Affiliate Networks

The article from the AnyTrack Knowledge Base outlines how AnyTrack integrates with leading affiliate networks to optimize ad performance and leverage first-party data for creating custom audiences. It highlights the automated data orchestration process, conversion tracking, and mapping features that enhance conversion attribution and reporting across ad platforms. The article also provides a step-by-step guide for setting up AnyTrack with affiliate networks, emphasizing the benefits of seamless integration and accurate conversion tracking.

AnyTrack enables you to seamlessly integrate with leading affiliate networks and technologies. Our deep integration approach will allow you to optimize your ads, and leverage your first-party data to create custom and lookalike audiences across all ad platforms, and scale your business confidently.

Popular affiliate marketing use cases

  • Promote a comparison website on Google Ads.
  • Promote affiliate offers on Facebook Ads.
  • Build cross pixel custom audiences.

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Good to know:

This article refers to the AnyTrack integration approach, how conversion data is tracked, and mapped across your marketing stack. While most of the data orchestration is fully automated, this article highlights important information that will enable you to quickly get on board and take advantage of new data driven marketing capabilities.

Integration overview - How it works

Traffic flow: AutoTag + AutoTrack

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Using Voluum, Redtrack or other traditional affiliate trackers?

Unlike traditional Affiliate trackers, with AnyTrack you only need to add your AnyTrack postback URL in your affiliate account in order to track every offer you promote.

Conversion Tracking

From "Top to Bottom", events, conversions, sessions, and first party data is collected and is used to enrich your ad pixels, with key data-points that enable accurate tracking and accelerate conversion attribution in your ad managers.

Standard Conversions

AnyTrack tracks the following default Conversion Events for affiliate networks integrations.

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Good to know: Each affiliate networks has its own conversion settings but AnyTrack will always track as many of these events as possible.

Conversion eventDescriptionMethod
OutboundClickWhen a visitor clicks on an affiliate link.AnyTrack JS Tag
LeadWhen AnyTrack receives a conversion with no commission value.Postback or API
CompleteRegistrationWhen AnyTrack receives a conversion with a commission value > 0Postback or API
PurchaseWhen AnyTrack receives a conversion with a commission value > 0Postback or API

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Good to know

Some affiliate networks or software like HasOffers do not pass an event_name parameter in their postback tokens.

To cover for this gap, AnyTrack applies a conversion logic that automatically labels conversion events according to the payload they send to AnyTrack postback.

For example, if a conversion is recorded with commission=0, the event will be automatically set as a Lead. If a subsequent conversion is recorded with the same click_id and a commission=10 it will be interpreted as a CompleteRegistration and if the same click_id shows up on an other conversion, it will be interpreted as a Purchase.

This logic covers both deduplication and multi-goal offers with a trial conversion goal.

Conversion Event Mapping

Under certain affiliate networks integrations you have the ability to remap the conversions received from the Affiliate Networks with AnyTrack Standard Conversion Events.

For example, the ClickBank Integration has the following event mapping:

ClickBank EventAnyTrack EventCustom Mapping
Order form viewLeadInitiateCheckout
SalePurchase
UpsellPurchaseUpsell
RebillPurchaseRebill

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Custom Conversions

Some customers who promote offers that have a high ratio of Rebill and Upsell events prefer to map these events to custom conversions.

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Custom Mapping

You can update the mapping according to your business goals, but keep in mind that the custom mapping will affect the mapping of your ad platforms Conversion API.

Conversion Data Mapping

The Conversion Data refers to the attributes sent by the Affiliate Networks and which gives you more context about the conversion.

Attributes such as the commission, the currency or the offer name, are automatically mapped to Ad Platforms' Conversion API standard attributes.

Since each affiliate network uses different attribute names, AnyTrack standardizes the mapping for you.

For example, AnyTrack maps to brand_name the value Tune (aka hasoffers) sends to offer_name and Impact sends to CampaignName.

This mapping allows you to get unified reports across all integrated ad platforms and analytics.

AnyTrack AttributesHasoffersAdmitAdImpact
brand_nameoffer_nameoffer_nameCampaignName
product_id, skuoffer_idoffer_idCampaignId
commissionpayoutpayment_sumPayout
event_name-actionActionTrackerName
currencycurrencycurrencyCurrency
transaction_idtransaction_idorder_idActionId
click_idaff_click_idsubid_4SubId1
country-country_codeRefCustomerCountry
status--Status

Now that we've covered how AnyTrack integrates with Affiliate networks, let's go through the standard affiliate network integration setup.


Getting started:

To start tracking your affiliate conversions with AnyTrack, you first need to create a property and add the AnyTrack Tracking Tag on your website. Since tracking starts from when a user starts a session on your website, adding an affiliate network without first having a property setup is pointless.

Step 1: Create a property

  1. Sign in to the AnyTrack dashboard and create a new property.
  2. Fill your website name url (the root domain is enough) and click Next.
  3. Copy the AnyTrack Tracking Tag.
  4. Paste the Tracking Tag in the head section of your website and save.
  5. Return to Anytrack dashboard.

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Good to know: As soon as your website loads with the AnyTrack tag, the property validation will turn green.

Step 2: Connect with your affiliate network

  1. Open the Integration Catalog and search for the affiliate network you want to integrate.
  2. Click on the affiliate network card, and then on Install.
  3. Fill the integration name and URL, and Click next.
  4. Copy the postback URL.
https://t1.anytrack.io/gfrhuVSx/collect/everflow-bigclient?sub1={sub1}&sub2={sub2}&sub3={sub3}&sub4={sub4}&sub5={sub5}&transaction_id={transaction_id}&event_name={event_name}&event_id={event_id}×tamp={timestamp}&datetime={datetime}×tamp={timestamp}
&affiliate_id={affiliate_id}&affiliate_name={affiliate_name}&source_id={source_id}
&offer_id={offer_id}&offer_name={offer_name}&offer_currency={offer_currency}
&offer_project_id={offer_project_id}&creative_id={creative_id}&creative_name={creative_name}
&payout_amount={payout_amount}&amount={amount}&revenue_amount={revenue_amount}
&advertiser_id={advertiser_id}&advertiser_name={advertiser_name}&user_agent={user_agent}
&device_platform={device_platform}&device_type={device_type}&device_os_version={device_os_version}
&device_brand={device_brand}&device_model={device_model}&device_browser={device_browser}
&device_language={device_language}&geo_country_code={geo_country_code}&geo_country_name={geo_country_name}
&geo_region_code={geo_region_code}&geo_region_name={geo_region_name}&idfa={idfa}
&idfa_md5={idfa_md5}&idfa_sha1={idfa_sha1}&google_aid={google_aid}&android_id={android_id}
&android_id_md5={android_id_md5}&android_id_sha1={android_id_sha1}&mac_address={mac_address}
&mac_address_md5={mac_address_md5}&mac_address_sha1={mac_address_sha1}&user_id={user_id}
&random={random}&app_id={app_id}
  1. Follow the on-screen instructions (instructions will vary from one integration to another).

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Cake Affiliate Software instructions

  1. Copy the Postback URL.
  2. Go to your affiliate account.
  3. Navigate to the offer Testing and Tracking settings.
  4. Paste the postback URL.
  5. Save

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Good to know: The integration validation is triggered as soon as the AnyTrack postback url is being triggered by the affiliate network.

Validate your integration

This section will enable you to validate the main aspects of your setup.

Link tracking

Since Tracking starts when visitors clicks on offer links, you will want to verify that your links are tracked and AutoTagged.

AutoTag Method

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Reminder about AutoTag

Autotag is a function that is enabled by default through the AnyTrack tracking tag, and that appends subid & click_id data to affiliate links. Learn more here about AutoTag.

  • Default: When you publish your offer links "as is" on your website.
  • AutoScan: AnyTrack scans links that are behind redirects plugins and AutoTags them according to their tracking requirements.
  • Manual:
    • Tracking Group Attribute: You add the tracking group attribute to links according to their tracking requirements. For example: data-tracking-group="impact" or rel="impact". More about Tracking Group here.
    • Click ID Token: You append the token: --CLICK-ID-- to the offer link.

Once the links are setup, you can check in your affiliate account if the subid parameters are passed to the offer links.

Examples:

<a href="https://trafficker.io/suggests/shareasale-deeplink/" data-tracking-group="shareasale" 
>Hover on the Demo Link to see the anytrack click_id</a>

Conversion Tracking

To validate your setup, there aren't many options but to wait for a conversion to come in and inspect the conversion log to find out whether conversions are properly tracked.

Affiliate Networks link attributes "cheat sheet"

This is a list of the attributes needed to identify affiliate links that sits behind a redirect. We update this list on a regular basis, but since we integrate new networks on a weekly basis we recommend looking at the link tracking settings provided in the platform.