Tracify assigns every visit to your site to a channel, such as Meta, Google or Email. Traffic from sources that Tracify does not recognize, such as an affiliate network or a partner program, is counted as organic, referral or direct traffic. A custom channel gives this traffic its own channel in your reports.
Tracify recognizes traffic for a custom channel using URL parameters, such as utm_source=awin. You add these parameters to your links, then send us an example so we can configure the channel in your reports. Adding parameters alone does not create a custom channel. Your Account Manager must configure the matching rules in Tracify.
Check whether your channel is already supported
The following sources do not require custom-channel setup:
Paid ads on Meta, Google, TikTok, Microsoft Ads, Pinterest, Snapchat, Outbrain, Taboola and Criteo
Influencer links created in Tracify
Email and WhatsApp links tagged with the appropriate
utm_medium
For these sources, follow the instructions in the Integrations section of your Tracify dashboard instead of this guide.
Getting Started
Choose the path that matches your traffic source:
Path A: You run paid ads on a platform without a Tracify integration, such as Reddit Ads or ChatGPT ads.
Path B: You want to track other sources, such as affiliate networks, price comparison sites, coupon sites, partner programs, or traffic from print materials and QR codes.
If both apply to you, follow both paths.
Path A: Ad platforms without a Tracify integration
The parameters below are our recommended setup. If your ads already use different parameters, or you cannot change them, send us an example link before making changes. We can often use your existing setup.
Add Tracify parameters to your ads
URL parameters are the part of a link after the question mark, such as trc_source=reddit. Add the following parameters to the links of all your ads on the platform. You can keep any UTM parameters as they are, since Tracify reads both sets of parameters.
Parameter | What it contains | Required |
| The platform name in lowercase, for example | Required |
| The campaign ID | Required, if available |
| The ad set / ad group ID | Required, if available |
| The ad ID | Required, if available |
| The campaign name | Optional, recommended |
| The ad set / ad group name | Optional, recommended |
| The ad name | Optional, recommended |
Use the platform’s dynamic placeholders, also called macros, for IDs and names wherever available. The platform replaces these placeholders with the actual values when someone clicks an ad.
The example below shows a setup where the platform provides campaign, ad set and ad ID macros:
https://www.yourshop.com/?trc_source=example_platform&trc_campaign_id={campaign_id}&trc_adset_id={adset_id}&trc_ad_id={ad_id}
This is an illustrative example, not a ready-to-use URL. Replace example_platform with your platform’s name and use that platform’s exact macro syntax.
If the platform does not provide a macro for one or more of these IDs, contact your Account Manager before launching so we can confirm the available reporting breakdowns.
Adding campaign, ad set / ad group and ad names makes your reports easier to read. If the platform supports name macros, we recommend using them. Otherwise, you would need to enter the names manually, so consider whether the clearer reports are worth the extra effort. You can use IDs only, but Tracify cannot look up the corresponding names because it is not connected to these platforms. If your existing UTM parameters already contain these names, tell your Account Manager which parameters contain each name so we can use them in your reporting.
Where to add the parameters
If your ad platform has a dedicated URL-parameter or tracking field, follow its instructions for that field. Otherwise, append the parameters to the destination URL.
In a complete URL, use ? before the first parameter and & between additional parameters. If the URL already contains a query string, append the new parameters using &, not a second ?.
Once you have prepared your ad parameters, follow What to send us below to request custom-channel setup.
Path B: Other traffic sources
Check whether your links use URL parameters
URL parameters are the part of a link after the question mark. A link with URL parameters looks like this:
https://www.yourshop.com/?utm_source=awin&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=spring_sale
You already use parameters
You do not need to replace your existing parameters. Prepare an example URL for each custom channel you want to create, and note which parameter values identify its traffic. Include all spellings currently in use, such as awin and AWIN.
Then follow What to send us below.
You do not use parameters yet
We recommend using standard UTM parameters, which Google Analytics also recognizes. This lets you use the same tagged links in both tools:
utm_source- who sends the visitor, for exampleawinoridealoutm_medium- the type of channel, for exampleaffiliateorprice_comparisonutm_campaign- the campaign or offer, for examplespring_sale
Channel | utm_source | utm_medium | utm_campaign |
Affiliate network | awin | affiliate | spring_sale |
Price comparison site | idealo | price_comparison | product_feed |
Coupon or deal site | mydealz | coupon | black_friday |
Partner program | corporate_benefits | partner | dach |
Print or QR code | catalog | autumn_2026 |
When you choose values:
Use only lowercase letters, numbers and underscores. Avoid spaces, umlauts and special characters, because browsers and tools encode or change them differently.
Use one spelling per partner and per channel type, and keep a shared list so your whole team uses the same values.
Use each parameter consistently across links with the same structure. For example, if
utm_sourceidentifies the affiliate network andutm_campaignidentifies the individual partner, keep that structure on every link for that network.Add parameters only to links that lead to your site from somewhere else. Links between pages of your own site must not carry UTM parameters, because Tracify would record each click as a new contact from that channel.
Once you have prepared your tagged links, follow What to send us below to request custom-channel setup.
What to send us
Copy the checklist below into a message to your Account Manager. Provide a separate entry for each custom channel you want to create.
For every custom channel:
Channel name: how it should appear in Tracify, for example Reddit Ads or AWIN
Example URL: a complete destination URL, including all parameters and any dynamic placeholders. It can come from an existing campaign or one you have not launched yet.
Start date: when the links went live or when you plan to launch, if known
For Path A: Ad platforms, also include:
Platform: the ad platform you use
Name parameters: whether you are including campaign, ad set / ad group and ad names, or IDs only. If names are stored in UTM parameters, specify which parameter contains each name.
For Path B: Other traffic sources, also include:
How to recognize it: the parameter and value that identify this traffic, for example
utm_source=awinAll spellings in use: every value used for the same source, for example
awinandAWIN. If you use only one spelling, list that value.Breakdown (optional): any additional detail you want to see within the channel, and which parameter contains it. For example, individual partners within an affiliate network, identified by
utm_campaign.
If you already use a custom channel group in Google Analytics 4 for these sources, also send a screenshot of its conditions. We can use these conditions as a reference when configuring your channels in Tracify.
What happens next
You can request custom-channel setup before launching. Live traffic is not required - we can configure the channel using your example URLs and parameter values.
Send the information listed above to your Account Manager and request custom-channel setup.
We review your parameters and, where matching traffic is already available, compare them with the values Tracify records.
We confirm the channel definitions with you and resolve any unclear details.
We configure the custom channels and confirm when setup is complete.
Setup typically takes 1-2 days.
Common questions
A partner cannot add parameters to its links. Can you still track it?
Sometimes. Send us the partner's website domain, and we can recognize some visits by the website they came from. Browsers and apps often do not pass this information, though, so links with parameters give more complete results.
We want to change our parameter values. What do we need to do?
Tell us before you change them. A custom channel recognizes traffic using the rules we configured. If your new values no longer match those rules, visits may be counted as organic, referral or direct traffic until we update the configuration.