The Quick Answer
Use Campaigns when visitors land on pages you control, such as your website, funnel or store. Use tracking links when you send people somewhere you can't add code, such as an affiliate offer or a marketplace listing.
ClickMagick treats them as separate tools, and its help docs note that many users never need tracking links at all. Campaigns is the main product.
Side by Side
| Campaigns | Tracking links | |
|---|---|---|
| How it tracks | Code on your own pages | A redirect link that records the click |
| Best for | Your website, funnels and stores | Affiliate offers and pages you don't own |
| Attribution models | Last click, first click, linear, position-based, time decay | First click and last click |
| Cross-device tracking | Yes | Limited |
| Audience Optimization | Yes | No |
| Funnel and visitor reports | Full | Click-level |
| Short branded links | Not the purpose | Yes |
When Campaigns Is the Right Choice
- You run paid ads to your own landing pages or funnels.
- You want Meta, Google, TikTok or Microsoft to optimise on your real conversions.
- You need multi-touch attribution across several ads and emails.
- You sell through Shopify, ClickFunnels, GoHighLevel, WooCommerce or similar.
This covers most businesses. See our setup guide and Audience Optimization.
When Tracking Links Make Sense
- You link straight to an affiliate offer from email, social or video.
- You buy solo ads that go directly to a vendor's page.
- You need a short, branded link for a bio, podcast or print.
- You want to route traffic by device or country.
Add the affiliate network's postback so commissions come back to the link. See postback URL tracking.
Using Both Together
A common affiliate setup is ads → your own pre-sell or bridge page (tracked with Campaigns) → a tracking link to the offer. You keep full attribution and Audience Optimization for the ad, and still record which offer link earned the commission.
We'd use this for any paid traffic. Sending ad clicks straight to an affiliate offer means the ad platform never learns from your conversions. See ClickMagick for affiliate marketing.
Common Mix-Ups
- Expecting position-based attribution on links. Links support first and last click only.
- Running ads to tracking links and wondering why Audience Optimization has nothing to send.
- Adding Campaigns code and a tracking link for the same page, which double-counts visits.
Track your funnels and your offer links in one place.
Try ClickMagick FreeFrequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between ClickMagick tracking links and Campaigns?
Campaigns track visitors on your own website and funnels with tracking code, giving you full attribution models, cross-device tracking and Audience Optimization. Tracking links are redirect links for sending traffic to pages you don't control, like affiliate offers.
Do I need both?
Many users only need Campaigns. ClickMagick's own help docs say you may never need tracking links. Affiliates linking straight to offers are the main exception.
Which attribution models do tracking links support?
Tracking links support first-click and last-click attribution. Linear, position-based and time-decay models are available in Campaigns.
Can I send conversions to Meta or Google from tracking links?
Audience Optimization works with Campaigns. If ad-platform optimisation matters to you, send traffic to a page you control and track it with Campaigns.
Can I use tracking links as short links?
Yes. With a short custom domain, ClickMagick tracking links work well as branded short links for social, email and print.