Postback URL is a tool that allows you to track conversions through server-side integration of an advertising network and an affiliate program or tracker. Postback URL is a link that transmits all data about actions (conversions), events, their statuses and number.

Setting up Postback is not difficult, but the process itself differs depending on the affiliate program and the services you work with.

Postback URLs are important for many reasons. First of all, they allow marketers (affiliate marketers) to track conversions and link them to their advertising campaigns. This is done without placing a tracking pixel on the seller’s “thank you page”. Another important reason is that they do not rely on cookies, which can be blocked by browsers such as Firefox or Safari.

Essentially, they give marketers the ability to instantly attribute conversions to their campaigns. In fact, once an ad network (like Google Ads) gets the conversion data, it allows the marketer to apply advanced bidding strategies based on any conversion metrics.

Postback can most often be configured both globally and perstream . Global postback is configured for all offers at once, postback for a stream is configured for each individual stream.

STEP 1. ADDING AN ACCOUNT TO THE TRACKER (for example Keitaro, which we recently wrote about in our blog)

The advantage of a tracker is a large number of ready-made templates. This eliminates the need to develop any scripts yourself – just choose a ready one.

STEP 2. COPY THE READY LINK

Copy the link from the Postback URL field of the tracker, remembering to save the creation of the affiliate network previously.

STEP 3. AFFILIATE PROGRAM

At this stage, you must already decide on the offer, and even more so with the affiliate program  you plan to work. There select an offer, go to “create a stream”, mark all the necessary macros and add copied Postback URL next to the stream. Save the stream, copy the received link with macros.

STEP 4. OFFER

Let’s move on to creating an offer in the tracker. To do this, go to the “Offers” tab and click the “Create” button. Define the name of the new offer, and select chosen network  in the “Affiliate network” line if it’s possible. In the URL field, paste the link with macros . After that, save all the entered data by pressing the “Create” button.

STEP 5. SETTING UP THE CAMPAIGN IN THE TRACKER

Go to the “Campaigns” – “Create” tab. In the window that opens, define the name and click on the “Create stream” button. A new window will appear in front of you:

Next, go to the “Scheme” tab, define the “Landings and Offers” scheme and add the offer created in the previous step.

Be sure to save all the changes made by clicking the “Apply” button, and also save the created campaign by clicking the “Create” button. Your campaign will be  created.

STEP 6. CHECK

To check if Postback was configured correctly, copy the campaign link into the search bar of the browser. In the order form, fill in the data (name / phone number) and send a test lead. Provided that everything was set up correctly the lead will be displayed in the tracker and in the statistics of your affiliate network as a hold.

At this stage, the Postback setup can be considered complete.

Our team can also consider the pros and cons of Postback URL:

Advatages:

• Using S2S postback URLs is a safer, more reliable method of counting conversions, so it’s a good idea to use it whenever possible.
• S2S postback URLs provide accurate tracking and accurate statistics. This tracking method does not rely on cookies. Therefore, it works even if the visitor has blocked the collection of cookie data in their web browser. That is why it is considered one of the most reliable tracking methods.

Disadvatages:

• Postback tracking must be supported by your affiliate network.
• With many trackers, you will need to configure the appropriate settings and tracking tokens in order to accurately communicate information. Some have pre-made templates.

Postback URLs are now an essential tool in every digital marketer’s toolbox. With the conversion information provided by this tracking method, you can get key metrics such as revenue, ROI, conversion rate, and more, thus closing the loop for a complete affiliate marketing campaign.