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Affiliate Links + Voluum tokens (how to set this?) (8)

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Hi! After reading the guides on tracking, I'm still confused on one issue

Here's my setup for CAKE and NXUS system, as advised by my affiliate manager
CAKE: http://xxxxx/?a=1234&c=4321&s1={campaign.id}&s2={clickid}
Nxus: http://xxx/?aid=1234&cid=4321&aff_click_id={clickid}&sid={cam paign.id}

What about for other affiliate network systems? How does these things and tokens actually work?

Example for CAKE: How do we know that s1 must be for campaign.id and s2 for clickid?
Does this affect the postback URL?

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It works like this:


Clickid is assigned by tracker.

It's passed to the Network via the S paramters. Usually, by convention I guess, s2 is used for the clickid.

If you use s1 there will be a lot of s1 variables made, and usually the networks don't like this. You could also use s3 or s5 or whatever, depending on what the network has, or something completely different. The idea is that you're passing data from Voluum to the network via these parameters.

This clickid is then used for the s2s postback upon conversion, where the Network ties a conversion and transaction ID etc. to the tracker generated clickid paramter, and send it back to Voluum.

So on the entire "journey" through the funnel, the clickid is the unique parameter that ties it all together .....

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Thanks for your reply!
So does this mean the absolute minimum to add to the affiliate link is just {clickid} and the rest are unnecessary?

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That's right (AFAIK)!

You may want to consider passing your campaign id and traffic source id to the aff network as well, so that if they ever find a problem with lead quality, they may be able to tell you to stop running on a certain source rather than being forced to boot you from promoting the offer altogether.

About s1 vs. s2: jessjames has laid it all out nicely. To summarize, you can use any variable, as long as the one you're using in the offer link at the tracker, is the same variable you're using in the postback at the aff network. Also, I have a habit of avoiding using the first variable (e.g. s1) because on some aff platforms, this variable is only for static values. It's a lot less confusing to just choose a variable to stick with it across all aff networks wherever possible.



Amy

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I'd say the topic has been addressed by Amy and Jesse, I just want to add one more thing, which I believe will help you understand a lot of tracking related questions in the future.

Basically, you can use ANY parameter or token to send to the network, but to be able to use it in some way, the given network must be configured to "record" the values sent. That's why its ALWAYS a good idea to ask the network, what parameter they are actually tracking themselves. You can pass them the campaign ID, banner ID or placement ID ... but if you don't use the correct parameter that their back-end is configured to record (track) ... they won't be able to use them in any way.

The easy way to deal with this is to simply ask your AM for parameter's to use to track each of the IDs you want to pass them. This is extremely important in case of IDs that will be used to optimize your campaign based on performance, since these have to be passed to the actual advertiser, so you have to use the same parameter as the network has agreed to use with the advertiser. This can be different from one advertiser to the next, so your AM should be able to assist you with this.

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Thanks Amy and matuloo for your replies! I now have a clearer understanding

So for my own benefit, I'll just pass campaign.id & trafficsource.id back to the networks and also be sure to ask them which parameter they are using for their system

Last question: What does subaffiliate id refer to?

Example in appflood: https://atracking-auto.appflood.com/transaction/post_click?offer_id=1234&aff_id=4321&aff_sub={your clickid}&aff_sub6={yourpubid}&aff_sub3={yourgaid}

However, he also said that if I want to postback my subaffiliate id or check my traffic quality, i use aff_sub6

I can set aff_sub2 to aff_sub5 myself, and my affiliate manager said aff_sub6 is to postback my subaffiliate id

"It is unnecessary to set aff_sub6, if you don't have sub affiliate or don't need to check your traffic quality" were his words


Does this mean that aff_sub6 (for Appflood), the subaffiliate id = trafficsource.id in Voluum?

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I'm not 100% sure, the wording is not really clear, I think they just ask that you pass the traffic source or spot ID by using the aff_sub6 paramter. The other explanation would be that in case you are working with other affiliates and you are all sending traffic to the same appflood account, you could use the aff_sub6 to mark traffic of each of the affiliates. But I doubt you are doing this.

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That's what it sounds like to me, and that's exactly what I would include - the trafficsource id.

Sometimes I would include my campaign id as well, but trafficsource id should suffice.



Amy

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