A Direct Linking Campaign in CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One) is one of the simplest campaign types you can set up. It sends visitors directly from the traffic source to the affiliate offer without an intermediate landing page. This type of campaign is often used by beginners for quick testing or by experienced marketers when they want to validate new offers or traffic sources quickly.
How It Works
When you create a direct linking campaign in CPV Lab, the system generates a Campaign URL that contains tracking parameters. You place this URL in your ads on the traffic source. When a user clicks, CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One) records the click, assigns a unique Click ID, and immediately redirects the visitor to the offer page. If the user converts, the affiliate network reports the conversion back to CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One) via either Pixel Tracking or an S2S Postback (see: Conversion, S2S Postback).
Unlike campaigns that include landing pages, there are no intermediate steps. This makes reporting simpler, but it also means you cannot measure or optimize click-through rates from a landing page because there is none.
Advantages
- Fast Setup: You don’t need to design, host, or test landing pages.
- Low Barrier to Entry: Ideal for new affiliates learning how to set up campaigns.
- Quick Testing: Useful for validating offers or traffic quality before investing in funnels.
- Compliance: Some traffic sources allow direct linking if they approve the offer page.
Disadvantages
- Less Control: You cannot pre-sell or warm up users. Messaging depends entirely on your ad and the offer page.
- Lower Conversions: Landing pages often improve results by providing context; skipping them can lower ROI.
- Traffic Source Restrictions: Many ad networks (e.g., Google Ads, Facebook Ads) don’t allow direct linking to affiliate offers.
Example
Imagine you want to promote an antivirus software offer from an affiliate network. Instead of building a landing page with reviews or feature highlights, you set up a direct linking campaign in CPV Lab. You copy the Offer URL with the required tracking token (for example, {clickid}), configure your campaign, and use the CPV-generated Campaign URL in your ads. Every click goes straight to the affiliate’s sales page.
Reporting in CPV Lab
Reports for direct linking campaigns include clicks, conversions, EPC, ROI, and token values (e.g., keywords, placements). However, you won’t see CTR data because there are no landing pages. This means optimizations are limited to traffic source and offer-level decisions.
When to Use Direct Linking
- Testing the viability of new offers.
- Running small-scale campaigns with low budgets.
- Offers that have strong, well-designed sales pages on their own.
- Traffic sources that allow or encourage direct linking.
When to Avoid
- Scaling long-term campaigns (landing pages usually outperform direct linking).
- Traffic sources that explicitly ban direct linking.
- Situations where pre-selling is critical, such as health or financial offers.
In short, direct linking campaigns in CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One) are best for simplicity and speed. They allow you to test quickly, but they sacrifice the control and optimization power you gain when using landing pages.
See also: Campaign, Offer, Pixel Tracking, S2S Postback, Traffic Source
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