How Checkify Plus Simplifies Affiliate Marketing And Helps Mastering Referrals

A few months ago, a merchant came to us with a regret. They loved our checkout solution, but they were paying for an external service to manage their affiliates because they didn't think we could support their specific workflow. They were paying for a service they didn't use to the fullest. We showed them a better way. Today, that same merchant is celebrating back-to-back months of double-digit profit growth simply by consolidating their referral program within Checkify Plus. This post is for the merchants who want to work smarter, not harder, showing you how one simple technical shift can lead to long-term gains.

Let's start with the core of this functionality: a UTM tag.

Urchin Tracking Modules (?utm) are industry-standard parameters (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign). Because they are the "language" of Google Analytics and marketing tools, modern checkouts like Checkify Plus are specifically built to "listen" for them and save them in the Order notes.

To distinguish between different people, the merchant uses the utm_source or utm_campaign parameter as the unique "ID" for each person.

When the link is clicked, Checkify "grabs" that specific value and attaches it to the order data. When the order is placed, the merchant will see the person's name directly in the Checkify admin > Orders.

The step-by-step flow

1. Distribution: The merchant gives Mike the link ending in =mike and Janie the link ending in =janie.
2. Tracking: When a customer clicks Mike's link, the browser "remembers" that utm_source=mike. Same for Janie and other participants.
3. Checkout: When the customer reaches the Checkify checkout, Checkify looks at the URL, sees mike, and "locks" it to that session.
4. Completed order: After the payment is successful, Checkify saves the relevant parameters in the Order Notes of that specific order. It may look like: utm_medium=affiliate utm_source=mike
5. Analytics: Don't forget to enable Google Analytics on your Checkify account. Read more on the importance of enabling Google services here, or watch the tutorial video.
6. Payouts: Use order export from the Checkify admin to get a .csv file and to calculate the payouts, do some analytics on the affiliates' efficiency right in the spreadsheet that you get.
   

Why this is better for the merchant

• No extra apps: They don't need a heavy affiliate apps if they are comfortable checking Checkify's Order notes, using spreadsheets and monitoring Google Analytics data.
• Bulk tracking: At the end of the month, the merchant can export their orders as a CSV. They simply filter the "Notes" column for "janie" to see how many sales she made and calculate her commission.
• Persistence: Since Checkify is optimized for UTMs, the chance of "losing" the referral data is much lower compared to using a ?ref tag, the older popular way of managing referral and affiliate programs.

Switching to UTMs means the "Referral ID" will be physically written on every order. The merchant can then establish the processes they need and like, get all the benefits, while saving on another subscription. The merchant will see exactly which affiliates are driving traffic and sales directly in their Google Analytics, without needing a separate affiliate dashboard.

How to set up the "UTM-style" referral program

1. Visit the Checkify admin > Buy Links.
2. Generate a direct checkout link or pick the existing one.
3. Copy - paste the link outside Checkify, and give it a look ala:  direct_checkout_page_url/?utm_source=mike&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=spring_promo | direct_checkout_page_url/?utm_source=janie&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=spring_promo etc.
4. Distribute the links.
5. Alternatively, enable “Set UTM codes” option when creating a buy link, and fill in the required fields right in the Checkify admin interface: UTM campaign, UTM medium, etc. Then save the link.
   You may have to create the same buy link, but with different parameters more than once, so you have one link to for Mike, one for Janie, etc.
6. Keep selling, while monitoring your analytics regularly.