This article will cover
- What Is A Directed Campaign?
- How To Create A Directed Campaign
- How To Add An Exception
- How To Structure Affiliate Tracking Links
- How To Reference Directed vs Original Campaigns
- FAQ
What Is A Directed Campaign?
Directed Campaigns are a unique CAKE feature that allow you to manage certain elements of an affiliate's campaign based on sub affiliate(s) or creative(s). More commonly, Directed Campaigns are leveraged to assign unique payouts based on a sub affiliate ID.
How To Create A Directed Campaign
In CAKE, the initial campaign you create for an affiliate is considered the Original Campaign. Each proceeding campaign for the same offer or offer contract, with the same price format, will be considered a Directed Campaign.
To create a Directed Campaign, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Affiliate or Offer Card.
- Click on the Campaigns tab
- Search Campaigns to ensure the affiliate has an existing Original Campaign for the offer.
- Click the Add Campaign button
Note:
During the campaign creation process, the system will show the following warning if the selected affiliate is already running the selected offer. The warning text says "A campaign for this affiliate and offer already exists. The campaign created will be Directed (Non-Original)."
How To Add An Exception
An exception is required for the system to properly filter traffic to the Directed Campaign. You will notice on a Directed Campaign, CAKE asks for Allowed SubAffiliates and/or Allowed Creatives to be added. On the Original Campaign, CAKE asks for Blocked SubAffiliates and/or Blocked Creatives to be added. Any Allowed exceptions do not also need to be Blocked and vice versa.
To add an Exception, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Exceptions tab on the campaign card
- Click Add under the SubAffiliate and/or Creatives section
- Type ahead to search for an existing SubAffiliate
- Select a creative from the dropdown list
- Click Update to save
Note:
If no exception is set, traffic will only track under the Original Campaign.
How To Structure Affiliate Tracking Links
After exceptions have been added in the system, they need to be referenced in the CAKE tracking link. A standard tracking link includes a creative ID (&c=) and the sub affiliate ID (&s1=) parameter. Simply add the ID to the associated parameter to begin filtering traffic to the Directed Campaign. Below is an example of a link formatted for a sub affiliate Id exception of 1234.
Example:
https://{yourtrackingdomain.com}/?a=1&c=1&s1=1234
How To Reference Directed vs Original Campaigns
The simplest way to understand which campaigns are Original and which are Directed is to use the "Directed" column in the campaigns tab of the Affiliate or Offer card. Additionally, each individual campaign will indicate if they are Directed or Original in red letters under the campaign name.
FAQ
Does the Affiliate pixel on the Original Campaign need to be placed each time a new Directed Campaign is created?
No, Directed Campaigns have a setting enabled by default that is located under the pixels sub tab to "Use Pixel From Original Campaign."