Linkless Tracking through Voucher Code

What is Linkless tracking?

Also known as:

- Voucher Tracking

Linkless Tracking complements the link tracking usually used in partner marketing. Each partner receives a unique voucher code per participating advertiser, which is stored in the platform. If a voucher code is redeemed during an order, the platform checks whether it is registered. In case of a hit, the conversion is attributed to the partner who is assigned to the voucher code. It is irrelevant via which tracking link the conversion was mediated. As soon as a registered voucher code is used for an order, it overwrites the tracking link!

This functionality is especially useful in Social-Media scenarios, where the social-media platform (Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Tiktok, …) does not allow using tracking links. Here the social-media partner can still promote products and services, and get paid using the voucher-based attribution.

Linkless Tracking also allows to grow more organically into other forms of marketing such as print advertising and television, and any other offline-to-online journey.

In the Ingenious Partner Marketing Platform, Linkless Tracking allows you to

• implement and maintain a voucher policy for your partners.

• You can restrict the use of specific vouchers to specific ad spaces of your partners, 

• define a timeframe during which vouchers can be used,

• create rules for unauthorized usage of vouchers

• and many things more.

Because vouchers are always related to a specific advertiser, the voucher tool is situated on advertiser level.

Getting started

Make sure you are logged in to your admin UI, click on advertiser in the main navigation and proceed to click on manage advertisers. You will see the familiar overview of the advertisers in your platform: go to the commercial section of management functions and click on the  icon. When you do this, you will see a page looking more or less like this:

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All the functions of the voucher tool can be accessed from this page. You can 

• create new vouchers using the button on the right of the page,

• search vouchers by using the filter function in the left top corner of the overview,

• check the main properties of the vouchers you have created,

• edit and export vouchers.

Please note that only active vouchers are displayed in the default mode of the overview.

How do I create a new voucher?

Before you start

Please note that you can store multiple voucher codes for one voucher and restrict their use to specific ad spaces. You can limit the use of individual voucher codes to specific partners as well.

Creating a new voucher

Getting started

Make sure you are on the page with the overview of the voucher tool functions. To start, all you need to do is click on the button create new voucher code. If you do so, a page will be loaded looking like this:

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Basic settings

To create a voucher, start by filling out the basic details of your voucher:

• Give your voucher a name.

• Enter the voucher codes of your voucher.

• If you would like to have multiple codes, please note you don’t need to enter all codes one by one. Instead, you can enter a pattern with a prefix followed by an asterisk (also called wildcard). The asterisk will then be used as a placeholder for consecutive numbers. For example, when you enter summer_sale*, the platform will recognize all vouchers from summer_sale1 over summer_sale2 and so on. The asterisk will accept all strings.

• There is, however, a limit of 500 elements in the voucher code field. This is regarding separate vouchers as well as voucher prefixes. If you enter multiple voucher codes/prefixes, make sure you separate them by a comma and do not use space characters.

• Define the discount value and use the small drop down menu to define whether the discount is percentaged or fixed.

• Define a timeframe during which the vouchers are valid. If you don’t want to define an expiration date, please make sure you tick the box no expiration date.

Filling out the following settings is optional:

• Fill in a description of your voucher for partners, for example “Use this free shipping voucher and generate more sales.”

• Register a landing page for your voucher. This page can contain additional information on the campaign related to your voucher, but it can also be a special confirmation page. For your partners, the landing page URL will be shown as a tracking click link, so that they can use this link directly on their website or email campaign.

• Choose your voucher type, whether it is a discount for all products, a discount for specific products, free shipping, a freebie or miscellaneous.

• Define the restrictions of your voucher: whether it should only be available for new customers or whether a minimum order value is required for using the voucher.

If you are finished with the basic settings of your voucher, proceed to define the ad space allocation.

Ad space allocation

By filling out the ad space allocation, you define what partners are allowed to use your voucher. Please be aware that this allocation takes place on ad space level, i.e. the partners website, not to the partner as a whole, as he might promote your advertiser using different ad spaces. The ad space allocation also gives you the possibility to deploy a different commission model when your voucher is used.

When it comes to defining what ad spaces are allowed to use your voucher, you have the following options:

1. Allowing all ad spaces to use your voucher.

2. Restricting the use of your voucher to ad spaces that belong to a particular category. Of course, you can select multiple categories as well.

3. Restricting the use of your voucher to specific ad spaces. You can find the ad spaces by filling out the ad spaces name or URL in the field next to selected ad spaces.

When you have selected one of these options, proceed to define whether the regular commission model should be applied when a voucher is used (i.e. the commission model to which the ad space has been assigned), or whether a different commission should be assigned. If you want a different commission to be assigned, please make sure you not only select the option assign the following commission, but also define a commission amount and whether the commission should be percentaged or fixed.

If you select option 2 or 3, a new panel will appear at the bottom of the page looking more or less like this:

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In this panel, you can define what should happen if a partner uses your voucher although he is not in the selected category (2) or does not own one of the ad spaces selected. As you can see, you can allow unauthorized usage, you can assign commission generated with the voucher to one of the partners that is allowed to use the voucher, you can allow unauthorized usage and assign a different commission for conversions made using the voucher (please note you can also assign zero commission) or you can track the conversion but do not assign commission and make sure the conversion is not shown in the statistics of the partner.

If you have finished your ad space allocation settings, don’t forget to click the save button at the bottom of the page.

Finding vouchers

If you have created a lot of vouchers, you might find it hard to finding specific vouchers back. To search for vouchers. you can use the filter function. All you need to do is click on the button filter results in the left top corner of the voucher overview. If you do so, a panel will appear that is looking more or less like this:

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As you can see, you can search for vouchers by name, by status (active and deleted), by timeframe (the period in which the voucher has been active) and by voucher code. After you have defined one or more search values, just hit the filter button in the left lower corner of the panel and the results will appear in the overview below.

How do I edit a voucher?

Make sure you are on the page with the overview of the vouchers. Find the voucher you want to edit in the overview and click on the edit icon on the right. If you do so, you will see a panel appearing below the voucher looking more or less like this:

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In this panel, you can edit all the main details of your voucher. For a comprehensive description of all the properties, check the description above. Please note that changes in the ad space allocation will directly affect the business of your partners.

You can also edit deleted vouchers. All you need to do is find the deleted voucher you want to edit using the filter. When the voucher is displayed, you can follow the instructions for active vouchers.

Voucher history

As soon as you have edited a voucher, you will find the following icon added to the overview: . If you click on this icon, you will be able to see all changes applied to the voucher. You will also be able to see when these changes were processed and by whom.

How do I delete a voucher?

Let’s have a look again at the page with the overview of all the vouchers. It looks more or less like this:

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You will notice the small  icon on the far right, in the row of the voucher. To delete the voucher, all you need to do is click on this icon and confirm your action in the system window. After you have confirmed your action, you will be taken back to the voucher overview and find the voucher has disappeared.

Can I export vouchers?

Yes, you can. Basically, all you need to do is go to the bottom of the overview and look for the small panel with three different export items:

These three icons represent the three different formats in which you can download the properties of your vouchers in XLS, CSV and XML. Regardless of the format, you will find the export file contains the following data:

Automated export

The URL required for creating the voucher data export file is build up as following:

https://export.net.[domain]/[magic_key]/adm-vouchers_[user_ID].[file_extension]?[filters]

Applying filters

For voucher data export file, following filters can be applied:

These filters are to be added to the URL as parameters. Use the the question mark (?) for the first parameter and the ampersand (&) for all further parameters. Add the word filter, the filter name, the equals sign (=) and the relevant values according to the format mentioned in the table.