# Assign Vanity Share Links or Referral Codes

Advocate automatically generates unique share links and referral codes for each of your participants to use when they refer friends in your different programs. To allow for a more personalized sharing experience, we offer you the ability to create vanity share links or vanity referral codes for individual participants.

Vanity links and codes must be unique to that participant. Additionally, like all share links and referral codes, they can only be associated with one specific referral program (if you have more than one running). Each participant can have multiple vanity links and codes active at the same time.

We typically recommend vanity share information when you want to provide a personalized, memorable link or code for a well-known or top-performing customer advocate, such as an affiliate or partner. One example would be a social media influencer who shares their referral code for your program in their posts or captions, especially as part of a targeted campaign (such as 10% off their first purchase as a new subscriber).

|               | Automatically generated example | Vanity example                      |
| ------------- | ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| Referral code | `CODE4746`                      | `INFLUENCER10`                      |
| Share link    | `share.yourdomain.com/mzw&lkO`  | `share.yourdomain.com/INFLUENCER10` |

#### Open the participant's profile

All vanity share links and codes are managed on individual participants' profiles. To view this information on a participant’s profile:

1. In the left navigation menu, select ![](https://4048883401-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FwMLlMoFBtKJa8ptd3zaw%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-230534471fef5f40808e921e41ee44e4a06ded03%2Fe6cb9548999afdc1ed3ce4942e4cb5b45b5cecbd323267aac2a7cd1915fccc09.svg?alt=media) **\[Engage] → Participants**.
2. Search for and select the **name** of the participant whose code you want to change. This opens their participant profile.
3. Select the **Codes and links** tab below the participant’s program info.

#### Assign vanity referral codes

You can convert an existing referral code to a vanity code, or create a new vanity code.

<details>

<summary>Change an existing referral code</summary>

1. Under the *Referral Codes* heading, hover your cursor over the code you want to change and select **Edit**.
2. In the **Referral Code** box, enter the new code.

   <div data-with-frame="true"><figure><img src="https://4048883401-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FwMLlMoFBtKJa8ptd3zaw%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-1652d915bbd8241bee9da7567b7e48bc9deaf84c%2F8e6bee8eadaddc31d98e11bacd214a12383220ad2e3991e047eb3aff9c2bf474.jpg?alt=media" alt="" width="563"><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>
3. Optionally, if you want to permanently deactivate the old referral code, deselect *Keep {CODE} as a working referral code*.
   * impact.com recommends deactivating the old referral code if you suspect potential referral fraud or if it was used as part of a now inactive campaign.
4. Optionally, if you want to have a new share link automatically generated, deselect *Keep using existing sharelinks*.
5. Select **Add**.

A new unique share link is automatically generated if you select **Set as primary** referral code. If you want this new share link to match the vanity referral code, then see the section on changing an existing share link.

</details>

<details>

<summary>Add a new vanity referral code</summary>

1. Under the *Referral Codes* heading, select **+ Add Referral Code**.
2. From the **Program** dropdown list, select the program for which you want the referral code to be used.
3. In the **Referral code** box, enter the vanity referral code.
4. Set the referral code as a primary or secondary referral code for this program.
   * Secondary referral codes don’t show up in the program widget, emails or other participant touchpoints. Secondary codes can be useful when you want to run targeted campaigns or other limited-time promotions.
5. Select **Add**.

A new unique share link is automatically generated if you select **Set as primary referral code**. If you want this new share link to match the vanity referral code, then see the section on changing an existing share link.

</details>

#### Assign vanity share links

To use vanity share links, you must have [set up a custom domain](https://help.impact.com/brand/advocate-program/manage-advocate-participant-experiences/set-up-a-domain-for-advocate).

<details>

<summary>Change an existing share link</summary>

Any existing share link can be modified with vanity information. If you previously created a new vanity referral code, then you can follow this process to customize the share link that was automatically generated.

1. Under the *Sharelinks* heading, hover your cursor over the share link you want to change and select **Edit**.
   * This button is only displayed after you’ve [set up a custom domain](https://help.impact.com/brand/advocate-program/manage-advocate-participant-experiences/set-up-a-domain-for-advocate).
2. Update the text at the end of the URL with the new vanity code.
3. Optionally, if you want to permanently deactivate the old link, deselect *Keep {LINK} as a working share link*.
   * In the event of potential referral fraud or when retiring links from now inactive campaigns, you can return later and deactivate old links from this menu.
4. Select **Add**.

</details>

<details>

<summary>Assign a new vanity share link</summary>

{% hint style="info" %}
**Note:** New vanity share links can be added even when you aren’t creating a corresponding vanity referral code. This option is especially useful for targeted or limited-run campaigns.
{% endhint %}

1. Under the *Sharelinks* heading, select **+ Add Sharelink**.
   * This button is only displayed after you’ve [set up a custom domain](https://help.impact.com/brand/advocate-program/manage-advocate-participant-experiences/set-up-a-domain-for-advocate).
2. Select the program you want the share link to be used for.
3. Enter a vanity code in the text box at the end of the URL. If you previously created a new vanity referral code, then you can re-use this code for the share link.
4. Set the share link as a primary or secondary link for the program.
   * Primary links are used in widgets, emails, API and integrations. Secondary links are not. Secondary share links can be useful when you want to run targeted campaigns or other limited-time promotions.
5. Select **Add**.

</details>
