Determine the effectiveness of an online advertising campaign

So you've installed Google Analytics for Patron Edge Online already and now your marketing folks want to start an advertising campaign to increase awareness of your website and drive your patrons toward more self-service options. So where is that advertising time and money best spent? One of the features of Google Analytics is that it allows you to add extra information to a link so you can determine how a person got to your site. So before you send out an email blast, tag the link with information and then let GA crunch the numbers for you. Here is an example tag I would use for an email blast: http://tickets.mysite.org/default.asp?utm_source=mysite&utm_medium=email. You can also add keyword information if you purchased keywords somewhere and a "content" tag if you're sending out two or three different versions of the same email. To save time creating your links, use this link builder provided by Google.

There is a lot of power here, so try to get really specific on your sources and you can find out exactly where you should be spending advertising money. If you are linking from a separate content website, use a specific link there. If you have two people who blog about your organization, give them each a unique link. Nothing pleases a blogger more than the knowledge that someone is reading and acting on his advice! Have you already tried this technique? Leave a note or success story in the comments.