Clicks and conversions alone don’t show why campaigns lose money or where valuable users drop off. This article explains how to use event tracking and micro-conversions in HilltopAds to analyze the full funnel, track user behavior in detail, and optimize traffic based on real engagement signals instead of guesswork.
A single conversion rarely provides a complete view of your campaign performance. Each user action, such as clicking an ad, browsing, signing up, depositing, or making a purchase, provides valuable insights into traffic quality.
HilltopAds enables you to track multiple events and micro-conversions using flexible parameters called goals, offering a comprehensive view of your funnel. Below is an overview of how event tracking works and its significance.
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What is event tracking in HilltopAds?
Event tracking shows how users interact with your website or app throughout a campaign, going beyond just the final conversion. It provides visibility into the entire user journey, from initial engagement to key actions and points where users drop off.
Rather than focusing solely on: “Did this user convert?”
You can instead consider: “What actions did this user take before converting, or why did they not convert?”
HilltopAds Goals address this need. Goals are essential for tracking and analyzing user actions in a structured manner.
How tracking works: Tokens and Postbacks
Before discussing goals, it is essential to understand the basics of tracking. When you create a campaign, you provide HilltopAds with a tracking URL (offer link). This URL may include placeholders (tokens) that we populate when delivering traffic.
The most important parameter is: &token={{token}}
This token serves as a unique click ID, enabling us to match future postbacks to the specific traffic delivered.
Although your tracking URL may include multiple parameters, only the token is required for attribution on our end.
If you haven’t set up S2S tracking yet, you can follow our step-by-step guides for the most popular tracking systems to get started:
What are conversions and micro-conversions, and why are they important?
After traffic is delivered, advertisers send postbacks to HilltopAds. These postbacks are divided into two categories:
Conversions
These represent primary target actions, such as deposits or purchases:
- Advertisers who run CPA campaigns are billed for these events.
- These events are used for optimization.
- Postback contains only the token
Example: ?token=xxxxx
Important: Conversions must not include a goal.
Micro-conversions
Micro-conversions are smaller user actions that occur before the primary goal.
Examples:
- Page visit
- Button click
- Registration
- Add to cart
- Trial start
These actions may not generate direct revenue, but they indicate user intent and engagement.
Micro-conversions are identified by the presence of a goal.
Example: ?token=xxxxx&goal=registration
If you don’t track micro-conversions, you miss out on important details in the user journey. You won’t see where users leave, which traffic sources bring engaged visitors, or which parts of your funnel need work.
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Meet the goal parameter
In HilltopAds, you can pass additional event data using the goal parameter: &goal={{goal}}
This parameter is optional but highly effective.
With this approach, you can track different conversions, group users by their behavior, and see how each stage of your funnel is performing. You can add as many goals as you want to get the level of detail you need.
Why most advertisers miss this opportunity
A lot of advertisers miss out on tracking micro-conversions because the data can be hard to get or isn’t set up correctly.
Because of this, they only see the final conversion or sometimes none at all. It becomes hard to judge traffic quality, and they often end up making optimization choices based on guesses instead of real data.
When you use goals, you can see more detailed and useful insights about your performance, not just the basic numbers.
Also check out successful case studies from our advertisers who boosted their ROI with HilltopAds:
Practical use cases
iGaming
Track the full funnel:
- goal=registration
- goal=first_time_deposit
- goal=repeat_deposit
You can quickly identify which traffic sources generate paying users, not just signups.
eCommerce
Gain insight into buying intent:
- goal=view_product
- goal=add_to_cart
- goal=purchase
If users add items to their cart but do not complete a purchase, the issue likely lies within your funnel rather than your traffic.
Apps & Utilities
Assess engagement quality:
- goal=install
- goal=trial
- goal=subscription
Some sources may not generate purchases but can deliver high-quality, engaged users.
How this improves your campaigns
Smarter optimization
Instead of optimizing for every conversion, you can focus on the actions that matter most.
Better traffic evaluation
Not all traffic is the same. Goals make it easier to tell where your visitors are coming from.
Faster scaling
When you know which sources lead to more important actions, you can grow your campaigns with confidence.
Clear funnel visibility
You get a clear view of where users leave and what you can improve. improvement.
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How to start using goals
To track both conversions and micro-conversions, your tracker should support sending postbacks per event type.
Most trackers, such as Voluum, Binom, and RedTrack, offer this option, typically referred to as: “Postback URL per event” or “Multiple events tracking.”
How it works: Define individual events in your tracker and assign a unique postback URL to each event.
The screenshot below demonstrates how multiple event tracking can be configured on the tracker side (Voluum). Pay special attention to the postback URLs assigned to each event, as they define how conversions and micro-conversions are sent back to HilltopAds.
In this example, the primary conversion for which the advertiser is billed is a trial. Therefore, we use 1 – startTrial.
The following postback URL is used for Voluum setups. Replace ‘xxx’ in advertiserid=xxx with your actual advertiser ID.
https://trackhta.com/close/?token={externalid}&price={{price}}¤cy={{currency}}&advertiserid=xxx
The micro-conversion, which serves as a secondary action for analysis, is registration, and includes a goal.
https://trackhta.com/close/?token={externalid}&goal=reg&advertiserid=xxx
You can add as many events as needed to monitor your funnel.
Instead of Conclusion: Here’s What Matters
You don’t have to use goals, but they are key for tracking micro-conversions and seeing the full user journey.
Some advertisers do not provide this data automatically, so you might need to work with your partner or tracking system. Using clear and consistent goals helps you get more accurate and useful analytics.
If you track only one conversion, you miss part of the picture. With HilltopAds, you can track several events, study user behavior, and improve your campaigns with detailed funnel data.
Goals turn raw traffic data into clear insights, so you can make better decisions and boost your ROI.