impact.com allows you to enhance the tracking links you create by adding special parameters to promote your partnered brands. These query string parameters are added to the end of a tracking link URL to help organize information for effective analysis. This allows you to extract valuable insights during reporting, such as identifying your most traffic-generating promotional channels.
Tip
impact.com strongly recommends adding parameters on the impact.com platform rather than appending them manually. Altering your tracking links manually leaves room for error, which could prevent you from utilizing your reporting information effectively.
Use this method if you want to add parameters to a tracking link you generate for a specific brand program. This method allows you to use the CREATE AND SHARE LINK dashboard widget to quickly fill the tracking link's Sub ID and Shared ID fields with static values that do not change.
Follow the steps to Create a tracking link for a specific brand program via the dashboard widget.
Before selecting Create to create the tracking link, select Advanced.
Add optional Sub IDs, a Shared Id, or a Promotional Property to the link.
Sub IDs and Shared IDs can be added to a tracking link, allowing impact.com to track and report on information you find useful. See the Parameters reference & examples below for more information.
Promotional Properties that can be added to a tracking link include websites, social media apps, or mobile apps that were enabled and added to your Marketplace Profile.
Select Create.
The parameters you added will be added to the end of the tracking link, but they will not display in the shareable link field.
Use this method if you want to add parameters to a tracking link for a specific brand program. This method allows you to fill the tracking link's Sub ID and Shared ID fields with static values that do not change.
Follow the steps to Create a tracking link for a specific brand program via the web extension.
Before copying the tracking link, select Show advanced settings.
Add optional Sub IDs or a Shared Id to the link.
Sub IDs and Shared IDs can be appended to a tracking link, allowing impact.com to track and report on information you find useful. See the Parameters reference & examples below for more information.
The parameters you added will be added to the end of the tracking link.
Use this method if you want to add parameters to a tracking link you retrieve from a specific brand asset. This method allows you to fill the tracking link's Sub ID and Shared ID fields with either static values that do not change, or dynamically populated values (e.g., {{MemberID}}).
Follow the steps to Get a tracking link for a specific ad.
Before copying the tracking link, select
[Toggle on] Tracking Parameters.Add optional Sub IDs, a Shared Id, or a Promotional Property to the link.
Sub IDs and Shared IDs can be added to a tracking link, allowing impact.com to track and report on information you find useful. See the Parameters reference & examples section for more information.
Promotional Properties that can be added to a tracking link include websites, social media apps, or mobile apps that were enabled and added to your Marketplace Profile.
Add optional dynamic parameters in the Sub ID fields.
See the Dynamic parameters example reference below for more information.
Select Save.
The parameters you added will be added to the end of the tracking link.
Select Copy Tracking Link.
Dynamic parameters are particularly useful for certain partner types, like Cashback and Loyalty websites, because they can help you ensure that members are correctly credited for clicks and actions.
One use case for adding a dynamic parameter to your tracking link is to track which member in your site clicked on a link and purchased something. To track this dynamic value:
Add the text {{MemberID}} in one of your Sub ID fields.
Select Save.
This will generate a tracking link similar to the following:
https://acmecorp.sjv.io/c/111111/222222/33344?subId1=%257B%257BMemberID%257D%257DWhen a member of your website clicks on this link, your website will populate the Sub ID field with the member's actual ID (e.g., "12345678"), and this dynamically populated value will be reflected in impact.com reporting.
You can only add dynamic parameters to links on an ad card—it won't work with other link-creation methods. You'll also need to ensure that your system is configured to accept dynamic variables—work with your technical team (or refer to your website provider's documentation) for more information on how your website handles these types of variables.
The SubId parameter accepts a custom value that appears only in partner reporting (Advanced Action Listing, Performance by Sub ID). Learn more about Sub ID values.
The SharedId parameter accepts a custom value that appears both in partner reporting (Advanced Action Listing, Performance by Sub ID) and brand reporting. Learn more about Shared ID values.
The u parameter is used for deep linking to a specific URL. The brand you're partnered with must also allow deep linking, and the deep-linked URL must be a domain and path permitted by the brand.
Keep in mind that the URL used must be percent-encoded (i.e., using valid ASCII characters). We recommend adding this parameter using one of the methods above if you're not comfortable manually encoding a URL.
The Traffic Category parameter is a manually added custom value used primarily to label the category of traffic coming from a tracking link.
Usually, this value is specified by the brand for you to use and used in context for where links are placed (e.g., "Toolbar" for traffic coming from a web toolbar). Brands can configure payout rules based on this parameter in the terms they propose to you.
The Traffic Source parameter is a manually added custom value used primarily to identify the source from which traffic is coming.
Usually, this value is specified by the brand for you to use and used to determine from where traffic is coming (e.g, "Paid Search"). Brands can configure payout rules based on this parameter in the terms they propose to you.