas, spend 10 minutes clarifying what matters. Are you tracking sales, signups, downloads, or just impressions? Multichannel campaigns go sideways fast when you try to track everything and end up analyzing nothing.
Ask yourself:
- What does “success” look like for this campaign? (Be specific.)
- Which channels actually matter to your goal?
- What data do you already have, and what’s missing?
Pro tip: Ignore “vanity metrics” like views or likes unless they lead to something real for your business. Save yourself a headache later.
2. Set Up Icypeas for Multichannel Tracking
Now, let’s get into Icypeas. At its core, Icypeas connects to your marketing channels, pulls in campaign data, and gives you a single place to see what’s happening. But you need to get your channels set up right—garbage in, garbage out.
Step-by-step:
- Sign in and create a workspace.
- If you’re managing more than one brand, keep them separated.
- Connect your channels.
- Icypeas usually supports the basics: Google Ads, Facebook/Instagram, LinkedIn, Mailchimp, HubSpot, and sometimes custom sources via CSV or API.
- For each channel, follow the authentication prompts—expect to log in and approve access.
- Don’t panic if a minor channel you use isn’t supported. You can usually import CSVs, but it’s less seamless.
- Map your campaigns.
- Icypeas tries to auto-detect campaigns, but double-check. Make sure naming conventions match across platforms. If your Facebook campaign is “Spring2024” and your email says “Q2 Sale,” you’re in for a mess.
- Manually link or rename campaigns if you need to.
What to skip: Don’t bother connecting channels you never use or that deliver zero results. Data clutter is real. Start small and add more later if you need to.
3. Tag Everything—Properly
If you want to track across channels, you need consistent tags or UTM parameters. This isn’t optional. Icypeas will do its best, but it can’t guess what “newsletter” means in one place and “email-blast” in another.
How to do it:
- Use a standard UTM structure for every link you share (in ads, emails, social posts, etc.).
- Stick to a naming convention. Example:
utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=spring_sale
- Icypeas can generate UTM links for you—take the extra minute to use them.
Watch out for:
- Typos in UTMs—these create new “phantom” campaigns in your data.
- Inconsistent capitalization. “Facebook” and “facebook” are not the same in most systems.
4. Pull In the Right Data and Ignore the Rest
Icypeas is pretty flexible, but don’t go overboard. Focus on the metrics that tie directly to your goals.
Recommended metrics: - Core: Clicks, conversions, cost per conversion, revenue - Supporting: Impressions, CTR, unsubscribe rate (for email)
Skip the endless parade of “engagement” stats unless you know why you care about them. Icypeas will show you everything, but you don’t have to look at it all.
Pro tip:
Set up custom dashboards or reports focused only on your KPIs. Hide or ignore the rest. Simpler is better, especially when you’re busy.
5. Analyze Performance (Without Drowning in Data)
Here’s where Icypeas actually earns its keep. Once your campaign data is flowing in, you can start to see what’s working and what’s not—across channels and in one dashboard.
How to do it:
- Compare channels side by side.
- Look at cost per result, conversion rates, and revenue for each channel. Don’t be distracted by shiny graphs—focus on what drives your goal.
- Check attribution.
- Icypeas supports basic attribution models (last-click, first-click, sometimes linear). If you’re not sure, start with last-click. Don’t get lost in attribution theory unless you have a complex sales cycle.
- Look for patterns, not one-off spikes.
- Did a channel outperform over several weeks, or was it just a fluke? Use the date filters in Icypeas to compare time periods.
- Export the data if you need to.
- Sometimes you still want a spreadsheet, and that’s okay. Icypeas lets you export campaign results—use this if you want to dig deeper or build your own charts.
What often doesn’t work: - Relying on “AI insights” or automated recommendations. At the time of writing, these are mostly generic. Trust your own knowledge of your audience.
6. Share Results Without the Fluff
Whether you’re reporting to a boss, a client, or just yourself, keep it simple. Icypeas can generate snazzy dashboards, but don’t fall for the temptation to share every chart.
Tips: - Build a summary report with just the key metrics and a short note on what you learned. - Highlight what you’ll do differently next time—don’t just present numbers. - If you’re asked for more, have the details ready, but start with the bigger picture.
Pro tip:
Most stakeholders want to know three things: What worked, what didn’t, and what you’re doing next. Icypeas can help you answer those, but it won’t do the thinking for you.
7. Iterate, Don’t Overthink
The magic of any analytics tool—including Icypeas—is in helping you get a little smarter each time. Don’t expect perfection from your first campaign. Use what you learn to tweak your next round.
What to ignore:
- Fancy, automated suggestions that don’t match your actual business.
- Obsessing over every metric. You’ll drive yourself nuts.
- Trying to make every channel perform equally. Some just won’t work for you—and that’s fine.
Final Thoughts
Getting a handle on multichannel campaign performance isn’t about chasing the newest tool or tracking more metrics than your competitors. It’s about setting clear goals, tracking consistently, and focusing on what moves the needle for you. Icypeas is a decent way to cut through the noise—if you keep things simple and stay skeptical of anything that sounds too good to be true.
Start small, measure what matters, and use the data to make your next campaign a bit better. That’s it. No magic, just clear thinking and a little discipline.