Shopify Affiliate Tracking 101 | Affiliate Management Guide

January 13, 2022
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While the pandemic disturbed many traditional business practices, it created a dependence on e-commerce during worldwide quarantines and lockdowns. This introduced some new trends among shoppers — and with it, revealed the importance of affiliate marketers for businesses

According to the affiliate marketing report published by Awin, shoppers are now relying on affiliates to learn about purchases. One in every four new shoppers that came to a brand was brought through an affiliate link at the beginning of 2020.

By April 2020, 37% of the customers were brought to a brand through affiliate links. Moving forward, affiliate marketing will prove to be an effective way to promote your business and increase sales. 

When setting up an affiliate program for your business, you need to know about Shopify affiliate tracking. Read on to learn everything you need to know about how to track affiliate links and monitor the success of your affiliate program.

What Is Affiliate Tracking?

Affiliates can educate and influence their audiences to get commissions in return for their referrals to a brand's products and services. This typically is done through a custom link or code provided by the brand. The affiliate then shares this with customers, who shop with the brand using that link or code.

Affiliate tracking refers to the process of tracking and managing marketing activities through a plugin or software installed on your affiliate website. The conversions, clicks, and sales from an affiliate link are tracked to measure how well an affiliate is performing. This allows the affiliate network's owner to track their affiliates' performance. Brands can then compensate affiliates based on how many customers and sales they bring.

Shopify Affiliate Tracking

Businesses operating on Shopify can create affiliate programs and leverage the massive audiences of their affiliates' websites or blogs to attract more customers and generate sales.

For instance, if you have an apparel store on Shopify, you can create an affiliate program. Your affiliates will most likely be lifestyle blogs or websites. Each affiliate has a unique link that their audience clicks on to reach your store for the purchase. 

You can integrate an affiliate tracking tool like LeadDyno into Shopify to keep track of affiliates generating the most traffic or sales. This way, you can partner with the same affiliates in the future.

Importance of Affiliate Tracking in Shopify

Shopify affiliate tracking is crucial since it allows brands to gain valuable insights into which affiliate generates the greatest volume of clicks, conversions, and visitors. It gives brands a clear view of whether their affiliate campaign is a success or not. 

Without tracking your affiliates, you would not know if your customers are coming organically or are directed through an affiliate.

How to Track Affiliate Links?

Once you've decided to set up your affiliate program, you can sign up for LeadDyno and launch your affiliate program. LeadDyno integrates seamlessly with your Shopify store and allows you to launch and manage the affiliate program, send automated welcome emails to affiliates, and track affiliate links.

Connect to Shopify 

After signing up for LeadDyno:

  1. Go to the Apps section of the software.
  2. Click on App Store E-Commerce Apps.
  3. Click on "Add" next to Shopify. 

Enter the URL of your Shopify store and click on "Connect." You will come to the Shopify login page. Log in to your Shopify account. There will be a brief pause before you're directed to LeadDyno again.

After you have installed the LeadDyno app and connected to Shopify, you will see a simple setup wizard on your screen. Follow the instructions to complete the setup process. You can then: 

  • Upload your store's logo. 
  • Choose the affiliate website design. 
  • Decide the affiliate commission amount. 
  • Upload marketing material to share with affiliates.

Now, you've connected the LeadDyno plugin to your Shopify store. You can disconnect it at any time you want. LeadDyno will show an Affiliate Sign Up page on your Shopify page, where interested parties can sign up to become affiliates.

You can use LeadDyno to send newsletters to your affiliates and communicate with all of them simultaneously. LeadDyno's customer service representatives are also available through live chat, email, and scheduled phone calls for any issues you may encounter.

After you get your software integrated, and affiliates sign up for your program, here's how to use LeadDyno for Shopify affiliate tracking.

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Track Affiliates with LeadDyno in Shopify

LeadDyno has affiliate tracking tools that make tracking affiliate links and determining your program's performance a breeze. Plus, the software assigns a unique affiliate link to each affiliate, making it easy for you to monitor their performance individually. 

You can track affiliate performance in real-time, including their leads, customers, and visitors, through your dashboard. 

Here are some notable features of LeadDyno that make it among the best Shopify affiliate tracking software: 

  • One-Click Setup: With LeadDyno, you can quickly set up your referral or affiliate program on Shopify and start tracking affiliate links through the dashboard. All it takes is one click to install the software. The setup wizard matches your website's style, making it easy for you to get on board. 
  • Other Features: Along with affiliate tracking, the tool also lets you track leads, sales, clicks, and other Shopify marketing campaigns. You can see all the results in the LeadDyno dashboard. 
  • Marketing Automation: You can also invite your customers to become affiliates for your store. Who better than a satisfied customer to pass the word along? LeadDyno automates the process, saving you time and hassle. 

Coupon Code Integration 

If you want to set up coupon codes in your Shopify store, go to Apps again. In the Shopify section, click on "Edit." 

Change the default percentage and "automatic discount" for coupons you upload to Shopify. After uploading the coupons, LeadDyne auto-uploads coupon codes containing the discount to Shopify when an affiliate selects the code. 

Set the discount amount on the settings page, and LeadDyno automates the rest. 

Synchronize Individual Affiliate Codes 

LeadDyno lets you synchronize affiliate codes in bulk through the Apps section. In Settings, you can enable the "automatic" option to automatically synchronize all future affiliate codes to the platform. 

But if you exclusively want to synchronize a particular affiliate's code, look for the affiliate in the Affiliates tab. After you have selected the affiliate, check the Affiliate Status section. Click the "re-sync Shopify option" in this section.

Tips for Shopify Affiliate Tracking 

If you want to make your Shopify affiliate program a success, it's essential to make sure you follow some expert-offered advice. 

Review Applications Carefully 

Keep in mind that your program's success depends on the affiliates. When you receive an application from an affiliate, review it carefully. Make sure the affiliate meets your basic criteria.

  • Do they work in the same niche as you?
  • Do they have a sizable audience? 
  • Did their posts resonate with you? 
  • Do their number of followers correspond with the likes and comments on their posts? 

It's essential to work with affiliates that align with your brand since they are more likely to have audiences that are your target shoppers. 

Once you've onboarded them, you can start tracking their performance.

Choose the Right App

Well-designed and functional software can do wonders for your affiliate program's smooth running. In 2020, LeadDyno processed more than $200 million in affiliate sales.

More importantly, it comes with impressive customer support through phone, email, and live chat. If you ever get stuck or cannot resolve a query, you can get in touch with the support team. 

The software lets you track orders from your affiliate links and coupons. You can also access tools to pay and reward affiliates according to their performance. 

Reward Affiliates 

Tracking affiliate links will give you a clear idea of the affiliates that are doing better than others. Reward these affiliates and give them incentives to do more for your brand since they bring you sales and conversions.

Conclusion 

Statistics reveal that more than 80% of brands have affiliate programs, which reveals its importance for business marketing — affiliate marketing accounts for more than 16% of all eCommerce orders in Canada and the U.S.

If you already have an affiliate marketing program in place, you should be familiar with affiliate tracking — but do you have the software to keep tabs on your program? Take advantage of affiliate tracking in Shopify to monitor your affiliates' performance and compensate them accordingly.

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See how LeadDyno can take your affiliate marketing strategy to the next level. Let’s set up a 1:1 demo to get your questions answered.

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