How to set up Refersion tag using Google Tag Manager

One of the few platforms that made server-side tracking required for all advertisers is Refersion, a market leader in affiliate marketing worldwide. They guarantee affiliates that all of their marketing efforts are properly acknowledged and compensated with the aid of S2S integration.

We developed the tag for the server Google Tag Manager to make the Refersion s2s integration process simpler. I'll go through the benefits of server-to-server communication in this blog article, along with how to set up Refersion server-to-server tracking using server GTM.

What are the benefits of Refersion server-side?Copy link to this section

Refersion is dedicated to giving advertisers and affiliates the greatest possible conversion tracking experience. As a pioneer in the field, they always work to collect precise data so that all parties may confidently assess the performance of their efforts. Refersion is constantly concerned with using the finest and most dependable conversion monitoring systems, since this is essential for success in affiliate marketing.

Due to ITPs, adBlockers, and the limited usage of third-party cookies, conversion tracking becomes difficult. Refersion created server-to-server integration and made it a requirement for all advertisers on their platform in order to help deal with all these tracking limitations that are present in browser tracking.

With the help of our tag you can easily implement Refersion tracking in server Google Tag Manager. By doing that you will receive lots of advantages, such as increased pagespeed, better protection and control of the data, a better understanding of results from affiliate marketing, etc.

How to implement Refersion tag with server Google Tag ManagerCopy link to this section

1. Create and set up a server Google Tag Manager container. 

2. Send data to the server GTM container. The two most popular ways of sending data to sGTM are Google Analytic 4 and Data Tag/Data Client.

3. Add Refersion tag from the Template Gallery or download Refersion tag from GitHub -> Open templates sections in the server Google Tag Manager container -> Click New.

4. Click three dots in the top right corner -> Click Import -> Select Refersion tag template you’ve recently downloaded from GitHub -> Click save.

5. The first step would be to set up tag that sets cookies when a user visits your site. Create a new tag with type Refersion tag -> event type PageView -> set cookie lifetime -> Unlikely other affiliate tag, you can send user data for Refersion pageview event. It can be email, IP address, first/last name. By default, customer data is parsed from the Event Data. But you can override it using tag settings -> Add trigger. 

6. Test Refersion pageview tag. You should see that this tag triggered successfully in the server Google Tag Manager Preview mode, and the cookie was set. When PageView triggers tag stores the rfsn URL parameter inside the refersion_rfsn cookie. Do not forget to add ?rfsn= parameter to the URL when testing. 

7. The next step would be to set up a conversion event. Refersion has a list of required fields when triggering conversion event, it described in Refersion documentation.  Create a new tag with the tag type Refersion -> Select type Conversion -> Add all required parameters -> Add trigger. 

8. Once you’ve done setting up and testing, do not forget to publish server container changes. 

ConclusionCopy link to this section

Refersion ensures that conversions are properly acknowledged and that affiliates are properly compensated for conversions they have referred.

I hope this article has helped shed some light on Refersion server-to-server integration using server GTM. If you need assistance setting-up your Refersion integration or any other affiliate network, please contact us, and we would be happy to help. Thanks for reading!