Track referral activity via the API

This article applies to:

The Referral Partner component is integrated with Infusionsoft web forms, order forms, and shopping cart. If these Infusionsoft features are used, the referrals are tracked automatically based on clicks on the referral tracking link, opt-ins, and purchases. If this is your set-up, you don't need the information in this article.

If the Infusionsoft API is used to integrate with an outside lead capture (e.g. a quoting system) or an order system (e.g. a custom shopping cart), then you must implement referral tracking through the following modifications:

Standard referral tracking link modification

Infusionsoft has a built-in referral tracking link that:

  • Reads the referral cookie
  • Sends the person to the destination URL
  • Adds the referring partner's ID number as a parameter in the URL

If the API is used with with lead capture forms or orders, use this modified link format to create referral tracking links in Infusionsoft. Navigate to CRM > Referral Partners > Referral Tracking Links and instead of entering the simple URL for the destination website, enter the modified redirect URL. Here is an example of the modified redirect link URL: https://appName.infusionsoft.com/aff.html?to=http://www.example.com

If prospects who click this link have a referral cookie stored on their browser, the partner will land on a page with a URL something like this: http://www.example.com?affiliate=1234. The destination URL matches the one at the end of the redirect link and the referring partner's ID is part of the URL. If no cookie is found, the referral partner ID number is set to zero.

Please Note! A software developer would have to write the code that that parses the referral partner ID from the url. The ID is then used to add a referral record to the contact, or give credit for a sale, or both when the API call is made.

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