When you're approved into a program that has affiliate links enabled, you get a unique link in your ambassador dashboard. Sharing this link lets your audience reach the brand's store with their click tracked back to you, so you get credit when they buy.
This article explains how the link works, the different formats brands use, and what to do when a sale does not get credited.
Where to find your affiliate link
Log in to your ambassador account at buzzbassadorapp.com/ambassador-login. Your affiliate link is on your dashboard, alongside your referral code (if your program has one). Click to copy.
[ SCREENSHOT: Affiliate link card on ambassador dashboard ]
If you don't see an affiliate link on your dashboard, your program doesn't have affiliate links enabled. In that case, you'll share your referral code with your audience instead, and they'll enter it at checkout to get the discount and credit you with the sale.
What happens when someone clicks your link
When a follower clicks your affiliate link, two things happen:
1. They land on the brand's store, just like if they had typed the URL themselves.
2. A small tracking signal called a cookie is stored in their browser. The cookie remembers that they came from your link, so when they place an order, the brand can credit the sale to you.
Depending on the type of link your brand uses, the customer may also get a discount applied to their cart automatically. The next section covers the four link types.
The four affiliate link types
Different brands set up affiliate links differently. The format you have determines what your follower experiences when they click and how the discount (if any) is applied. Look at your link in your dashboard to figure out which type you have:
BuzzLink: looks like brandstore.com?utm_source=buzzbassador&...&buzz_ref=[token]. When a customer clicks, a popup appears with a unique, one-time discount code for them to redeem. Each click generates a fresh code, so codes cannot be leaked or reused. You get credit for the sale even if the customer dismisses the popup or doesn't use the code.
UTM link with auto-applied discount code: looks like brandstore.com/discount/[your-code]?utm_source=buzzbassador&... When a customer clicks, your discount code is added to their cart automatically. You get credit even if the customer removes the code at checkout.
UTM link without a discount: looks like brandstore.com?utm_source=buzzbassador&... No discount is applied automatically. The customer pays full price unless they enter a code at checkout manually. You still get credit via the cookie.
Referral code link: looks like brandstore.com/discount/[your-code]. Your code is added to the customer's cart automatically. If they remove the code at checkout, you do not get credit. This format does not use a cookie, so the code must stay applied for the sale to track.
If you are not sure which type you have, compare your dashboard link to the formats above.
Tips for maximizing attribution
A few practical things help your sales actually get credited:
Share your link directly whenever possible: in a swipe-up, a link in bio, a pinned comment, or a Linktree. The cookie does the work as long as your follower clicks through.
Encourage your followers to go straight from your link to checkout. The fewer detours through other links or other members' codes, the cleaner the attribution.
For BuzzLinks, encourage your followers to actually redeem the code in the popup. The cookie credits you either way, but redeeming the code is what gets the customer their discount.
Use a link shortener (like bitly.com) for cleaner sharing on social media, especially with longer UTM-format links.
Why a sale might not be credited to you
If a sale does not show up under your account, it is usually one of these:
Your follower clicked your link in one browser but checked out in another. Cookies do not follow across browsers (or between regular and private/incognito mode). Same issue if they switched devices, like clicking on their phone and checking out on a laptop.
Your follower has cookies disabled or blocked. Some browser settings or extensions block tracking cookies entirely.
Your follower waited too long. The cookie expires after a set time (usually 30 days). If they took longer than that to buy, the credit drops.
Your follower clicked another affiliate's link more recently. Only the most recent affiliate link click is tracked. If they clicked yours, then someone else's, the other member gets credit.
Your follower entered a different discount code at checkout. A manually entered code at checkout always wins over any link click. If your follower typed in someone else's code, or even a non-affiliate code (like a sitewide sale code), your code is removed.
Your follower removed the discount code at checkout (referral code link format only). If you have the simpler /discount/[your-code] format with no UTM parameters, attribution depends on the code staying applied at checkout. If they remove or replace it, the credit drops.
These are limits of how affiliate tracking works on the web, not anything specific to Buzzbassador. Most of the time, things just work.
Notes:
If your link format ever changes (because the brand updated their program settings), your dashboard will show the new format automatically. You don't need to do anything; new clicks on the updated link will just work.
If you believe a sale should have been credited to you and was not, reach out to the brand directly: they have access to the order details and can investigate.