How Does Referral Attribution Work in Referral Factory?

Referral Factory can attribute a lead to the correct referrer through either a unique Referral Link or, when Stripe Promo Codes are enabled, through the referrer’s unique promo code.

With a Referral Link, attribution is created when the referred person submits their details on the referrer’s Referral Link Page. With a Stripe Promo Code, Referral Factory uses the code redeemed in Stripe to identify the referrer and connect the new customer back to them.

The Referral Link attribution journey is:

1. A Referrer receives a unique Referral Link.

2. The referrer shares the link with someone.

3. The referred person opens the link and lands on that referrer’s Referral Link Page.

4. The referred person submits their details.

5. Referral Factory records the new Lead and connects them to the referrer.

6. The lead starts as Pending and can later become Qualified when they meet your success condition.

The link identifies the referrer, but simply clicking it does not create the lead/referrer relationship. The relationship is created when the referred person submits their details on the Referral Link Page.

Reach measures Referral Link Page views. If someone clicks a referrer’s link and views their Referral Link Page, that contributes to that referrer’s Reach. It does not mean a lead has been created yet.

The distinction is:

At that point:

Stripe Promo Codes are a second way to establish attribution. This method is available when your campaign uses the Promo Codes feature with Stripe.

The Stripe Promo Code attribution journey is:

1. A referrer receives a unique promo code that belongs to them.

2. The referred person uses that promo code when signing up or purchasing through Stripe.

3. Stripe creates or records the customer.

4. Referral Factory receives the customer information.

5. Referral Factory sees which referrer owns the promo code.

6. Referral Factory creates the lead and attributes them to that referrer.

The simple explanation is: the promo code tells Referral Factory who the referrer is, while the Stripe customer tells Referral Factory who the referred person is.

Referral Links and Stripe Promo Codes can be used in the same campaign when the campaign is configured for Both.

Referral Factory does not use cookies for Referral Link attribution. Once a lead submits their details through the referrer’s Referral Link Page, the relationship is stored in Referral Factory.

No. The relationship does not expire because of a cookie, so the lead can convert two days, two months or two years later.

Yes. Because the relationship is stored when the lead submits their details, the original Referral Link attribution is not lost when they later convert on another device.

For Referral Link attribution, Referral Factory keeps the first captured referral. If the same person is referred by more than one referrer, Referral Factory keeps the attribution from the first Referral Link Page where that person submitted their details.

For example, Jess and Alex both refer Stacey:

1. Stacey first uses Jess’s Referral Link and submits her details on Jess’s Referral Link Page.

2. Referral Factory attributes Stacey to Jess.

3. Alex later sends Stacey another Referral Link.

Alex’s later link does not replace the original attribution. Stacey remains connected to Jess for that campaign.

You can see the referrer connected to a lead in the Referred By column in Leads.

Attribution answers:

> Who referred this lead?

Qualification answers:

> Has this referral achieved the result our business cares about?

With Referral Links, attribution is created when the referred person submits their details on the Referral Link Page. With Stripe Promo Codes, attribution is created when Referral Factory receives the Stripe customer and connects them to the referrer who owns the promo code. The lead can then appear as Pending. The lead becomes Qualified later, when your business-defined success event happens.

You can tell Referral Factory that a lead has qualified through supported methods such as:

The exact setup depends on where your conversion event happens. This article explains attribution; use the relevant qualification or integration guide for setup instructions.