Creating Campaign (guide for Affiliates)
What’s Campaign in RedTrack?
Campaign in RedTrack is basically a set of rules and elements that link together a Traffic channel and the Offers that are being promoted. In RedTrack terms Campaign works as the combination of an Offer, Landing page, and a Traffic channel you have set up during previous steps. The main purpose of creating a Campaign in RedTrack is to get the final link you will send the traffic to.
Click here to learn more about RT Campaign specificsAny Campaign in RedTrack has the following characteristics:
- once the core elements (Traffic channel, Landing page and Offer) are set, the system generates individual ready-to-use links and scripts according to which the Campaign is running;
- within each campaign you can add as many Landings and Offers as you need, filter them, distribute traffic according to various GEO parameters, providers, etc.;
- you can tune the system to send you notifications or even pause the Campaigns in your Traffic channel on selected conditions;
- each Campaign has Additional Postbacks to use it when conversion data should be sent back to the source of traffic (either S2S or pixel).
There are 2 ways of tracking Campaigns in RedTrack:
- via a tracking link. Tracking link is the link you use to send the traffic to. Tracking link presupposes that you can use a Traffic channel which allows redirects. Here is an example of how tracking link works:
- via a tracking script. Tracking script has 2 variations:
a. no-redirect tracking with one Traffic channel. This type of tracking script is ideal for Traffic channels which will not work with redirects (e.g.: Facebook)
b. universal script, which is basically a no-redirect script allowing to use several Traffic channels at the same time. It allows to use one and the same lander for several Traffic channels
Campaign creation Checklist for Affiliates:
1. Add the Traffic channel.
2. Add the Offer source and Offer.
3. Add a custom tracking domain.
4. Set the appropriate values in all sections.
5. Adjust the postback if required.
6. Save the Campaign settings and finish launching the Campaign.
Launching a Campaign explained
Fill in Campaign details
To initiate basic Campaign settings act as follows:
1. On the main RedTrack menu go to Campaigns -> press New:
2. In the pop-up Campaign details window fill in the needed fields:
2.1 type in the name of your Campaign in the Name field.
2.2 choose the Traffic channel for running this Campaign from the dropdown list in the Source field.
2.3 select the domain for running this Campaign from the dropdown list in the Domain field.
Your dedicated tracking domain is used by default. If you are using a custom domain please choose the one from the dropdown list in the Domain field. For more information about custom domains go to the article Adding a custom tracking domain.
2.4 click on the needed cost model used for your Campaign among the Campaign Cost options. Check out the article Campaign Costs for more details.
2.5 fill in the Value field accordingly:
2.6 for Redirect tracking links you choose the preferred Redirect type under the section Tracking options:
Redirect types decide how redirection to the offer is handled and whether the referrer data is passed through. First of all, click here to learn how the hidden referrer works and choose the required redirect type based on their explanation below:
- “Regular redirect (http/s 302)” is a standard temporary HTTP redirect that sends a visitor directly to the desired location (the offer you promote). The referrer data is passed to the campaign endpoint.
- “Meta refresh with hidden referrer” presupposes that after the redirect happens another redirect takes place with the help of an HTML meta tag. As a result, the referrer points to RedTrack, not the initial referrer.
- “JS refresh” is similar to the meta refresh type, but it’s fulfilled with the help of JavaScript. That being said, this type is not generally recommended for SEO, because search engines can have difficulty crawling and indexing sites that rely on them.
- “Server redirect (http/s 302) with hidden referrer” means when redirecting, on the side of the TDS header the referrer gets hidden.
To sum up, “Server redirect (HTTP/S 302) with hidden referrer” is faster than “Regular redirect (HTTP/S 302)” and “Meta refresh with hidden referrer”. This is because a server redirect is processed on the server side, while a meta refresh and JS refresh are processed on the client side. Server redirects are faster because the server does the work of redirecting the request for you, whereas in a meta refresh or JS refresh the client has to do this work. Moreover, server redirects can be cached, making them even faster.
2.7 (optional) add tags in the Extra section. Check out the article Tags for more details.
2.8 (optional) Add any additional information for your convenience in the Notes field of the Extra section:
3. Proceed further with setting the Funnel(s).
Set the Funnel(s)
What is a Funnel in RedTrack?
Funnel is a set of a Landing page, Offer, filters, auto-rules and weights applied. You can add more than one Funnel (and more that one Landing page and Offer) when creating / editing your Campaign. Clicks will be distributed between Funnels (Landing pages and Offers) according to the set “weight”. Consider this for the advanced tracking while conducting A/B (split) tests.
With RedTrack you can track the following types of Funnels:
- standard funnels (tracking link -> offer);
- standard funnel with a landing page (tracking link -> landing page -> offer);
- standard funnel with a landing page without a tracking link (landing page -> offer);
- all types of standard funnels with your own offers ( … -> offer -> “thank you” page where the conversion fires);
- listicle funnels with or without a tracking link (listicle landing page -> offers);
- listicle funnels with or without a tracking link with your own offers (listicle landing page -> offers -> “thank you” page where the conversion fires);
- multi-funnels with or without a tracking link (1 landing page -> 2 landing page -> offer);
- multi-funnels with or without a tracking link with your own offers (1 landing page -> 2 landing page -> offer -> “thank you” page where the conversion fires);
- the traffic of your own website.
How do I set a Funnel in RedTrack?
To create the Funnel act as follows:
1. In the Campaign pop-up window turn to the section Funnels:
2. Choose the Funnel type first: Single Landing, Multi Landing, Only Offer, Template, as the setup of the Funnel will be different for each Funnel type:
3. Adjust the settings depending on the chosen Funnel type:
Single Landing funnel
Click here to see how to set a Single Landing funnelOnce you’ve decided to go for a Single Landing Funnel set the following parameters to it:
1. Select a Landing (your Landing page) or several Landers. To do that:
1.1 press ADD button:
1.2 choose the Landing from the Select landing drop-down list and mark the weight for this Landing in the Weight field:
You can add more than one Landing page to the Funnel, RedTrack in its turn will distribute the traffic between Landing pages according to the specified “weight. To add another Landing page press the ADD button:
2. Select an Offer. To do that choose the Offer from the drop-down in the Select offer field and add the weight to it by stating it in the Weight field next to the chosen Offer:
You can add more than one Offer to the Funnel, as RedTrack will distribute the traffic from a Landing page to an Offer according to specified Offer “weight”. To add another Offer just press the ADD button:
3. Define the Weight of the Funnel:
4. Apply Filters if necessary. For details go to the dedicated article Traffic filtering.
5. Enable auto-optimization rules:
To learn more about auto-optimization options in Funnel go to the article Funnel auto-optimization (AI).
Multi Landing funnel
Click here to see how to set a Multi Landing funnelOnce you’ve decided to go for a Multi Landing Funnel set the following parameters to it:
1. Select a Pre-landing. To do that act as follows:
1.1 press ADD:
1.2 choose the Pre-landing from the Select landing drop-down list and mark the weight for this Pre-landing in the Weight field:
2. Select a Landing (your Landing page) or several Landers. To do that:
2.1 press ADD button:
2.2 choose the Landing from the Select landing drop-down list and mark the weight for this Landing in the Weight field:
You can add more than one Landing page to the Funnel, RedTrack in its turn will distribute the traffic between Landing pages according to the specified “weight. To add another Landing page press the ADD button:
3. Select an Offer. To do that choose the Offer from the drop-down in the Select offer field and add the weight to it by stating it in the Weight field next to the chosen Offer:
You can add more than one Offer to the Funnel and RedTrack will distribute the traffic from a Landing page to an Offer according to specified offer “weight”.
4. Define the funnel Weight of the Funnel:
5. Apply Filters if necessary. To do that act as follows:
5.1 press the button Filters at the bottom of the Funnel page:
5.2 you can add Filters either from a pre-set template or manually:
- to add Filters from the pre-set template act as follows:
a. create pre-set filter templates in Tools -> Filter presets-> New-> select the filters to be applied:
b. in the Funnel settings under the Filters section choose the added preset Filter template from the drop-down list of the Select a preset field:
- to add Filters manually act as follows:
a. in the Funnel settings under the Filters section click to open the drop-down list of the Add filter field:
b. choose from that list the filter you want to apply:
5. Enable auto-optimization rules:
- to learn more about auto-optimization options in Funnel go to the article Funnel auto-optimization (AI).
- to learn more on how to use several Landing pages one after another go to the article Multi step funnel set-up.
Only Offer funnel
Click here to see how to set an Only Offer funnelThe setup for Only Offer Funnel is the same as for the Single Landing Funnel, but you will not have any fields for adding Landing pages. For detailed guide scroll up this guide to the section “Single Landing Funnel“.
Template funnel
Click here to see how to set a Template funnelWhat is a Template Funnel?
RedTrack allows you to create the templates for your Funnels. Template Funnel is a pre-set combination of Landing pages, Offers and filters. The main advantage of this feature is that you do not need to add all the elements manually for several Campaigns if you are using the same Funnel for different Traffic channels for example.
How is Template Funnel created?
To create a template act as follows:
1. On the main RedTrack menu go to Funnel templates, press New:
2. Fill in the following fields:
2.1 name (Title) of your Template Funnel:
2.2 select the Funnel template type:
2.3 add your Landings and Offers. Remember to set appropriate Weights for them:
2.4 (optional) add Filters:
2.4.1 activate the Show filters toggle:
2.4.2 you can add Filters either from a pre-set template or manually:
- to add Filters from the pre-set template act as follows:
a. create pre-set filter templates in Tools -> Filter presets-> New-> select the filters to be applied:
b. choose the added preset Filter template from the drop-down list of the Select a preset field:
- to add Filters manually act as follows:
a. click to open the drop-down list of the Add filter field:
b. select from drop-down list the filter you want to apply:
c. once you’ve selected the filter, mark the necessary Type and Value to it and press Save changes:
3. Now you can choose the created Template Funnel from the drop-down list in the Funnels settings:
Adjust Postback
RedTrack uses S2S Postback as the primary method of URL tracking. This field is filled in in either of 2 ways:
- generated automatically and filled in with the data from your Traffic channel Postback settings.
- Postback URL is inserted manually.
1. In the Campaign settings scroll down to the S2S Postback section and press Add:
2. Add your Traffic channel Postback link if you want to pass the conversion information back. Leave this field empty for Facebook, Google Ads, and Bing Ads:
3. Take into account 2 important Notes:
Note 1:
In case you changed the Postback URL in Traffic channel (added / removed some parameters to it), remember to manually update the link in Campaign settings as well, as it won’t be generated correctly automatically.
Note 2:
Some Traffic channels require you to edit the Postback with specific parameters for each Campaign (e.g., the goal for Exoclick or ap_key for Go2Mobi). If the field remained blank or something like “REPLACE” is stated, that means you need to define the Postback conditions manually.Example of such a Postback link: http://main.exoclick.com/tag.php?goal=REPLACE&tag={ref_id}
Save Campaign settings
1. Once all the necessary elements have been added, press Save changes at the top or at the bottom of the Campaign page:
2. Select the needed Tracking option (aka Tracking links and parameters) which has been generated automatically and copy the Click URL:
Use the Redirect link for the Traffic channels who support the redirect method, No-redirect script for your Landing page code, etc. For more information on the Tracking options check out the following articles/videos:
- Universal tracking script
- No redirect tracking
- Tracking impressions
- The difference between universal tracking script and no-redirect script is pointed out here
For affiliate media buyers it is strongly advised to use no-redirect script, universal tracking script for affiliates should be used only in cases when you need to send traffic from multiple ad networks / campaigns to the same lading page.
3. Paste the Click URL to the URL field in the Campaign Settings on your Traffic channel side (your Traffic channel account).
Note!
If there are already some UTM parameters in the URL parameters field, you do not have to delete them, just append the parameters taken from your campaign in RedTrack to the already existing parameters with the help of the ampersand symbol: “&”. Check out this video for a more detailed explanation.
That’s it, happy Campaigning!
