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X (Twitter) traffic source template X (formerly Twitter) sells promoted posts, video ads and website cards that appear in the timeline, in search and on profiles. This guide sets up X as a traffic source in ClickFlare. It covers what the built-in template does, how to capture X’s click ID and campaign details, and how conversions get back to X. You do everything from the campaign editor. The X traffic source is created inline, without leaving the campaign. The template is minimal. It tracks clicks, not conversions. X has no postback URL and no dynamic URL macros, so most of the work happens on the X side.

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At a glance

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What the template contains

The template has a single parameter row and nothing else: The X template's Parameters table in ClickFlare, with twclid set as the External ID parameter There is no postback URL, no pixel URL and no cost row. ClickFlare captures X’s click ID and records the visit, the country, the device, the browser and everything else it detects itself. It has no other X-specific data.

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How it works

1

X sends the click

A visitor clicks your ad. X opens your ClickFlare campaign URL and appends its click ID in the twclid parameter.
2

ClickFlare stores the X click ID

With twclid set as the parameter of the external_id row, ClickFlare saves its value as the visit’s External ID. It then sends the visitor to your lander or offer.
3

The conversion reaches ClickFlare

Your affiliate network or store posts the conversion back to ClickFlare, matched on the ClickFlare click ID.
4

The conversion reaches X

ClickFlare can’t post it to X. The X Pixel on your conversion page reports it from the visitor’s browser, or your own server sends it to X’s Conversion API with the twclid.
The mirror, as far as X allows: in the campaign URL you normally write ClickFlare’s parameter and the network’s macro. X has no macros, so there is nothing to mirror. The click ID works like Pinterest’s: X appends twclid=... itself, and the template’s external_id row tells ClickFlare to read the twclid parameter. There is no postback URL, so the second half of the mirror (X’s parameter plus ClickFlare’s token) doesn’t exist.

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Before you start

  • Set up your own tracking domain. Run the campaign on your own custom domain. Shared domains get flagged by ad platforms and blocked by browsers. See Custom Domains.
  • Have an offer ready in ClickFlare, and its affiliate network set up to post conversions back to ClickFlare. See Creating an Offer and Adding an Affiliate Network.
  • Set up the X Pixel on your site, if you want X to see conversions. You need to be able to add code to the page the visitor sees after converting. If you send traffic to an affiliate offer you don’t own, X can only learn about conversions through X’s Conversion API.
  • Know that X has no URL macros. Campaign, ad group and ad names can’t be filled in automatically. Plan one campaign URL per ad group if you want that split in ClickFlare.

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Step 1 – Create the campaign and the X traffic source

  1. Go to Campaigns and click New.
  2. In Traffic Source, open the dropdown and click + New Traffic Source.
  3. Search for X or twitter and select the X template.
  4. Enter a Name, for example X Ads.
  5. Set Cost currency to your X ad account’s currency.
  6. Leave the external_id row as it is: twclid as the TS Parameter and an empty TS Token. X adds the value itself.
Don’t type a macro into the TS Token of the external_id row. X has none, and the literal text would be sent instead. Without twclid in that row, ClickFlare doesn’t capture X’s click ID, and you lose the one value that ties a ClickFlare visit to an X click.

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Passing campaign and ad details

X doesn’t replace dynamic macros in destination URLs. To split reports by X campaign or ad group, pass the names as fixed values:
  1. Click Add Parameter. Name it campaign, set the TS Parameter to campaign and the TS Token to a placeholder such as CAMPAIGN_NAME.
  2. Repeat for adgroup with ADGROUP_NAME, and for ad with AD_NAME if you want ad-level splits.
  3. ClickFlare assigns the next free tracking field to each one.
When you copy the campaign URL in Step 3, replace each placeholder with the real name before you paste the URL into X. Use short names without spaces, for example campaign=spring_us&adgroup=lookalike_1. Every ad group gets its own copy of the URL with its own values. This is manual work, and it’s the only way to get X’s structure into ClickFlare. If you don’t need the split, skip it. You can still compare ClickFlare campaigns, landers and offers.

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Step 2 – Send conversions to X

X doesn’t accept S2S postback URLs. Leave Traffic source postback URL off on this traffic source. There are two ways to get conversions to X, both on the advertiser side.

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Option A: The X Pixel on your conversion page

The X Pixel is X’s JavaScript tag. Its base code goes on every page of your site. An event code fires on the page where the conversion happens, for example the thank-you page.
  1. In X Ads Manager, open Events Manager and set up the X Pixel as an event source.
  2. Create a conversion event for the action you want to track, for example Purchase or Lead. X gives each event its own ID.
  3. Install the base code on your site and the event code on the conversion page.
  4. Pass the conversion value in the event code if you want X to report revenue.
The pixel only counts when it runs in the visitor’s browser. ClickFlare can’t fire it for you as a server-side postback.

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Option B: X’s Conversion API, from your server

X’s Conversion API receives conversions server-to-server. ClickFlare doesn’t have an X Conversion API integration, so this has to be built on your side, or by a tool that supports it. What X needs:
  • At least one identifier. X recommends always sending the click ID (twclid). Email and phone also work. IP address and user agent only count alongside a second identifier.
  • The conversion event you created in Events Manager. To deduplicate against the X Pixel, use the same event the pixel uses and send the same conversion ID from both.
  • Ads API access, which X grants through your X representative.
The twclid you need is the External ID ClickFlare stored in Step 1. Your server can read it from the conversion data or pass it on from the lander.

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Step 3 – Finish the campaign and copy its URL

  1. Name the campaign.
  2. Set the Cost Model. See Cost.
  3. Choose Redirect or Direct tracking. See the note below.
  4. Click Next and, on Destination, add your lander (optional) and your offer.
  5. Save, open Tracking, select your own tracking domain and copy the campaign URL.
The campaign URL has no X parameters unless you added them in Step 1. It doesn’t contain twclid. X adds that on the click. Redirect or Direct? With Redirect, X’s click (and its twclid) lands on your ClickFlare domain. ClickFlare captures it. An X Pixel on your lander won’t see twclid, though, because the visitor arrives at the lander without it. If you rely on the X Pixel, use Direct tracking, so X sends the visitor straight to your lander with twclid in the URL. See Direct Campaign Tracking. If you use a lander, its call-to-action must link to the ClickFlare click URL, not to the offer directly. Otherwise the visit reaches the offer without a ClickFlare click ID, and the conversion can’t be traced back to X. See Creating a Campaign in ClickFlare.

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Step 4 – Create the ad in X

  1. In X Ads Manager, create a campaign and an ad group with your objective, targeting and budget.
  2. When you create the ad, paste the ClickFlare campaign URL as the ad’s destination URL (website URL).
  3. If you added campaign and adgroup parameters, make sure each ad group uses the URL with its own values.
  4. Launch the campaign.

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Step 5 – Test the integration

  1. Click your live ad, or wait for the first clicks.
  2. In ClickFlare, open the campaign report and group by External ID. Values should be X click IDs. If the column is empty, check the twclid parameter on the external_id row.
  3. If you added campaign and adgroup, group by them. You should see the names you typed, not the placeholders.
  4. Complete a test conversion. In ClickFlare, check Logs → Event Logs to confirm it was recorded.
  5. In X’s Events Manager, check that the pixel or Conversion API event arrived.

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Cost

The template has no cost row. X doesn’t pass cost in the URL, and ClickFlare has no X cost integration. Set the Cost Model on the campaign to CPC and enter your average cost per link click from X’s reports. ClickFlare has no CPM cost model. If you buy on impressions, divide your spend by the visits ClickFlare recorded to get a cost per visit. Enter that average as the cost value. ClickFlare then estimates cost per visit, and your ROI is only as accurate as that number. X’s auction cost varies, so correct it regularly with a manual cost upload from X’s reports. See Cost Models.

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Troubleshooting

  • The external_id row’s TS Parameter was changed or removed. It must be twclid.
  • The URL in X isn’t the ClickFlare campaign URL, or it was edited.
  • The visit didn’t come from an ad click. X adds twclid to paid clicks.
That’s expected without the X Pixel or the Conversion API. ClickFlare doesn’t send conversions to X. Check that the pixel’s event code fires on your conversion page, or that your server calls X’s Conversion API with the twclid.
With Redirect tracking, twclid stops at your ClickFlare domain and never reaches the lander. Switch to Direct tracking, or rely on X’s Conversion API with the External ID ClickFlare stored.
The placeholders (CAMPAIGN_NAME, ADGROUP_NAME) were not replaced in the URL pasted into X. X won’t replace them. Edit the ad’s URL with the real names.
For the general checklist, see Conversions not showing.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q1: Why is the template almost empty?
A1: X has no URL macros and no postback URL. The only thing a template can do is read X’s click ID, twclid, which it does.
Q2: Can ClickFlare send conversions to X?
A2: No. ClickFlare has no X postback and no X Conversion API integration. Use the X Pixel, or call X’s Conversion API from your own server.
Q3: Is twclid useful if ClickFlare can’t send it to X?
A3: Yes. It’s the value X’s Conversion API matches on. Storing it in ClickFlare means you can export it with your conversions and send them to X yourself.
Q4: Should I use Redirect or Direct tracking with X?
A4: Direct, if you use the X Pixel, so twclid reaches your lander. Redirect works for click tracking and for the Conversion API route. See Direct Campaign Tracking.

Direct campaign tracking

Send X traffic straight to your lander.

Cost models

How CPC, CPA and RevShare costs are calculated.

Manual cost upload

Correct estimated cost with X’s actual spend.

Conversions not showing

The general checklist when conversions don’t arrive.