End-to-end analytics remains one of the main tools for evaluating and monitoring the effectiveness of marketing campaigns at every stage of the customer journey. It provides detailed tracking of a user’s path from the first contact to the moment a target action is completed, offering in-depth information on their movements leading up to the final point. By implementing end-to-end analytics and trackers, you not only optimize your marketing budget but also enhance overall user engagement, gaining both a general and detailed view of funnel analytics. In our article, we’ll discuss the key analytics and tracker tools in more detail, explain how to use them, and outline the benefits each one offers.

Tracker

A tracker is a program that gathers and processes information on how traffic is run within an advertising campaign. It records clicks, redirects, conversions, and other metrics. Based on this data, affiliates can gain deeper insight into which specific audience responds to which advertising campaigns, which promotion option is most effective, and how to adjust campaign parameters to increase ROI.

Affiliate trackers can be connected to various platforms, including advertising and affiliate networks. It makes it possible to collect statistics on traffic, conversions, and impressions from multiple sources at once, compare them, and see everything in one interface.

Why do you need a tracker?

1. Detailed collection of information

Trackers record every click, conversion, view, and redirect in detail. This makes it possible to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of a particular campaign, a specific creative, or individual links.

2. Real-time statistics 

Most traffic affiliate trackers provide reporting on an active campaign in real-time. It means you can assess the effectiveness of the traffic flow on the go, promptly improving settings to achieve better results.

3. Optimization and split testing

Thanks to detailed metrics, affiliates conduct A/B testing to determine which creatives, landing pages, funnels, or even entire sales funnels work more effectively. Trackers allow you to segment the data and analyze each group, facilitating the growth of key metrics and increasing conversions.

4. Integration with sources and data grouping

Many affiliate trackers integrate with CRM systems, email services, advertising networks, and CPA networks. It brings all the information together in one place, making it easy to gather and analyze.

5. In-depth audience overview

In addition to clicks and conversions, a tracker can provide details about the audience and their preferences, including users’ geography, devices, and search queries. This analysis helps webmasters improve advertising campaigns and target the desired audience more accurately.

How does a tracker differ from TDS?

TDS is a system that distributes traffic without additional features. In the past, affiliates used it regularly, but in 2023 it was replaced by a tracker. A tracker makes it possible to collect statistics, create reports, and integrate the system with marketing campaigns. This increases the level of automation and the depth of information, allowing more precise managerial decisions.

Who uses it and for what purpose?

Trackers are used by marketers for the following tasks:

• Quick analysis of the effectiveness of bundles
  All information about creatives and traffic sources is funneled into one place. Built-in filters allow you to separate traffic by geo, operators, devices, and other characteristics, increasing the precision of campaign targeting.
• Traffic distribution and redirecting it according to specified parameters
  There’s no need to stop a campaign when the lead or offer limit is reached to switch to a different partner program.
• Maximizing profit
  By tracking and redirecting traffic, you can send users to different offers and segment them by country, language, and other criteria.
• Creating detailed campaign reports
  These reports show the strong and weak points of advertising activities.
• Conducting split tests
  This is necessary to distribute user flows between different landing pages and offers.

What types of trackers are?

There are two types of software for affiliates, differing in their purpose and functionality.

1. Server-based

A server-based tracker is a program with a regular installer that is deployed on a server by unpacking the corresponding files. Its advantages include:

• high response speed;
• unlimited amount of traffic;
• automatic data storage.

Disadvantages of server-based trackers include:

• monthly expenses to rent a server;
• specialized knowledge required to set up and maintain both the server and the software;
• slower performance with international traffic if the server is far from the target geo.
  
  

2. Cloud-based

In this case, the webmaster does not need to download or install the software on a dedicated server, as all processes are carried out online. Data on advertising campaigns is stored in the cloud and can be accessed at any time.

The main advantage of cloud-based trackers is the fast transfer of information since the server and appropriate geo are automatically selected for each specific campaign. Additionally, there’s no need to delve into the technical details of server configuration. The main drawback of cloud solutions is the cost of plans, which depend on the number of events processed.

Top 5 trackers of 2025

Below is a list of the best solutions for affiliate marketing in 2025:

• RedTrack.io — a cloud-based application that is universal and equipped with a wide set of tools. It allows the webmaster to track all aspects of marketing campaigns, automate routine tasks, and generate detailed reports on advertising campaigns.
• Keitaro — a server-based program with a trial period and functionality that allows you to assess the quality of the product.
• AdsBridge — a cloud tracker that implements the Smartlink technology. The webmaster posts a single link, and the program automatically analyzes each user and redirects them to the most suitable offer to increase conversion.
• Binom — a server-based solution with a trial period. It is equipped with a smart rotation system that, upon a repeated visit, redirects users who left the landing page too quickly to a different page.
• Zeustrack — a hybrid software with extended functionality. It has built-in domain management and the ability to create servers for any country. The system includes a role-based feature that helps organize team workflows. Its only drawback is the software’s cost.

Recommendations for choosing a tracker

When selecting the right solution, pay attention to the following points:

1. All the listed trackers perform the same tasks but differ in how they work and in their technical details.
2. Determine the budget you are willing to allocate each month for renting or purchasing a tracker.
3. Try to optimize expenses: consider how well the rates will meet your professional needs.
4. Take advantage of the trial period to test the remaining options and make a final decision.
5. Decide in advance which format—server-based or cloud-based—suits you best. The first option is optimal for working with specific geos and avoiding traffic volume limits, while the second is convenient for running multiple campaigns in various countries.

End-to-end analytics

End-to-end analytics is a method that helps companies track user interactions at every stage of contact: from the first touch to the final purchase (or another target action). It brings together data from different sources, including online advertising and customer databases.

End-to-end analytics makes it possible to determine the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and identify the most successful ones. It helps use the advertising budget more effectively, increasing customer flow and profits.

Ultimately, end-to-end analytics proves to be an indispensable tool for affiliate teams aiming to boost sales, reduce costs, and make informed managerial decisions based on real data.

How end-to-end analytics works

The main goal of end-to-end analytics is to automate data analysis and determine how users interact with a brand, product, or service throughout the entire process: from the first touch to placing an order.

End-to-end analytics consists of the following stages:

1. Data Collection
   Information related to how customers interact with the brand, product, or service comes from various sources:
   • web analytics tools (Google Analytics 4);
   • advertising sources;
   • CRM systems and internal databases.

   All collected data is then loaded into a single central repository.

2. Data Aggregation
   The data from different sources is combined in data marts or tables, where it is stored in a structured format. This helps form a comprehensive view of how users interact with the brand across different channels and platforms.
3. Reports and Charts
   After aggregation, the data is analyzed, and the results are presented as reports and visual charts. This approach makes it possible to identify key trends, statistical patterns, and important insights.

What tools can be used to consolidate data

Methods and tools for end-to-end analytics can vary in terms of functionality, flexibility, and cost. Below are the main options and their features.

1. Manual end-to-end analytics

This method is primarily used when the volume of data is small. Data collection and analysis are done manually in spreadsheets, using formulas or macros. This approach can be free but has limited flexibility and requires regular manual updates of reports.

2. Services offering end-to-end analytics

These services provide a set of tools that are easy to set up and use. They offer a certain amount of functionality and reports.

Owox

This platform helps solve end-to-end analytics tasks but is not a full-fledged end-to-end analytics service. Owox’s main feature is collecting data from different sources (websites, mobile apps, social networks, advertising channels) and uniting them in one database.

Ringostat

A multifunctional platform for call tracking, CRM, and analytics that simplifies data analysis and enhances the effectiveness of marketing, sales, and customer service.
It supports end-to-end data analysis, allowing companies to collect information from CRM (about customers, contacts, interaction history) and track sales performance.
The SaaS approach may limit integration with external tools and provide only a fixed set of reports.

3. Custom BI (Business Intelligence) solutions

This is the most flexible and powerful option but can be expensive to implement.

What it usually includes:

• integration of Google BigQuery, Owox, Power BI, CRM, and other systems;
• support for large volumes of complex data and flexible visualization capabilities;
• creation of any required reports and custom visualizations;
• the ability to form data segments for launching advertising campaigns and building strategies.

Although implementing a custom BI solution can require significant investment, it can substantially improve business efficiency and profitability in the long term.

How to create a custom end-to-end analytics solution

To implement a custom analytics solution, you select a set of tools based on their functionality. For example, Google BigQuery can act as the central data repository, and visualization tools such as Looker Studio or Power BI can display the results. This approach allows for effectively combining different means of data collection, storage, processing, and subsequent visual representation.

When creating a custom end-to-end analytics solution, follow these steps:

1. Define the goal.
   Determine what result you plan to achieve with end-to-end analytics: a deeper understanding of customers, increased marketing efficiency, or higher customer satisfaction? The goal is identified through user surveys and is a key factor for subsequent stages.
2. Develop mockups.
   An important stage is creating dashboard mockups—interactive interfaces that allow you to quickly read data and analyze metrics.
3. Identify data sources to integrate.
   Determine which specific data needs to be consolidated to achieve the set goal.
4. Choose a method for combining data.
   You can use a visualization tool that creates charts and graphs for a clear understanding of the results.
5. Create reports and dashboards.
   Reports are used to visually represent data and share it with users. They can focus on a variety of tasks, from monitoring the effectiveness of marketing campaigns to identifying issues in the customer experience or analyzing sales trends.

Advantages of a custom BI (Business Intelligence) solution

• Increased profitability
  Collecting and analyzing data on expenses and income allows you to evaluate advertising campaigns with the best and worst performance metrics and identify ways to reduce costs.
  For example, end-to-end analytics helps:
  • track the effectiveness of marketing budget allocation;
  • understand which advertising campaigns are the most profitable and successful;
  • find ineffective advertising solutions that do not bring the expected results.

  Refined information helps reallocate funds to focus on the most successful strategies.

• Understanding customers
  Few people know that Google BigQuery is often used to analyze advertising audiences, in particular with automatic RFM-model usage. Then the obtained information can be exported and used as advertising audiences, improving the return on marketing campaigns, enhancing customer service, and increasing sales.
• Higher conversion and improved customer sales funnel
  This point combines two goals, since the detailed collection and analysis of data at every stage of customer interaction helps identify weak points in the path to a lead completing a target action. If there is a low conversion rate at a specific stage, it is worth investigating potential problems or questions users face.
  This allows you to:
  • eliminate identified barriers;
  • optimize the sales funnel to increase conversion;
  • improve lead service quality.
• Real-time information
  End-to-end analytics provides access to up-to-date data and enables real-time processing. This makes it possible to make decisions immediately, based on current statistics.

All these factors help teams automate processes, attract more leads and improve their relevance, refine offers and funnels, and optimize internal processes, ensuring advertising campaigns are effective.

Using Google Analytics 4 with Google BigQuery

Employing Google Analytics 4 in conjunction with Google BigQuery is considered a key tool for filtering out secondary data and focusing on truly valuable information.
Preparing and partially processing data in GA4 before exporting it to GBQ makes analytics more precise and detailed. This toolset automatically collects information from various sources, compares it, and creates detailed reports that are useful for further research in GBQ.

Thanks to end-to-end analytics and trackers, a webmaster can see the real picture of traffic efficiency: which advertising channels and sources drive sales, subsequently providing insight into how to plan the budget and which channels to engage for maximum profit. They are indispensable tools for arbitrage teams aiming to boost sales, reduce costs, and make well-informed managerial decisions in real time without delay, helping every webmaster save both money and time.