First, please make sure you understand how the new affiliate platform works. It is very likely that the person who clicked your link had previously clicked another affiliate's link first. We use what is called first-click attribution.
First-click attribution, also known as first-touch attribution, is a digital marketing attribution model that attributes the entire value or credit for a conversion or sale to the first interaction a user has with a marketing channel or touchpoint. In other words, it gives primary credit to the initial touchpoint that introduced the user to a product, service, or brand.
Here's how first-click attribution works:
- User Journey: Consider a typical user journey. A user may interact with various marketing channels or touchpoints before making a purchase or converting, such as clicking on a social media ad, visiting a website, and subscribing to an email newsletter.
- Primary Credit: In the first-click attribution model, the entire credit for the conversion goes to the first touchpoint the user interacted with. This is often the first marketing channel they encountered.
- Neglects Subsequent Interactions: First-click attribution neglects the influence of subsequent touchpoints that the user may have engaged with along their journey. It assumes that the initial interaction was the most critical in driving the conversion.
First-click attribution can be useful for understanding how users initially discover a brand or product. It's particularly relevant in scenarios where brand awareness and introduction play a significant role in the customer journey. For example, if a user first learns about a brand through a blog post or a social media ad and later makes a purchase, the blog post or ad would receive full credit for the conversion in a first-click attribution model.
It is also possible that the person you referred did not use your affiliate link on the same device and browser they were using when they registered for CourseCareers. In that case, your affiliate ID will not be associated with their course purchase. This is because the affiliate ID is initially set in a cookie until the user registers. Tracking unregistered users is very difficult and could have privacy implications and we respect our visitors' privacy. It is up to the user/purchaser to follow through with the correct sequence of events and we have no control over that. Referrals are nonretroactive meaning we cannot go back and manually add a referral to a purchase order.
If you know who the purchaser is, you can ask them to look at their Account Details page. It will show who the referring affiliate was.