# Advocate Tracking Parameters Explained

Tracking parameters are snippets of text that can be added to the end of a link. They allow  specific data about your referral traffic to be sent to impact.com. For example, you could use a parameter to record *Email* as the *share medium* whenever someone visits your referral program’s landing page via an email link. This makes it easy to spot performance trends in your email traffic.<br>

<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%2Fye9QkdIoHaazKHwaJAVs%2FScreenshot%202026-02-19%20at%204.11.23%E2%80%AFPM.png?alt=media&#x26;token=7b066bbe-1c40-41a6-b40d-ae9c6acf951e" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

Tracking parameters can be added to:

* [**Landing page links**](https://help.impact.com/brand/what-would-you-like-to-learn-about/advocate-program/getting-started-with-advocate/configure-your-advocate-program#step-1-set-up-your-program) — The URL of your referral program’s web page, i.e., where you want traffic to go.
* [**Share links**](https://help.impact.com/brand/what-would-you-like-to-learn-about/advocate-program/manage-advocate-participant-experiences/assign-vanity-share-links-or-referral-codes) — Auto-generated links your advocates use to refer friends to your program.&#x20;
* [**Message links**](https://help.impact.com/brand/what-would-you-like-to-learn-about/advocate-program/manage-advocate-participant-experiences/message-links-explained) — Messages your advocates can share to different platforms, which include dynamic elements like their share link.

### What parameters do my links have?

#### Static parameters

When a visitor opens a share link or arrives on your landing page, the following parameters are added by default. These parameters are static, meaning they have set values that don’t change:&#x20;

* <mark style="color:red;">**`utm_source=invite`**</mark> — This shows where the visitor came from. We set the value to “invite” so you know the traffic came from an advocate’s referral.
* <mark style="color:red;">**`utm_medium=link`**</mark> — This shows how the visitor got to your page. We set the value to “link”, meaning they clicked a referral link rather than an ad, for example.
* <mark style="color:red;">**`utm_campaign=saasquatch`**</mark> — This shows which program the visit is associated with. “Saasquatch” is a placeholder value to indicate your Advocate program.

#### Dynamic parameters

In addition to your static parameters, the following dynamic parameters are added. The values of dynamic parameters change depending on which advocate refers the customer, which program touchpoint they first made contact with, and which channel they used to share the link with friends:

* **`rsCode=JOHNDOE`** — This shows which advocate shared the link and should be rewarded if a new customer signs up via the link, e.g., John Doe was credited.
* **`rsEngagementMedium=EMBED`** — This shows the advocate’s starting point when they first interacted with the link, e.g., via a referral widget embedded on your webpage.
* **`rsShareMedium=Email`** — This shows which channel the advocate used to share the link with friends, e.g. they included the link in an email.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Example:** `https://acmecorporation.com/signup-page?`<mark style="color:$primary;">**`utm_source=invite&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=saasquatch`**</mark>**`&rsCode=OLIVERSUTTON&rsEngagementMedium=POPUP&rsShareMedium=WHATSAPP`**
{% endhint %}

### Add custom parameters

You can choose additional tracking parameters you want added to the end of your referral program links. This is useful for tracking more specific details, like the discount code so you can give discounts to referred friends, or the message group so you can compare how one channel performs in comparison to another.&#x20;

#### Rules for adding parameters

Before adding custom parameters, you need to understand how doing so will affect the behavior of your links:

* Any parameters included directly in your configured landing page URL will always pass through.
* Removing or changing the value of your three default UTM parameters is not recommended.
* If you do remove or override one of your default UTM parameters (e.g., `utm_source=referral`), the other two will be dropped.
* To override the default values effectively, you must include **all three default UTM parameters** and their new values in your landing page URL.
* Any custom parameters you add must have set, static values. Dynamic values are not supported.
* To ensure consistent reporting data, avoid adding duplicate custom parameters.

#### Step 1: Add custom parameters to a landing page&#x20;

Use this approach to pass discount codes and internal tracking values, or whenever you want a rule to apply to every single referred visitor.

* Any parameters included directly in your configured landing page URL will always pass through

{% hint style="info" %}
**Example:** If you add **`discountCode=REFERRED20`**, the resulting landing page URL will look like: `https://acmecorporation.com/signup-page?`**`discountCode=REFERRED20`**`&utm_source=invite&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=saasquatch&rsCode=OLIVERSUTTON&rsEngagementMedium=POPUP&rsShareMedium=WHATSAPP`
{% endhint %}

#### Step 2: Add custom parameters to a share link

Use this approach to track data related to a specific advocate so you can see how many customers they bring in.

* You can pass custom parameters via a share link, but can’t override the default UTMs
* Any custom parameters are appended after landing page parameters

{% hint style="info" %}
**Example:** If you add **`influencer_ID=carrie_oakey`** to the end of your sharelink URL, the resulting landing page URL will look like: `https://acmecorporation.com/signup-page?discountCode=REFERRED20&utm_source=invite&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=saasquatch&rsCode=OLIVERSUTTON&rsEngagementMedium=POPUP&rsShareMedium=WHATSAPP&`**`influencer_ID=carrie_oakey`**
{% endhint %}

#### Step 3: Add custom parameters to a message link

Use this approach to track and compare the performance of targeted communications.

* You can pass custom parameters via a message link using the `rsLandingPage` parameter
* Include your landing page URL—along with any custom parameters—inside the `rsLandingPage` value

{% hint style="info" %}
**Example:** If you include **`rsLandingPage={https://acmecorporation.com/signup-page?email_test_group=A}`** in your message link, the resulting landing page URL will look like: `https://acmecorporation.com/signup-page?discountCode=REFERRED20&utm_source=invite&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=saasquatch&rsCode=OLIVERSUTTON&rsEngagementMedium=POPUP&rsShareMedium=WHATSAPP&influencer_ID=carrie_oakey&`**`email_test_group=A`**
{% endhint %}


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