Tracking | What is ChannelMix ID?

Introduction

ChannelMix ID is a unique identifier, powered by a first-party cookie, that allows you to track and analyze user behavior across multiple sessions. It can be useful for products and services with a longer buying cycle.

ChannelMix ID is an integral web analytics implementation strategy that is used to expand the scope of ChannelMix’s Multi-Touch Data-Driven Attribution Model.

Implementing ChannelMix ID can expand the data used in the model so that all website behavior is considered rather than only focusing on converting users.

How Does ChannelMix ID Work?

Using Google Tag Manager, Alight Analytics will implement tagging on your web property and create a first-party cookie that will be downloaded to a visitor’s device the first time they visit your site or app.

The cookie will incorporate a unique clientID — the ChannelMix ID for that device. Google Analytics will include this identifier as a custom dimension whenever it records sessions from this device.

This unique ID will record no personally identifiable information inside Google Analytics.

ChannelMix ID and Data-Driven Attribution

ChannelMix ID is a key part of Alight’s data-driven attribution model.

ChannelMix uses the ID to associate marketing interactions to a specific user, creating a “path” that shows which channels that user encountered before converting (or failing to convert).

At scale, using pathing data for multiple users, the model can then use that pathing data to determine which channels were more likely to contribute to a conversion and how much credit each channel deserves for the conversion.

Other Applications

ChannelMix ID can also be used to support more advanced analysis.

If a user identifies themselves — for example, by logging into the site, completing a web form or completing an eCommerce transaction — ChannelMix can then associate any web activity from that ChannelMix ID with a specific customer in your CRM or database.

As a result, you could study how often a particular contact visited your site and what pages or content they were engaging with. You could also determine what channels brought them to your site — information that would be useful for planning and retargeting.

ChannelMix ID can also help you see user activity across multiple devices if a user provides personally identifiable information while visiting your site on that other device.

This is a one-to-many relationship. A user can have multiple ChannelMix IDs if they authenticate from multiple devices or clear their cookies. ChannelMix will retain each identifier associated with that individual.