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External Recruitment Tracking

Author: Mark Rickard Updated

Follow these instructions after creating a recruitment link.

External Tracking

When working with a recruitment partner, such as a market research panel, it's frequently necessary to include external tracking parameters. This tracking allows the recruiter to identify screener respondents who have activated their account, qualified, or been terminated from the community. In addition, you may already have user information, such as a member ID, that you want to pass through the recruitment process and make available in all member data exports.

There are three different methods for implementing tracking options:

  • Pixel placement
  • Redirect
  • Appending existing, external user data, such as member ID, to a recruitment URL

Of these two options, pixel placement is preferable because it delivers the highest-quality member experience and typically results in a higher conversion rate than redirects. However, your preferred panel vendor may not support the pixel option.

If you need assistance with identifying a recruitment partner, please contact your account team for assistance.

The recruitment flow for both pixel placement and the redirect method is below.

Pixel Placement

In this method, the community member is transparently tracked when a tracking image, or "pixel", loads in an email or on a web page, thereby activating their account. When the code runs, the recruitment partner is automatically notified when the account activation is complete.

Pixel_Placement_Workflow.jpg

  1. Adding Pixel Placement or iFrame code to a Recruitment URL:
    • Ask the recruitment partner for their pixel placement/iFrame code for success, failure, or over quota.

    • Create a new Recruitment URL. In the External Tracking tab, enable External tracking, then fill out the Tracking Parameter.

      The Tracking Param Name provided by the recruitment partner is case-sensitive, so make sure to verify exactly what the recruiter’s parameter name is. Ask the recruiter what their parameter name is (often it is “ID”).

  1. Add the pixel code to the code field.

To prevent formatting issues, first paste the code to a simple text editor such as Notepad on Windows devices or a text editor from the App Store for Mac. The quotation marks should appear straight up and down, not curved, like in the images below.

External-Tracking-Quotes.png

  1. In the code, the recruiter will need to insert a unique user ID for each user they send through—replace "XXXX" with that unique user ID in the success code. If you don't know where that needs to go, ask the recruitment partner.

    XXXX is case sensitive, it must be all uppercase for the code to work

    Locate "http" in the code and make sure it look like "https" ... if the recruitment partner code does not have the "s", add it. All URLs need to be "https" to work. Adding the "s" will not break the code.

  1. Terminate: Use this to track users who have terminated out of the qualification survey.

    This is only useful if Qualification Type = Internal. If there is no qualification survey or it is being hosted by a 3rd party, leave this option blank.

  2. Over Quota: Use this to track users who have screened out of the qualification survey due to Over Quota logic.

    This is only useful if Qualification Type = Internal. If there is no qualification survey or it is being hosted by a 3rd party, leave this option blank.

  3. Save the Recruitment URL and test it with the recruitment partner. Send the recruiter the Recruitment URL. They will need to replace XXXX in the recruitment URL with the unique user IDs. The recruiter will need to test the full terminate, over quota, and qualified complete flow to verify if the tracking is working properly in their system. You can verify the recruitment partner's test ID by performing a Member Export, finding the column "Recruitment Code," and checking the ID associated with the test account.

Redirect Method

In this method, when a user is screened out, they will be redirected to a URL provided by the recruitment partner and will not see the Failure or Over Quota message.

Redirect_Workflow.jpg

When a user completes registration, they are redirected to a URL provided by the recruiter, and another window opens to the community homepage.

Users are redirected to URLs outside of the community. However, a successful registrant will still be taken to the homepage and will also receive the activation email so that they can still activate their account.

  1. Add a Redirect code to a Recruitment URL:
    • Ask the recruitment partner for their redirect codes for success, failure, and over quota.
    • Create a new Recruitment URL.

    • In the External Tracking tab, enable External tracking, then fill out the following information.

      The Tracking Param Name is provided by the recruitment partner. Ask the recruiter what their parameter name is (often it is “ID”). Please note that this is case-sensitive, so make sure to verify exactly what the recruiter’s parameter name is.

  2. In the code, the recruiter will need to insert a unique user ID for each user they send through—replace "XXXX" with that unique user ID in the success code. If you don't know where that needs to go, ask the recruitment partner.

    XXXX is case sensitive, it must be all uppercase for the code to work

    Locate "http" in the code and make sure it look like "https" ... if the recruitment partner code does not have the "s", add it. All URLs need to be "https" to work. Adding the "s" will not break the code.

  3. Terminate: Use this to track users who have terminated out of the qualification survey.

    This is only useful if Qualification Type = Internal. If there is no qualification survey or it is being hosted by a 3rd party, leave this option blank.

  4. Over Quota: Use this to track users who have screened out of the qualification survey due to Over Quota logic.

    This is only useful if Qualification Type = Internal. If there is no qualification survey or it is being hosted by a 3rd party, leave this option blank.

  5. Save the Recruitment URL and test it with the recruitment partner. Send the recruiter the Recruitment URL. They will need to replace XXXX in the recruitment URL with the unique user IDs. The recruiter will need to test the full terminate, over quota, and qualified complete flow to verify if the tracking works properly in their system. You can verify the recruitment partner's test ID by running a Member Export, locating the "Recruitment Code" column, and checking the ID associated with the test account.

Append Existing User Data to a Recruitment URL

This method is helpful when you have existing data about the members you are inviting to the community, such as a member ID or customer number. When you enable External Tracking, you can append that data to the recruitment URL. This ensures the data is always associated with the member, even if they register with a different email address than the one you used to invite them.

  1. To use this method, first enable External Tracking.
  2. Add text in the "Tracking Parameter" field. This is how you will refer to the data in the recruitment URL, and you cannot include spaces. Choose a clear, concise ID label.
  3. You can leave all other fields and options blank under the "Tracking Events" section.
  4. When finished, click Save to complete the setup of the recruitment URL.

There are then 2 ways to use this type of Recruitment URL. 

  1. If you are sending recruitment emails outside the Fuel Cycle platform, export or download the recruitment URL.

    • The recruitment URL will look similar to the following:

      https://emu.fuelcyclecore.com/signup/accountQuestions?ID=XXXX&recruitmentCode=WRRiwWnId48nyd7LKQrz
    • In the URL, replace XXXX with the unique ID you want to pass through the recruitment flow.
    • You will need to create a unique URL for each recruit, based on the ID you want to pass through.
    • Give those URLs to the person who will be sending the emails outside of Fuel Cycle.
  2. If you are sending Fuel Cycle Recruitment Campaigns, do the following:
    1. Go to Communication Center > Email List
    2. Create a CSV file listing all email addresses and the unique ID associated with each. The easiest way to do this is to download the sample file on the New Email List Page.
      1. In the CSV file, the first column will be "email address".
      2. Add another column with the same column header you entered in the Tracking Parameter field for the recruitment URL. If you entered "ID", you would use "ID" as the column header.
      3. Add each unique user ID in the column associated with the correct email address.
      4. Add additional unique parameters to the email list file if you want to, such as a Name for the Recruitment Campaign. 
    3. Upload the Email List CSV file, then go to Recruitment Campaigns.
    4. From here, Create a Recruitment Campaign.
      • There is no change to the flow when creating the campaign.
      • When the campaign is sent, the Recruitment URL will automatically replace XXXX with the unique ID provided in the email list CSV for each recipient.

When you generate a Member Export, the unique ID passed through recruitment will be available in the "Recruitment Tracking ID" column.

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