Campaign Settings
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      Step Tracking

       

      Step Tracking

      Step tracking allows you to track anything that happens within a campaign that could generate an affiliate payout and that you want to track separately. Any CPA/CPL campaign (not a lead gen campaign) can track steps within the campaign. A step pixel will look something like this:

      http://your_tracking_domain/pixel.track?CID=100101&p=img&stepId=10&MerchantReferenceID=

      The main difference between a step pixel and a regular LinkTrust tracking pixel is that there is the addition of the Step ID. It’s also important to note that in order for a step pixel to track, there must be a valid click, unless you are executing an AFID pixel post. It doesn't matter what order you create steps, or what you name them. You can reorder steps by dragging and dropping them on the steps page. This order will be reflected in the Step Analytics Report. To help you keep track of changes to your steps, the module to edit each step will show the last date it was edited and who did the editing.

      Step Tracking details

      Before you add a step, make sure you understand the following components of a step.

      • Status of a step
      • Name
      • Description
      • Pixel type
      • Type of statistic
      • Cookie expiration
      • Affiliates
      • Show in Affiliate Center
      • Fraud prevention features for steps
      • Financial Information: custom revenue and payouts
      • Rights to add/edit steps

      Status of a Step

      Enable the step to allow the pixel to fire and begin recording transactions. Disable the step if you don’t want it to track.

      Name

      Name the step. This name will be displayed in the Step Analytics Report. 25 characters max.

      Description

      Remind your team what you’re tracking with this step. 255 characters max.

      Pixel Type

      You may select which type of pixel that you would like to use to track the step, (Image, JavaScript, ServerSide). You can then copy the step pixel and place it on a page you wish to track a step for as you do a standard LinkTrust tracking pixel.

      Type of statistic

      Choose the type of statistic you want to make this step. Options include: occurrence, impression, click or qualified transaction. Once a step pixel has been placed and has traffic running through it, you can’t change the type of stat being recorded with this step. You must create a new step if you want to change the type of stat being recorded. Payout and revenue can be affected by any type of step, but only the impression, click or qualified will show in all reports. The revenue and commission of an occurrence will be displayed in all reporting.  However, you will only see an occurrence stat column in the step report. 

      Cookie expiration

      You are able to expire the cookie on a step pixel.  You can keep the cookie live to track multiple times or have it expire after the first pixel fire. However, IP Backup won’t work to track on the step pixel if you expire the cookie.

      Affiliate pixel

      You can add an affiliate pixel for each step you create. This is no longer found in the step settings, but can be found when adding affiliate pixels.

      Affiliates

      Select affiliates for whom a step will track. Each step can be set up to track for all affiliates assigned to the campaign or you may configure the step to track for a specific affiliate, group of affiliates or for a comma-delimited list of affiliates.

      Show in Affiliate Center

      Choose whether you allow this step pixel to show in the affiliate center.

      Fraud prevention

      Steps follow the conversion fraud control features as set on the campaign filters page. Additionally, protect this step from fraudulent activity by designating the amount of times you will allow a step to track duplicate consumers within a specific period of time. 

      Financial Information

      Enable custom revenue and custom payouts for a step by choosing that option in the dropdown. Flat payout and revenue will add the amount you specify here to reports for each time a step pixel is fired. Percent payout and revenue must have TotalSales=value appended to the end of the pixel. The pixel will look something like this:

      http:/your_tracking_domain/pixel.track?CID=100101&p=img&stepId=10&MerchantReferenceID=&TotalSales=100

      LinkTrust will automatically calculate the designated percent of the total sales as the affiliate payout and or revenue.  You may also choose to have no payouts or use the payouts already assigned to the affiliate(s).

      Rights

      In order to add and/or edit steps, a user must have campaign edit rights.

      Adding a step:

      1. Select the status of the step: Enabled or disabled. 
      2. Name the step.
      3. Describe the step.
      4. Select pixel type.
      5. Create statistic: Choose the type of stat you want to create with the step. 
      6. Choose if you wish to expire the cookie.
      7. Choose if you wish to fire the affiliates pixel.
      8. Select which affiliates to track this step for.
      9. Choose if you wish to show the step in the Affiliate Center
      10. Select the number of times you will allow a consumer to track per step withing a specified period of time.
      11. Choose the revenue and/or payout for this step.
      12. Add the step.
      13. Copy the step pixel and place it on the page.

       

      You can request a demo to see LinkTrust up close and experience how it can help you, or start your free 14-day trial now.

       

      Need help with this feature or have questions? You can contact our support team at support@linktrust.com