Many advertisers depend on Google Analytics to be their primary source of truth to track affiliate conversions. While this is a great way to reconcile sales, Google analytics is a web analytics software that reports performance, it does not provide the tools to manage and work with affiliates effectively.
Here are some problems you’ll encounter when trying to use web analytics software to manage affiliates:
- No system to display affiliate pixels or postback URLs
- Placing affiliate pixels / postback URLs direct on web page causes duplicate conversions
- No interface provided for self-management
- Can’t set and manage affiliate commissions
- No way to generate and manage payout invoices
- No way to share creatives, deeplinks and campaigns to affiliate as a means of promotion
- No centralised system to communicate to all affiliates at one time
Google Analytics can be used alongside the affiliate network's tracking and technology and advertisers can set up utm parameters in the Commission Factory to report the affiliate activity in Google Analytics.