The Shared Id is an additional parameter that partners can add to your marketing content. This parameter, which can contain any value, is then tracked by impact.com whenever marketing content is included in the conversion path (e.g., when a banner ad is clicked on by a customer).
You can have partners fill this value with the web domain that the marketing content will be hosted on, then dynamically pay the partner depending on the traffic source (i.e., the web domain) of the conversion.
To learn more about the Shared Id parameter, check out this article that explains how the parameter works and how partners can append it to your marketing content.
The Shared Id is most commonly used to differentiate the traffic source of each action. By using the Shared Id in this way, you can change what the payout for a conversion is based on where the website traffic comes from. Here's a quick summary of how to use Shared Ids; view the sections below to learn more about each step.
You talk with your partner to discuss on which web domains they plan to host your marketing content.
You create template terms that alter the payout for a conversion based on the Referral SharedId. This should align with the domains the partner provided you.
Your partner updates the marketing content by adding a Shared Id onto it, then hosts it on the web domain that matches the Shared Id's value.
This step is repeated for every web domain you added to the template terms.
Conversions get tracked, and the payout is dynamically updated depending on which Shared Id value is passed.
Read the example scenario of setting up dynamic payments with the Shared Id below. Each section below will cover part of the scenario, and will tell the story of how you set up dynamic payments with your newest partner: The Roadrunner.
The most important step to dynamically paying your partners with the Shared Id is to discover on which web domains they plan to host your marketing content. Without performing adequate discovery, your actual payouts may not match your expectations.
If the Shared Id value passed doesn't exactly match the Referral SharedId payout rule your contract with the partner is looking for, the payout will not be dynamically updated.
Reach out to your partners to ensure you are in-sync with your Shared Id and web domain usage.
You've just accepted an application from The Roadrunner to join your program. This new partner owns 2 different websites: 1 for an online paint studio and 1 for an anvil review blog. Since your business sells hammers of all kinds, you're interested in having The Roadrunner advertise your store on both sides.
You have a higher profit margin on your smithing hammers that your chiseling hammers, so you want to pay out more for conversions sourced from the anvil review blog. After your program onboards The Roadrunner, you learn the web domains of the 2 sites:
tunnelofpaint.com
anvilenvy.com
The Roadrunner likes the idea of earning more from the blog, but isn't sure what to do to make that happen. See the next section to learn how you should update your template terms with them, and the Have the partner add Shared Ids to content section to learn what you should have The Roadrunner do.
After learning what web domains the partner plans to host your content on, you must set up a custom contract to handle the dynamic payouts for each domain. Learn how to create template terms. You can use the Template setting to quickly populate the new terms, or create an entirely new set of terms.
Regardless of how you plan to populate the rest of your terms, you'll need to decide how you want to dynamically update the payouts for conversions sourced from a particular web domain.
If you want to simply update the payout, use a Payout Adjustment.
If you want to prevent a payout, use a Payout Restriction.
The web domain specified in the payout rule must exactly match the Shared Id that the partner appends to your marketing content to apply the payout rule properly.
You must add adjustments and/or restrictions for all the web domains that will affect the payout for a conversion. After you set all your adjustments and restrictions—and review the other terms—you should send this to the partner whose payouts will be dynamically adjusted.
Returning back to your contract setup for The Roadrunner, you decide that you want all other terms to be the same as your Public Terms, so you use the Template setting to select Public Terms, then select Populate Terms.
From there, you set a Payout Adjustment rule to Referral SharedId is anvilenvy.com, and set the payout to increase payout by 15%.
You quickly double-check all the other terms, then select Save and Sent to Partners. You select The Roadrunner under Add existing partners, opt to Replace your existing contract with them, add a note that The Roadrunner needs to update Shared Id values on your content that they're hosting, then select Send.
Read on to the next section to learn how The Roadrunner should add Shared Id values to the content they host.
Once you set up the contract to dynamically change payouts based on what Shared Id value is passed, your partner must then add the proper Shared Id value to your content. Remember that your partner must add these values—since you aren't adding the content to their sites, you cannot add the Shared Id yourself.
You can send your partners this article on appending a Shared Id parameters. In it, they will learn where to add the Shared Id value within impact.com's platform. The partner should change the Shared Id value to match the web domain that the marketing content will be hosted on for all your pieces of content that they'll host.
If your program uses the Shared Id this way, the Shared Id's value should always match the web domains as it's formatted in your contract with them.
You've sent the contract to The Roadrunner, and they know they need to add a Shared Id value to all the content they plan on hosting to the anvil review blog. They aren't sure how to do that, so you send them this article on appending a Shared Id parameters. They're able to figure it out, and use their contract with you to make sure they're entering the web domain properly into the Shared Id's value.
If you want to double-check your dynamic payout setups before executing on your plan, you can always reach out to your CSM (or contact support).
Want to track the performance of your Shared Ids? Learn how to view Shared Id performance data.