What is Conversion Tracking?

What is Conversion Tracking

In Viral Loops, a conversion is any specific action a referred user performs after signing up or participating in your campaign.

Instead of marking a referral as successful immediately upon registration, conversion tracking lets you set a second (or more) checkpoint. The referral is considered validated only after the invited user completes one or more predefined post-signup actions.

How a Converted Referral Flow Works:

User A signs up for your campaign and gets a unique referral link.
User A shares the link with User B.
User B signs up via the link (becomes a referred participant).
User B completes the conversion action (e.g., makes their first purchase, downloads your app, completes onboarding).
User B is officially converted, legitimizing the referral for User A.

Why do you Need Conversion Tracking?

The ultimate goal of converting a participant is to close the loop after the referral has completed a key action within your application or purchased a product.

Here is why adding conversion tracking transforms your campaign performance:

1. Legitimizes the Referral

Rewarding users simply for collecting email addresses opens your campaign to spam, fake signups, and self-referrals. Requiring an in-app event or purchase ensures that only genuine, high-intent users count toward a reward.

2. Provides Direct Business Value

By aligning referral rewards with core business metrics—such as revenue generation or active product usage—you guarantee that every successful referral directly contributes measurable value to your business bottom line.

3. Enables Better Fraud Prevention

Tracking down-funnel actions makes it significantly harder for malicious actors to game your system, protecting your campaign budget and reward stock.

What types of actions can you track as conversion?

A conversion event should mirror the core goal of your product or funnel. Common conversion actions include:

E-Commerce: Completing a first purchase or reaching a specific order value threshold.
SaaS / Apps: Upgrading to a paid plan, completing an onboarding step, or depositing funds.
Services & Events: Booking an appointment, filling out an application, or attending a webinar.

Supported Templates & Plan Requirements

Supported Templates

Conversion tracking is supported across the following Viral Loops templates:

The Milestone Referral
The Altruistic Referral
Online to Offline
The Universal Referral
The Tempting Giveaway

Plan Requirements

To access conversion features across the platform you must be on the Growing Plan or higher.

Technical Options for Implementation

Depending on your use case and your tech-stack, Viral Loops offers flexible methods to fire conversion events:

Viral Loops JavaScript SDK: Trigger conversions directly on your frontend using standard JavaScript commands.
Page Visit Tracking: Automatically trigger conversions when identified users visit a specific URL (e.g., a /thank-you or confirmation page).
Server-Side / Private API: Trigger conversions securely from your backend services when sensitive business logic or monetary transactions occur.

Developer Reference: Viral Loops Conversion SDK & API Documentation

Full Guide: Actions tracked after signup/participation