Branch attribution is a term from mobile app marketing, where every shared link is tracked so you know which link brought a user and where it sent them. The underlying job matters to any service business: you send links everywhere, in emails, texts, social posts, proposals and QR codes, and you want to know which of them produce enquiries. This article answers how to get link-level attribution on the levelpartner.ai platform for the links your team actually sends, without describing or depending on a third-party deep-linking product.
Link-level attribution in plain terms
Every link you publish is a small campaign. A link in a partner's newsletter, the one in your LinkedIn profile, the booking link your salespeople paste into emails, the QR code on a brochure. If every one of them points to the same bare URL, the CRM records them all as direct traffic. If each carries its own parameters, the contact who arrives through it carries that link's name.
The platform adds a second layer for links you send to known contacts. Trigger links track which contact clicked, then can start a workflow, apply a tag or move a deal.
Two kinds of link, two methods
Public links go to people you do not know yet: social bios, adverts, partner sites, print. Tag them with campaign parameters so the first form, booking or chat records the source.
Private links go to existing contacts: emails, SMS, proposals. Use the platform's trigger links so each click is tied to the person and can start follow-up.
Before you start
- A short register of every public link your business publishes, and where.
- Landing pages, forms and booking calendars on the platform.
- A naming convention for link campaigns, for example the place and the month.
- Workflows for follow-up already in place, so trigger links have something to start.
How to set it up
- List each place you publish a public link and give it a campaign name.
- Build a tagged URL for each place using source, medium and campaign.
- Replace bare links in bios, partner pages and print with the tagged versions.
- For print, use a short forwarding address on your own domain.
- Keep the register up to date whenever a new link goes out.
- Go to Dashboard, open your dashboard and click Edit Dashboard.
- Click + Add Widget and add Contacts by Source.
- In Conditions, click Add Filter, select Attribution and choose First Attribution.
- Switch the widget to Table and add UTM Campaign in Select Columns.
- Click Save, then Save Changes.
What it is for when growth has stalled
Firms with flat revenue often have more reach than they realise: partner referrals, speaking slots, directory listings, a well-read founder profile. None of it is measured, so none of it is managed. Link-level attribution shows which of those places sends people who become clients. It also shows when a salesperson's booking link is clicked but no meeting is booked, a strong signal for immediate follow-up.
For the wider picture of channels working together, read multi channel attribution.
Suppose the firm tags links on its two portal profiles, three partner sites, a local newspaper column, its social bio and a brochure QR code. Say that over six months the newspaper column link produces 11 valuation requests and 4 instructions worth an illustrative £38,000 in fees, while one partner site produces none. On that evidence, the partnership would be the first thing to renegotiate.
What it replaces
It replaces the vague answer "word of mouth" that fills most source fields in service firms. Much of what gets called word of mouth is actually a link someone shared: a partner's resources page, a former client's post, a forwarded proposal. Once those links carry their own names, you can thank the right partners, invest in the right relationships and stop guessing.
Weekly time
Building the register and tags takes two to three hours. Each new link takes a minute if you keep the convention. Review link performance monthly in fifteen minutes and act on links that send nobody.
People shorten tagged links with a free shortener and lose control of them when the account lapses. Use addresses on your own domain for forwarding, so the links survive changes of tool.
When not to bother
If you publish only a handful of links and most enquiries come by referral phone call, the effort is better spent asking every caller how they found you. Equally, do not tag links on your own website pointing to your own pages, because that overwrites the real source with an internal one.
Troubleshooting
Tagged links show as direct traffic. A redirect is stripping the parameters. Test each link end to end and use redirects that preserve the query string.
Trigger link clicks have no contact. The link was sent outside the platform, so the recipient cannot be identified. Send it from the platform's email or SMS so it is personalised.
Internal links overwrite sources. Someone has tagged links between your own pages. Remove parameters from internal links.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a deep-linking tool for link attribution?
Only if you have an app and want links to open specific screens inside it. For web pages, forms and bookings, tagged URLs and trigger links cover the job.
Can I see which salesperson's link produced a booking?
Yes. Give each salesperson their own tagged booking link or calendar. Report bookings by that field. See sales attribution for how to carry that through to won deals.
How do I track QR codes?
Point each QR code at a tagged URL unique to that print item. Test it at the printed size. For mapping where print sits in the journey, read touchpoints in the customer journey.