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Set up Action Lifecycle Postbacks

There are two main types of action lifecycle postbacks. Global-level creates postbacks for your entire account and event-level creates postbacks for specific event types. Select the one that best suits your needs to learn more about the setup process.

Set up an action lifecycle postback

Set up a global-level action lifecycle postback

This section will cover creating postbacks for your entire account at once. Partners who only have one system that can receive and consume these postbacks or who want notifications for all non-standard events should set up global-level action lifecycle postbacks.

Note

If you want to be more selective about the event types for which you'll be receiving postbacks, see the section below to set up event-level action lifecycle postbacks.

  1. From the left navigation bar, select ellipsis-v-solid.svg [Menu] → Settings.

  2. Under Technical, select Event Notifications.

  3. Next to Action Life Cycle Events, select pencil-alt-solid.svg [Edit].

  4. Enter your server's URL. This is the URL to which impact.com will send postbacks.

  5. Select your preferred HTTP method.

    • If you select POST, you will then enter the body of the request. Below is an example of how you might want to map each data point for a JSON format. The keys in each key-value pair should be sourced from your own system’s setup, and the values will be your chosen coinciding data point that impact.com provides and should be entered in brackets { }.

      63d2594f40d36.png
    • View some of impact.com's available body parameters.

    • Don't see a value you need? Reach out to your Account Manager (or contact support).

  6. Select the Body Format that matches your setup in Step 5a.

  7. Select Action Life Cycle Events. These settings are optional.

    • Enter a Minimum Delay between when a non-standard event happens and when the postback is generated and sent to your system.

    • Enter a rate limit for the Maximum Requests impact.com can make to your system per second.

    • Enter what you want the Success Response to a postback to be.

    • Enter what you want the Error Response to a postback to be.

  8. Select Save.

Now that you have global-level postbacks set up, your system should begin receiving postbacks whenever non-standard events happen, regardless of the brand performing the non-standard actions. To learn how to test your new postback setup, view the Test an action lifecycle postback section below.

Dynamic values example

If you've configured dynamic variables for your tracking links, you can configure a Postback URL to your own server to notify you when actions occur and retrieve the dynamically populated value(s) associated with the action.

This example shows how to pass a SharedId value (a value you want to share with brands) to a parameter in a postback (MyParam). Some brands may require you to configure this.

63d27576a7435.png

A postback URL would look something like:

https://postback.example.com/postback?secure=ed7e46f&MyParam={SharedId}

63d275780be39.png

The postback URL will populate the MyParam parameter with the value retrieved from SharedId.

Set up event-level action lifecycle postbacks

This section will cover creating postbacks for specific event types that track when you drive actions. If you want to be more selective with the event types for which you receive postbacks, you should set up event-level action lifecycle postbacks.

Tip

If you set up global-level action lifecycle postbacks, you do not need to set up event-level ones.

  1. From the top navigation menu, select Brands → My Brands.

  2. Select the card for the brand that owns the postback you want to test.

  3. Under the brand's name, select angle-down-solid.svg[More]Tracking Integration.

  4. Near the top-right corner of the page, select Add Postback.

  5. Select the event type (formerly action tracker) for which you want to set up action lifecycle postbacks.

  6. Enter your server's URL. This is the URL to which impact.com will send postbacks.

  7. Select your preferred HTTP method.

    • If you select POST, you will then enter the body of the request. Below is an example of how you might want to map each data point for a JSON format. The keys in each key-value pair should be sourced from your own system’s setup, and the values will be your chosen coinciding data point that impact.com provides and should be entered in brackets { }.

      63d25950bca18.png
    • View some of impact.com available body parameters.

    • Don't see a value you need? Reach out to your Account Manager (or contact support).

  8. Select the Body Format that matches your setup in Step 5a.

  9. Select Action Life Cycle Events. These settings are optional.

    • Enter a Minimum Delay between when a non-standard event happens and when the postback is generated and sent to your system.

    • Enter a rate limit for the Maximum Requests impact.com can make to your system per second.

    • Enter what you want the Success Response to a postback to be.

    • Enter what you want the Error Response to a postback to be.

  10. Select Save.

Now that you have event-level postbacks set up, your system should begin receiving postbacks for the event type you selected in Step 5. To learn how to test your new postback setup, view the Test an action lifecycle postback section below.

Dynamic values example

If you've configured dynamic variables for your tracking links, you can configure a Postback URL to your own server to notify you when actions occur and retrieve the dynamically populated value(s) associated with the action.

This example shows how to pass a SharedId value (a value you want to share with brands) to a parameter in a postback (MyParam). Some brands may require you to configure this.

63d27576a7435.png

A postback URL would look something like:

https://postback.example.com/postback?secure=ed7e46f&MyParam={SharedId}

63d275780be39.png

The postback URL will populate the MyParam parameter with the value retrieved from SharedId.

Test an action lifecycle postback

Once you set up an action lifecycle postback, regardless of what level it applies to, you should test it. You can either run a test postback in impact.com (available for event-level postbacks only) or perform a conversion.

Run a test postback in impact.com

If you set up an event-level postback, then you can test it within your impact.com account.

  1. From the top navigation menu, select Brands → My Brands.

  2. Select the card for the brand that owns the postback you want to test.

  3. Under the brand's name, select MoreTracking Integration.

  4. From the Postback section, select caret-down-solid.svg [Down arrow] Actions.

  5. Select Test.

  6. Confirm that URL of the postback is correct, then select Start test.

Create a test conversion

This test will not be performed in the impact.com web app. Instead, you will be performing an end-to-end test that follows a typical user journey. Make sure you notify your partnered brand that you will be performing the test.

  1. From the top navigation menu, select Content → Assets.

  2. Select an ad.

  3. Below the ad name, select Get Tracking Link.

  4. Select toggle-on-solid.svg [Toggle On] Tracking Parameters.

  5. Enter Sub IDs or a Shared ID as required. Ensure there is at least one word in the field.

    • Skip this step if you already have values in these fields.

  6. Optionally, select a Property from the dropdown list.

  7. Select Save.

  8. Select Copy Tracking Link.

  9. Paste the link into a fresh browser window.

  10. Complete the action.

  11. After about 15 minutes, check your system for the postback that was generated from this test action.

    • 15 minutes is usually how long action processing takes.

    • You will also be able to see this new pending action on the Pending Actions screen. If you see the action on the Pending Actions screen but have not received a postback yet, double-check your postback setup.

  12. Ask your brand to reverse the action.

  13. Check your system for the postback that was generated from this reversal.

    • If you see the reversed action on the Reversed Actions screen, but have not received a postback, double-check your postback setup.

Note

If you cannot find any issues with your postback setup but are still not receiving them, contact support. impact.com can check if postbacks are being generated, what the response code for them is, as well as the body for each postback. This information might help you successfully debug your setup.

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