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Why use trackers? (8)

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Hi,
First of all, I am new to trackers. My question is, do we still have to pass the parameters(tokens) manually to the Offer URL(clickId,Impression ID etc)? In Amy's 40 days tutorial we had to do that manually.
So it seems to me using tracker adds more work(further 3-4 steps) to the whole process.

Why Tracker is needed in the first place? If Affiliate Networks and Traffic Sources have (almost)full tracking features, then why not we use them?
And if Trackers had made our work simpler, and made the whole process automatic, that would be great. But it seems we still have to fiddle with Postbacks & Tokens etc manually. If thats true, then I don't see any need for using tracker and increasing headache.

I know, Super Affiliates need trackers;.....& spy tools and blah blah..., but for making $XX or $100/day, do we still need trackers? I mean, can't the basic Tracking needs be fulfilled by Traffic Source or/and Aff Network?
If the AM can guide(give) us about best offers and some networks provide many Prelanding options as well, then what exactly is the need for Trackers?
You might say, we need trackers for Blacklisting/Whitelisting, but do we need to do Blacklisting for Push Traffic also(I know, we need Blacklisting for Pops)? Isn't Push traffic mostly clean?
Thanks

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Trackers are used for two purposes -
1) To see data in a detailed/granular level
2) To conduct split tests and find the best lander/offer combination

First thing you need to do good paid media buying is a tracker. Unless you are organized with your campaign structure, and look through all variables of banner, lander, offers and adjust the combinations accordingly, its impossible to optimize campaigns.

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Making the manual settings is what you need to do.
In brief, tracker will help you not only to optimize your campaign, but also avoid affiliate networks' shaving

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How?

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You don't *need* a tracker... you could hypothetically buy media (whether push, pop, native, whatever) without one, but the advantage you get from a tracker is so monumental that using them is the norm.

I'm like you, I hate having to complicate things with additional layers of logistics, and I think whatever is simplest is usually best. However, if we're trying to make money online through paid ads, we're already attempting something unbelievably competitive that 99.9% of people aren't able to do... if we compound that difficulty by placing ourselves at a disadvantage by being the only one not using a tracker, it becomes even harder... :/

A profitable campaign requires an alignment of so many variables that getting them all to line up (or even being cognizant of them) without a tracker would just be extremely difficult...

Also when you are using a tracker and you start getting good with it you'll start noticing new ways to increase ROI.

For instance maybe you're running weight-loss worldwide on traffic source X, but you realize that there is a weight-loss offer that is only allowed in the US that has a way higher EPC - you can use the tracker to automatically rotate people to that offer if they click on the ad from within the US.

Maybe using the tracker you also notice that ad A is combining with Presell 2 to create a really high ROI, so you then set up a rule where ad A always sends clicks to Presell 2.

Then you see 3 more weight-loss offers pop up on the aff network. Instead of testing them all one by one on different campaigns (expensive and time-consuming), you just rotate them into the main campaign with your tracker and test them within the main funnel.

So yeah, they can definitely be a headache on the front end figuring them out and getting stuff set up (although you can email their support people and they'll usually walk you through everything) but in the long run I think you'll find they magnify your creativity and strategery as a media buyer and make you way more money

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Wow! So you mean, we can run offers via tracker directly- there is no need to get them approved by the Traffic Source?
That's something new for me. It seems I am not aware of the advanced capabilities of trackers. Thanks for your valuable post.

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Well, you can change the offer that's in the "rotation" or "campaign" within the tracker at any time, or change it to 3 or 4 different offers each getting an equal share of the clicks if you want, but you would still want to only be doing so if they were compliant with the traffic source's terms... as the traffic source would see what you were doing whenever they check your campaign link (usually when you upload new ads and they moderate them).

But yeah, I recommend Thrive but there's lots of other great trackers too

Good luck!

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Like everyone said. It's pretty much a must. Especially for Push, Pops, and Native.

Main reason for many is because it's easier to have one link at your traffic source that goes to your tracking link --->

On your tracker, you can have that one link rotate through different landers and offers.

Without a tracker, you'd be looking at 3-5 campaign links just for landers, and you would need to edit your landers individually to click through to each separate offer*

That's way more work and a huge headache.

That said, for Facebook, you can actually get by without a tracker. FB funnels are different and you do a lot of the targeting and split testing on FB itself and do most of the tracking using FB's pixel. I know stickupkid runs naked on his campaigns, so it's totally possible. I still run the offer clicks in my FB funnels through a tracker though, just makes it easier to keep track of conversions.



*Granted, you could do this on your server with a php or CMS solution which rotates through your landers and you could self-track, but that would be even more work than using a tracker.

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