Server-Side User Identification: The Secret to Better Ad Performance and Retargeting

When conversion tracking data is linked to an actual person using a website or app, that data is as good as gold for marketers.

Server-side user identification makes it possible to match individual users to specific conversion events over multiple sessions – giving you the power to take your marketing and retargeting efforts to the next level.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• What Is Server-Side User Identification
• Top Benefits of Server-Side User Identification for Marketers
• How Elevar Identifies Users

What Is Server-Side User Identification

Server-side user identification is the process of linking conversion data tracked through the server to individual users. 

When a user visits your website or app, server-side systems can track their behaviors by assigning them a unique ID that’s tied to their activity. This ID stays the same as they navigate through your site or app, meaning you can track things like page views, add-to-cart events, and purchases. 

Assigning a unique identifier to a user’s data collected through the server can help you know when they come back and build a robust profile of their information. This arms you with powerful data for your marketing and retargeting campaigns.  

Top Benefits of Server-Side User Identification for Marketers 

Server-side user identification fuels marketing initiatives in several ways. Here’s how: 

Increased Data Longevity 

Data tracked server-side can last up to a year. This is significantly longer than data tracked client-side, which can disappear after 24 hours (learn more about client vs server-side tracking). 

This short window for client-side tracking reduces the reliability of your data and hinders your ability to match conversion events to individual users.  

Think about a user who completes a purchase on your website after clicking through from a Google Ad. If that click was tracked client-side, the purchase will look like it came from direct traffic after the 24-hour window. 

Because data tracked server-side lasts significantly longer than data tracked client-side, you can link more conversion events to more users returning over multiple sessions for a greater length of time. 

Cross-Platform and Cross-Device Tracking 

Another key benefit of server-side user identification is the ability to track users across multiple platforms and devices.  

User journeys are typically fragmented. A user may browse your products from one device and complete a purchase on another or interact with your brand across multiple touchpoints – making it difficult to track the full experience.  

Server-side user identification addresses the issue of data from disparate sources by linking user activity across devices through a single identifier stored in the server. 

Better Ad Campaign Performance 

By stitching together conversion events and matching them to individuals through server-side user identification, you can boost the performance of your advertising efforts on the platforms your brand uses. 

Take Attentive, for example. Transmitting details about products in an abandoned cart won’t allow Attentive to send an abandoned cart reminder SMS to the user – Attentive also needs the user’s phone number. 

When separate conversion events are linked to a single user, you can provide your marketing platforms with the data needed for optimal campaign performance. 

Improved Ad Personalization

Personalized ad content can drive higher engagement and more conversions.

With server-side user identification, marketers can build in-depth user profiles by consolidating data from different touchpoints where users interact with their brand. 

This enables more precise targeting and personalization of ad content, resulting in ads that resonate better with users and increase the likelihood of conversion. 

For example, if a user adds a product to their cart but doesn’t complete the purchase, server-side tracking ensures that the ad retargeting them can show that exact product – increasing the chances of the user returning to complete the purchase. 

How Elevar Identifies Users 

Elevar identifies users through the power of server-side tracking but goes even further through our Session Enrichment capability.  

When you set up Elevar, we create profiles of users from their first visit. We track conversion data across your website and marketing channels and store it on our servers to build an identity graph of user information.  

This allows us to recognize more of your returning users and enriches the data we send to your marketing platforms. With Elevar, you can automatically track each customer journey and achieve 99% conversion accuracy. 

Elevar easily integrates with over 25+ server-side destinations, so you can transmit more data to your brand’s marketing channels in just a few clicks. 

Brands that have Elevar see significant marketing campaign improvements, including. Here’s what Elevar can do for you: 

• Transmit 100% of conversions and improve Facebook Ad performance by 20% or more.
• Capture and send 2 to 5 times more Add to Cart events to Klaviyo and increase Attentive abandoned flow revenue by 30%+.
• Send purchase events to GA4 server-side, which guarantees 99%+ purchase data accuracy.

Identify More Returning Users with Elevar 

Ready to start identifying more return users to maximize your marketing campaigns? 

Book a call with us or watch this demo to see how Elevar server-side tracking and Session Enrichment can increase your revenue from your marketing campaigns.