Tracking Marketing ROI: Which advertisement source (Hoardings vs. Digital) is bringing more admissions?.

You spend lakhs on hoardings, Google Ads, and newspaper inserts. But do you know which one actually brings students? Here's how to know—for certain.

Every year, coaching institutes across India spend crores on marketing. Hoardings at busy intersections. Google Ads for "JEE coaching near me". Facebook campaigns targeting parents. Newspaper inserts during exam season. But here's the uncomfortable question: Which of these actually works?

Most directors guess. They ask new parents, "How did you hear about us?" Parents say, "Saw your hoarding" or "Someone recommended." But memory is faulty, and attribution is vague. The result? You keep spending on channels that may or may not be delivering. CodePex Campus solves this with source-based enquiry tracking and ROI analytics. Here's how to know exactly which marketing rupee delivers a student—and which is wasted.

🤔 The Attribution Mystery

Traditional Method: Asking Parents

• "How did you hear about us?"
• Parent: "I think I saw your hoarding" (but also saw a Facebook ad last week)
• Recency bias: They remember the last touch, not the first
• No way to verify accuracy

The Result

• You think hoardings work, so you spend more on them
• Digital campaigns look less effective (because attribution is wrong)
• Marketing budget is allocated based on guesswork
• Lakhs of rupees potentially wasted

🎯 CodePex Source Tracking: How It Works

Every enquiry that enters CodePex is tagged with its source—right at the point of entry. No guessing, no memory bias.

📞

Phone Calls

Front desk selects source when entering enquiry

🌐

Website Forms

UTM parameters auto-tag source (Google, Facebook, etc.)

📱

QR Codes

Different QR codes for hoardings, pamphlets, banners

📊 Marketing ROI Dashboard

Navigate to Reports → Marketing → Source-wise ROI. See exactly which channels deliver:

Source	Spend (₹)	Enquiries	Admissions	Cost per Lead	Cost per Admission	Revenue Generated	ROI
Google Ads	₹45,000	124	28	₹363	₹1,607	₹8,40,000	1,767%
Facebook/Instagram	₹28,000	86	12	₹326	₹2,333	₹3,60,000	1,186%
Hoardings (Main Road)	₹1,20,000	42	8	₹2,857	₹15,000	₹2,40,000	100%
Newspaper Ad	₹35,000	18	3	₹1,944	₹11,667	₹90,000	157%
Education Fair	₹18,000	35	9	₹514	₹2,000	₹2,70,000	1,400%
TOTAL	₹2,46,000	305	60	₹806	₹4,100	₹18,00,000	632%

📌 Key Insight: Hoardings cost 5x more per admission than Google Ads. Digital channels deliver 10x+ ROI. Newspaper ads underperform. Reallocate budget accordingly.

📋 Hoardings vs Digital: The Real Story

🏢 Hoardings

Pros: Brand visibility, local presence, 24/7 exposure
Cons: Very expensive, impossible to track accurately, long-term commitment
Cost per admission: ₹10,000 - ₹25,000
Best for: Established institutes reinforcing brand

📱 Digital (Google/Facebook)

Pros: Highly trackable, can start/stop anytime, target specific audiences
Cons: Requires expertise, competition drives up costs
Cost per admission: ₹1,500 - ₹3,500
Best for: All institutes, especially those targeting new students

📍 Tracking Offline Sources: Hoardings, Pamphlets, Word of Mouth

Offline sources can't use UTM parameters. Here's how CodePex tracks them:

QR Codes on Hoardings

Each hoarding gets a unique QR code. When scanned, enquiry is auto-tagged with that hoarding's location.

Unique Phone Numbers

Use different phone numbers on different hoardings/pamphlets. CodePex tracks which number was called.

Landing Pages

Create simple URLs like institute.com/hoarding-east. Track visits and form fills.

🔄 The Multi-Touch Reality

Most parents don't convert from a single touchpoint. They see a hoarding, then search Google, then visit your website, then walk in. Which source gets credit?

CodePex Attribution Models

First Touch	Credit to the first source (e.g., hoarding that created awareness)
Last Touch	Credit to the last source before admission (e.g., Google search)
Linear	Credit distributed equally across all touches
Time Decay	More credit to recent touches

Switch between models to understand the full customer journey.

👣 A Parent's Journey (Tracked in CodePex)

1 15 Jan: Sees hoarding on Main Road First Touch

2 17 Jan: Searches Google "JEE coaching [city]" — clicks on your Google Ad Touch 2

3 Visits website, fills enquiry form (source: Google Organic) Touch 3

4 20 Jan: Walks into institute, takes admission Last Touch

CodePex tracks all touches. You decide which attribution model to use for reporting.

📊 What Indian Institutes Discovered

₹2.4L

Saved annually

After cutting underperforming newspaper ads

68%

Of admissions from digital

But only 40% of marketing budget

Higher ROI from Google vs hoardings

Across 50+ institutes

💬 Success Story

"We were spending ₹4 lakhs annually on three hoardings in prime locations. Everyone said it's essential for brand building. When we started tracking with CodePex, we discovered those hoardings were bringing just 12-15 admissions a year—costing over ₹25,000 per student. We redirected half that budget to Google Ads and Facebook. Admissions from digital tripled within 3 months, and our total marketing cost per student dropped by 40%. Now we track everything. No more guesses."

— Mr. Rajeev Mehta, Director, Rankers' Academy, Lucknow

⚙️ How to Set Up Source Tracking

Go to Settings → Lead Sources — Add all your marketing channels (Google Ads, Facebook, Hoarding East, Hoarding West, Newspaper A, etc.)
For digital: Add UTM parameters to all your campaign URLs — CodePex auto-detects source
For offline: Create QR codes for each hoarding/pamphlet using CodePex
Train front desk: When entering manual enquiries, always select source from dropdown
Enter marketing spend monthly in Marketing → Spend Tracker

🧮 ROI Calculation (Made Simple)

ROI = (Revenue from Source - Cost of Source) ÷ Cost of Source × 100

Example: Google Ads cost ₹45,000, brought 28 students. Average fee ₹30,000. Revenue = ₹8,40,000. ROI = (8,40,000 - 45,000) ÷ 45,000 × 100 = 1,767%.

✅ Marketing ROI Best Practices

Track everything consistently — Every enquiry must have a source. No "walk-in" without asking how they heard.
Review monthly — First week of every month, review source-wise ROI with your team.
Test before scaling — Run small campaigns, measure results, then scale what works.
Don't ignore brand building — Some channels (hoardings) may have low direct ROI but build awareness that helps other channels.
Include all costs — Design fees, agency charges, staff time—include everything for true ROI.

🇮🇳 India-Specific Marketing Insights

Data from 500+ Indian coaching institutes shows:

• Google Ads cost per click varies dramatically by city — Mumbai ₹80, Lucknow ₹35
• WhatsApp campaigns have 3x higher conversion than SMS
• Hoardings work best in Tier-2 cities where digital penetration is lower
• Referral programs (word of mouth) have the highest ROI but are hardest to scale

Stop guessing. Start knowing.

With CodePex Campus marketing ROI tracking, every rupee you spend is measured, analyzed, and optimized—so you can focus on what truly brings students through your doors.