While this technology is not new, in fact, in place since 2006, it is a powerful resource for LC affiliates. So, we thought we’d get this information out again.
What is an ATID?
The Affiliate Tracking Identifier, or ATID, is the portion of the LinkConnector (LC) tracking code that belongs to you—the affiliate. You can use the ATID variable to track anything you wish to track starting with the initial click to LC all the way to the final sale with a merchant. This optional variable can be used (by you) to track simple things like click source (e.g., homepage, site map, newsletter, Google, etc.) to complex, multi-variable codes that are meaningful only to you and/or your personal optimization efforts (e.g., 0019f3c4tt52la09912). LinkConnector stores the ATID variable value you pass to us in each click and records this value as part of every transaction related to this click. Then, through LC reporting, you can filter and sort your promotional results by the full ATID value or by specific segments of the ATID values.
Grabbing Your LinkConnector Code with an ATID Variable
From the Affiliate Manager in the LC Interface, click on ‘Get Links/HTML’ on the ‘Campaigns’ menu item.
LinkConnector Affiliate Tracking Identifier
After selecting the appropriate Link Properties for the promotional link for which you intend to use, click the ‘Submit’ button in the Link Properties box to display desired link(s). For the link for which you wish to grab LC code, click on the ‘Get HTML’ link in the ‘Actions’ column of the list of desired links to display the ‘Generate HTML’ dialog box.
In the ‘Generate HTML’ dialog box, enter a desired ATID variable value (or a placeholder) in the ATID text box.
Once you click on the ‘Generate Code’ button, you will see code generated like the following…
<a href=”http://www.linkconnector.com/traffic_affiliate.php?lc=000001027392001435&lcpid=1343&atid=homepage” ><img src=”http://www.linkconnector.com/traffic_record.php?lc=000001027392001435&atid=homepage” border=”0″ alt=”Earn More with LinkConnector”></a>
…with both the click code and the impression code containing the necessary code to track and ATID variable (&atid=homepage).
Tracking with ATID
Once you have the LC code, you must decide what you wish to track using the ATID variable. You may use up to 100 alphanumeric characters in the ATID variable for each impression and click sent to LC. By way of example, let’s say we have two separate affiliates with differing tracking needs—Affiliate A and Affiliate B.
Affiliate A’s tracking needs are simple. He simply wishes to track the source of clicks on one of three pages he uses to promote a LC merchant. To keep things simple, Affiliate A plans on using plain language values for the ATID variable. Since these values are predictable, dynamic value creation isn’t required on his website. Affiliate A can grab the code and manually place the values for each of the three pages in the code prior to using the code. With the code obtained in the previous step, he manually replaces the code where required…
Page 1 – Homepage: Since Affiliate A originally grabbed the code using the word ‘homepage’ as a placeholder, no code needs to be altered. So, he will place the code as retrieved from the LC interface as follows…
<a href=”http://www.linkconnector.com/traffic_affiliate.php?lc=000001027392001435&lcpid=1343&atid=homepage” ><img src=”http://www.linkconnector.com/traffic_record.php?lc=000001027392001435&atid=homepage” border=”0″ alt=”Earn More with LinkConnector”></a>
Page 2 – Site Map: For the Site Map page, he will replace the term ‘homepage’ with ‘sitemap’…
<a href=”http://www.linkconnector.com/traffic_affiliate.php?lc=000001027392001435&lcpid=1343&atid=sitemap” ><img src=”http://www.linkconnector.com/traffic_record.php?lc=000001027392001435&atid=sitemap” border=”0″ alt=”Earn More with LinkConnector”></a>
Page 3 – About Us: For the About Us page, he will replace the term ‘homepage’ with ‘aboutus’…
<a href=”http://www.linkconnector.com/traffic_affiliate.php?lc=000001027392001435&lcpid=1343&atid=aboutus” ><img src=”http://www.linkconnector.com/traffic_record.php?lc=000001027392001435&atid=aboutus” border=”0″ alt=”Earn More with LinkConnector”></a>
Affiliate B’s tracking needs are a little more complex. He wishes to track multiple things (site, page, traffic source, and time of day) using the single ATID variable. To do so, he creates a code to track the many potential combinations and then populates this code dynamically with server-side scripting on each of his websites using the following schema…
Site (Position 1-2):
Site A: 01
Site B: 02
Site C: 03
Page (Position 3-4):
Homepage: 01
Site Map: 02
About Us: 03
Traffic Source (Position 5-6):
Google: 01
Yahoo: 02
Bing: 03
Time of Day (Position 7-8):
01 – 24 to represent the hour of the day the click (or impression) occurred.
Each time a user visits one of his sites, Affiliate B dynamically builds (using server-side scripting) the ATID value to be used and places it in the LC code. By way of example, a user visits the homepage at noon on Site C after clicking on one of his Google AdWords ads. To represent this promotional effort, Affiliate B’s scripting creates an ATID value of ‘03010112’ and replaces the term ‘homepage’ with the dynamic value in the code previously retrieved from the LC interface…
<a href=”http://www.linkconnector.com/traffic_affiliate.php?lc=000001027392001435&lcpid=1343&atid=03010112” ><img src=”http://www.linkconnector.com/traffic_record.php?lc=000001027392001435&atid=03010112” border=”0″ alt=”Earn More with LinkConnector”></a>
Reporting with ATID
LinkConnector has provided a specific report to allow affiliates to analyze their promotional success by ATID—the Affiliate Tracking Report (located under the ‘Reports > Other Reports’ menu item).
Continuing from the examples above with Affiliate A and Affiliate B, they are able to use this powerful report in very different ways.
Affiliate A, who used plain language values for the ATID variable, uses the Affiliate Tracking Report as is. The first column contains the ATID values and Affiliate A can view transactional data for all merchants and campaigns by the ATID values he has used over time.
Affiliate B, who used a more complex code to track multiple variables, had previously worked with his Affiliate Representative at LinkConnector to set up his four custom variables (up to seven custom variables are available to affiliates in the Affiliate Tracking Report).
Affiliate B can then add these custom variables to the Affiliate Tracking Report and filter or sort by the variables or their values. So, for example, Affiliate B may view the success of his promotional efforts for the Site Map on Site B for all traffic originated on Yahoo. Affiliate B also has the option to group results by the variable or its potential values.
Your LC Affiliate Representative can easily set up the framework for your complex ATID values. Once you have designed your custom ATID values or if you already have a code you would like to make available within the Affiliate Tracking Report, contact us at [email protected] or at 919.468.5150 x2001.
ATID Benefits for Affiliates
The ATID is a very powerful, easy to use feature in LC enabling affiliates to more easily identify the promotional methods that are most profitable for them. The ATID provides affiliates with an intricate tracking system which can be easily integrated into your existing inhouse tracking system. Feel free to contact your Affiliate Representative to help you best extract value from this powerful, unique feature available only to LinkConnector affiliates.