How to Use Value Tracking to Measure Referral Revenue

What is Value Tracking?

Value Tracking is a feature in Viral Loops that captures and records the order total, subscription price, or custom numerical value associated with a participant's conversion.

Instead of treating every referral as equal, value tracking lets you see the exact gross revenue generated by each participant and their referred network.

Why Use Value Tracking in Your Campaign?

Implementing revenue tracking unlocks deeper analytics and opens up advanced campaign strategies:

Measure True ROI: Understand the total monetary value your referral program brings to your business beyond raw participant count.
Reward Based on Spend: Create tiered rewards or give commission percentages (e.g., "Give 10% cash back based on purchase total") rather than flat rewards.
Identify Top Influencers: Pinpoint your highest-value advocates based on the actual revenue their invited friends generate.
Optimize Campaign Spend: Compare acquisition costs directly against lifetime value (LTV) and total purchase revenue.

How Value Tracking Works

When a conversion event is sent to Viral Loops—whether via the JavaScript SDK, Server-Side API, or integrations like Stripe—you can optionally include a value parameter in the payload.

Example API Request with Revenue Data

When calling the Viral Loops API, pass the numeric value in the request body:

{
  "apiToken": "YOUR_VIRAL_LOOPS_API_TOKEN",
  "params": {
    "event": "conversion",
    "user": {
      "email": "[email protected]"
    },
    "options": {
      "value": 29.99
    }
  }
}

Note: The value field accepts integers or floating-point decimals representing the monetary transaction amount (e.g., 129.99).

Warning: it is highly recommended to use conversion value tracking via the Server-Side API and to use Authorized Conversions only

Enabling Value Tracking in the Campaign Builder

To enable revenue tracking for your campaign:

Go to your Viral Loops Dashboard and edit your campaign.
Navigate to the Goals step in the campaign wizard.
Switch to the Value Tracking tab.
Toggle Value Tracking ON and select your preferred currency setting.
Save your campaign settings.

Supported Methods for Passing Conversion Values

You can transmit value tracking data through multiple setup options:

Server-Side / Private API Calls (Recommended): The most secure method for passing financial data directly from your server or backend order system.
Stripe Integration: Automatically captures invoice totals and subscription charges without custom development.
JavaScript SDK: Pass purchase totals on the client side during checkout confirmation.

Best Practices for Revenue Tracking

Use Server-Side Calls for Purchases: To prevent users from altering order amounts in the browser, always send purchase values using the Private API or native payment processor integrations.
Combine with Authorized Conversions: For maximum security, pair Value Tracking with the Allow only authorized conversions setting to ensure only valid backend transactions are recorded.