Have you ever thought that you’re investing so much time and money in affiliate marketing, but still not sure what is yielding results?
You are not alone.
Many beginners (and some advanced) affiliate marketers run ad campaigns without any proper tracking system in place. Sure, they may know that someone is clicking, but they don’t know which ad, which link, or partner is actually converting revenue.
This is akin to throwing darts while blindfolded.
In this guide, I will explain step by step how to properly track affiliate campaigns without losing ROI in the process. We will take a straightforward approach that is friendly for beginners and authentic. No baffling terms or utter overwhelm of technology.
Keep reading!
Importance of Tracking Affiliate Campaigns
Imagine affiliate marketing as a fishing expedition.
In your fishing expedition, you have special bait and ads, potential fishing spots such as platforms, a fishing rod which represents your links. Without tracking which fish came from where, you will have no idea what ultimately works.
It’s important to remember that not every click translates to a sale. Visitors may bounce, complete the sale later, or not convert at all.
In addition to losing your earned commissions due to tracking errors, with no tracking in place you will:
- Pay for useless, low-quality ad clicks.
- Miss out on optimizing successful traffic.
- Have no insight on your ROI.
Imagine promoting 3 products on five different platforms: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, email, and your blog. That’s 15 possible combinations. Sales start rolling in, but you can’t determine where the magic comes from.
Tracking tools are essential. They allow you to:
- Analyze every click, conversion, and cost.
- Measure link and platform performance.
- Attribute correctly sales sourced from advertisements.
- Improve high-performing ads, and stop wasting money on poorly performing ads.
Data helps make informed decisions leading to reduced costs and increased profits.
If you are spending any amount on ads, such as 10 dollars, you must track your return on investment, as affiliate marketing is all about dollars and cents not just hustle.
Common Mistakes That Kill Your ROI
Let’s explain what not to do.
Mistake #1: Using one affiliate link everywhere
If you utilize one affiliate link across all platforms, you can’t determine the source of the sale. Was it Facebook? Was it your YouTube video? You’ll never know.
Mistake #2: Not using tracking software
Do you solely rely on the Amazon or ClickBank affiliate dashboards? That’s a terrible strategy. Provided dashboards are blind to traffic sources, device types, and timing, you’re missing a lot of data.
Mistake #3: Mobile vs. Desktop Ignoring Behavior Differences
Conversions can depend on the mobile versus desktop offers. Without device level tracking, you are merely speculating and nothing more.
Mistake #4: Conversion Ignoring and Clicking Focusing
Seeing traffic is encouraging; however, if nobody purchases, it’s pointless. Focus on tracking sales, not clicks because those are the only thing that matter.
Mistake #5: Not setting Up Postback or Conversion Tracking
Sales cannot be identified without proper setup, which is the equivalent of fishing without a net. You were unable to catch data.
In the end, you get the following: low ROI, misleading data, budget waste, and vast expenses.
In case you’re struggling with proper tools, set them correctly and choose clicks, Voluum, RedTrack or ClickMagick.
Tips For Selecting Tracking Tools
There’s an abundance in the affiliate tracking tools.
No worries; keeping it simple is the optimal way to go. The remaining text will only present simple and soothing logic, á la over the worries.
Here are some of the most important features a tool must have:
- Click tracking: Monitors who clicked what, when, and their location.
- Conversion tracking: Determines the users who made subsequent purchases or signed up.
- Link management: Permits the creation of unique links for each platform.
- Real-time reporting: Displays statistics live, as opposed to hours later.
- Postback support: Allows the sales tracking on external sites.
- Integrations: Works with your affiliate network and advertisement tools.
- Easy UI: Because unless you are a coder, this does not concern you.
Fraud detection, A/B testing, and auto-optimization are some of the other features that are offered by certain tools.
What tool do you select?
The user-friendly alternatives are the following:
- RedTrack: All-in-one tracking.
- ClickMagick: Simpler tracking.
- Voluum: For Power users.
These subscription-based tools work with monthly payments. Begin with a plan within your budget, and scale as your business expands.
Always test the tools before committing to one, that’s a pro tip.
Step-by-Step: Setting Up Campaign Tracking
Let us get practical.
Let me illustrate how you can monitor affiliate campaigns right from the beginning:
Step 1: Decide on a tracking tool
Opt for a tracking tool that meets your requirements. For example, you could choose RedTrack.
Step 2: Link your affiliate network
Within your tool, link the affiliate network you are promoting. Networks like CJ, ClickBank, Impact, and others are supported by RedTrack.
This enables the tool to obtain postback/conversion data.
Step 3: Make custom tracking links
Create separate links for each source: one for Facebook, one for YouTube, one for email, etc.
In that manner, whenever someone clicks and buys, you’ll know precisely which link triggered it.
For instance:
- yourdomain.com/fb-product
- yourdomain.com/email-product
Step 4: Tracking pixels and postbacks
Depending on your setup, you will need to do one of the following:
- For Shopify-like platforms, add a pixel to the thank-you page.
- Use postback URLs for affiliate networks.
Both have step-by-step instructions from RedTrack.
Step 5: Start the campaign
Now that the links are prepared, you can start your ads or blog.
Step 6: Track the clicks, conversions and ROI
As you would expect, log into your tool to monitor the clicks, conversions, and ROI.
Tip: Configure alerts for reduction in conversion rates or traffic increases.That’s everything! The initial setup can take about one hour, but it is much better than spending days later untangling things.
And don’t forget to track affiliate campaigns to secure ROI.
Metrics to Track
Measuring everything is not necessary because some numbers will be irrelevant to your campaign’s goals.
Focus on these key metrics:
- Clicks: the total amount of times a certain link was clicked
- CTR: percentage of viewers that clicked
- Conversions: number of people that made a purchase or signed up for a service
- Cost Per Conversion: Cost associated with advertising divided by number of conversions achieved
- CPC: cost associated with each click
- Earnings Per Click (EPC): revenue generated by each click on the ad
- ROAS: revenue compared to ad spend
Don’t forget to add utm_source parameters to your links like ?source-facebook&utm_campaign=summertime.
If ROI is dropping, investigate:
- Why CPC is increasing
- Falling conversion rate
- Underperforming traffic source
Making minor adjustments will have a positive impact.
Strategies for Tracking ROI
If you want a higher return and still offer great services at competitive prices, implement the following:
- Everything is applicable for split tests
Test 2-3 versions of headlines, graphics and landing pages. - Get rid of bad traffic quickly
Stop the bleeding on platforms that aren’t converting. No need to waste time waiting for weeks.
- Maximize successful platforms
Increase your spending if YouTube is performing well. Go harder there and expand your budget.
- Retarget campaigns
It’s cost-effective to track users who haven’t made a purchase and show them ads later.
- Compare mobile and desktop performance
One of them might outperform the other in conversions. Adjust your design and your advertising at that point.
- Reporting automation
Automated reports can help too. You can set your tracking tool to email you weekly or daily. This way, you won’t have to log in every day, but will be alerted when you need to keep track.
- Monitor the conversions peak in the day
Analyze the peak time for conversions. Focus more on running ads during those hours.
- Always calculate lifetime value
Campaigns can pay off more in value over time. Whenever possible, track LTV.
Better tracking optimizations leads to smarter moves that greatly increase ROI.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing brings a lot of benefits—but only if you understand what’s performing and what’s not.
Lack of execution should never be a strategy, and lack of strategy will bankrupt any budget.
You will understand what traffic sources are effective, which offers convert, and where to scale with solid tracking. Money will stop wasting and instead be earned.
Having limited tech skills won’t hold you back. A powerful tracking tool such as RedTrack gives you everything you need as a novice. All that’s needed is to follow the setup steps, avoid common mistakes, and keep testing.
Your Return of Investment (ROI) depends on clarity. And clarity starts with tracking.
So don’t wait.
Strengthen your tracking, for every click is critical when your finances are concerned.