Sending referral partner info through 3rd party opt-in form

API Q&A
#1

I’m doing a launch where I have affiliates (or JV partners) mail for me.

They all have their own affiliate links through my CRM (Infusionsoft) so that they will get credit for the sales from their mailings.

I’m using a 3rd party opt-in form (Upviral) on my website which sends the data to Infusionsoft.

However, it seems that the affiliate ID references are not passed through to Infusionsoft when a new contact record is created. This means that the new contact record does not have that affiliate assigned to them.

In this case my affiliate will NOT get credit for the sale. This makes Upviral unusable for me unless I can track that.

How do I get this to work?

I’m thinking maybe the affiliate info can be added to a hidden field?

Otherwise, what does the 3rd party opt-in form I use need to do to pass the affiliate info to Infusionsoft?

#2

I am not sure if this little article will help with what you need, you may have came across it. http://help.infusionsoft.com/userguides/referral-partners/set-up-a-referral-partner-program/track-referral-activity-via-the-api As there appears to be a disconnect with the tracking cookie at the 3rd party form.

#3

Thanks @James_Mefford - this may be a solution. However I’m not technical.

Is there someone you could recommend to do this?

#4

Hey @Liam_Austin
It sounds like you are just using the form to collect information which is then submitted to Infusionsoft through the API. If this is the case (please let me know if it isn’t and how I’m wrong so I can better assist) then the help article that @James_Mefford sent you will need to be setup first. You will know if it was done correctly by looking in the URL and seeing affiliate=# (The # will be based on the id of the referral partner who you were logged in as to get the redirect link after setting this up).

Additionally it might be a good thing to have the referral partners tracked based on “Referral history and cookies” (Found under CRM > Settings > Referral Parnter Defaults) so you can see if the referral partner is set correctly. If you see the “affiliate=” in the url and the “Referral Partner Tracking” in the contact record (tab under the save button) then you can proceed to the more technical stuff with the 3rd party.

At this point the link will have everything that Upviral needs to get the contacts into Infusionsoft connected to the referral partners. If linked properly then the record will show in the contact record. What Upviral will need to do is take the contact id they are are given after making the contact through the API and the affiliate id from the url and create a record for the link between the referral partner and contact record. To do this (techy stuff) they would need to make the API call for DataService.add (https://developer.infusionsoft.com/docs/xml-rpc/#data-create-a-record) along with the Referral table (https://developer.infusionsoft.com/docs/table-schema/#Referral) found in our table schema. If they are using the API then this is the documentation that they need to complete the task.

1 Like
#5

Thanks @JonSmith it sounds like this is the solution. :slight_smile:

However, a reply I received from Upviral indicated that they aren’t going to be able to implement this into their tech, so I’m going to have to work out how to do this myself.

They do have a “hidden field” option in the form I can use. Will that work?

#6

Additional fields that are pushed into a contact’s record is just extra data in the record. It won’t automatically create a connection between the referral partner and the contact like an Infusionsoft form would or an integrated form that adds this record. That being said in the interim the connection can be made manually if you want to push the referral id into a field then go into the contacts and get the id and create a referral record.

You might also look at our marketplace for other solutions if you aren’t wanting to use an Infusionsoft form. The marketplace can be found here: https://marketplace.infusionsoft.com/

#7

What do you mean “not use an Infusionsoft form” @JonSmith ?

I don’t understand how this will help me make Upviral pass the right affiliate details to Infusionsoft.

#8

@Liam_Austin Since you made the statement, “This makes Upviral unusable for me unless I can track that” and since, " they aren’t going to be able to implement this into their tech" I was attempting to provide you with other options. Are you wanting people to fill out an Infusionsoft form giving you permission to send emails to them? If not then that is what I meant by if you aren’t wanting to use an Infusionsoft form. If you do want people to fill out an Infusionsoft form then we have a help articles on how to create the form found here: http://help.infusionsoft.com/userguides/campaigns-and-broadcasts/campaign-goals/create-a-web-form

Again if Upviral isn’t right for your business and you don’t want to use an Infusionsoft web form then other solutions might be able to be found on the marketplace. If Upviral will work with your business or an Infusionsoft form will work then you can use the tools that you already have.

#9

Hey John, adding the referral partner via API as you mentioned worked but the problem is that InfusionSoft does not seem to recognize this as an “Optin” so when affiliates check their stats in the “link tracking stats” page.

They still see 0 optin even though they actually got several ones.

If we check the contact record, we can see them as the referral on contact’s “referral Partner tracking”. So that works but not the stats.

What needs to be done so Affiliates can see their correct stats?

#10

Hi @SteveKlein, @James_Mefford and @JonSmith

Just thought I’d update you on my progress… (HINT: I found a solution)

All the referral marketing software that I tried to run contests, rewards, etc. Wanted me to use their forms, and they didnt pass the affiliate info or track the opt-ins for affiliates correctly.

I now use a software that works ‘under the hood’. No branding. I use my own forms (Infusionsoft). Works seemlessly with my existing user flow. It’s pretty much plug and play.

Best of all, it tracks all my affiliates! :slight_smile:

The tool is called Early Parrot.

I’m pretty happy as you can imagine. It’s working well and bringing me results.

14.7% of new subscribers have come from referrals using this tool. That’s just in the last 2 months.

Anyone else who’d like to use this, I’m happy to answer any questions on my set up.