UpPeek field notes · 6 min
How to track a creator campaign without fooling yourself
Tracked links, UTM tags and what to count as a real visit, so your numbers mean something.
By Neha, founder of UpPeek ·
Give every creator their own link
A unique link per creator tells you who sent which visitors. Without it, all traffic looks the same and you cannot tell what worked.
Use UTM tags consistently
Add a source, medium and campaign name to each link, and keep the naming consistent so reports are easy to read.
- ✓utm_source: the creator or platform
- ✓utm_medium: creator or influencer
- ✓utm_campaign: the name of the test
- ✓utm_content: the specific post if you have several
Count qualified visits, not every click
Clicks include bots, link previews and the same person opening a link repeatedly. A reasonable standard is to exclude bots, link unfurlers and prefetchers, and to count one visitor once within a short window such as 30 minutes. UpPeek counts qualified clicks this way.
Look past clicks
A visit is not a customer. Track sign-ups and activation from the same links, and accept that creator content also drives people who search for your name later, so clicks alone undercount the effect.
Review on a simple schedule
Check results after a week and again after a month. Compare creators on cost per qualified visit and on sign-ups, and put your next test budget where those numbers are best.
Questions people ask
What is a qualified click?
A visit that is not a bot, link preview or prefetch, and that is not a repeat from the same visitor within a short window. It is a stricter and more honest number than raw clicks.