> Link shortening & attribution

Every link tells a story. Make sure it's the right one.

At Unstuck Engine, we don't guess what's working. We track it. Every click, every campaign, every content piece gets proper attribution so we know what drives pipeline and what wastes time.

We use Link Broken for link management and UTM tracking. This isn't marketing theater – it's how we measure ROI, optimize channels, and prove what actually converts.

The attribution problem

Your team can create links 17 different ways. Without structure: 17 naming conventions. Capitals mixed with lowercase. Dashes mixed with underscores. Everyone inventing their own UTM format.

3 months later: inconsistent data. 6 months later: worthless analytics. 12 months later: GTM decisions based on gut feel.

What we use: Link Broken

We use Dub for link management, attribution and referrals. Link shortener with conversion tracking, referral programs, real-time event streams, customer insights.

We're on Dub Business plan.

Short links - Link Broken instead of long URLs with visible parameters.

Dub Conversions - Tracks journey from first click to paid customer. First-party cookie captures click, our code sends lead/sale events, Dub attributes revenue to campaign. We have Stripe integration already connected - automatic sale tracking.

Real-time Events Stream - Chronological view of every click, every touchpoint. See exact path from first link to signup.

Customer Insights - Which customers came from which links. Sort by LTV. Trace back to original attribution.

Dub Partners - Referral system. Each partner gets unique link, we see all referrals, payouts auto-calculate.

Folders and Tags - Organize thousands of links.

Who creates links

Not everyone creates shortened links. Only specific Small Teams need them:

• Outbound – tracking clicks to optimize conversion
• Content – measuring performance of different platforms, formats and content angles
• Video – tracking which channels and topics drive the most traffic from video distribution
• Earned Media – measuring which platforms and topics convert best
• Sales – personalized links for prospects and demos
• SEO – tracking attraction channels and content angles
• Paid Ads – tracking which ad creative, copy variants, and landing pages convert
• Data & Analytics – use data to update link structure rules and attribution logic
• PeopleOps – tracking which channels attract candidates and convert to hires
• Partnerships – two uses: (1) tracking which materials attract potential partners, (2) Dub Partners referral system for existing partners

If you're not on this list, you probably don't need to create links. Use existing ones or ask your Small Team lead.

Tags: Internal organization

Tags help navigate thousands of links and simplify analysis. Tags are internal Link Broken labels – don't appear in URLs.

Three tag categories:

1. Small Team name (required) - outbound, content, video, sales, partnerships, seo, paid, data, peopleops
2. ICP (if known) - smb-revops, enterprise-sales, mid-market-gtm
3. Content type (optional) - demo, calculator, case-study, tutorial

Rule: Maximum one tag per category.

✅ Good: outbound, smb-revops, demo

❌ Bad: outbound, sales (two teams), smb-revops, enterprise-sales (two ICPs)

Templates: The Foundation of Clean Attribution

You never create a link from scratch. There are only two options:

1. Use an existing template – Your Small Team already has templates for common scenarios
2. Create a new template – If no template exists, create one for future reuse

Creating one-off links = inconsistent data that becomes worthless in 3 months.

Templates named using format: [Source | Medium | Campaign | Term | Content]

Only include parameters actually used.

Examples:

• outbound | linkedin | {campaign_id} | {sender_id} | initial
• content | reddit | {content_topic} | {creator_id} | {content_piece}
• sales | email | {sales_person} | demo | {personalized_content}

Thanks to Small Team tags, each team filters to see only their templates.

Templates are reusable. Sharing 5 demos on LinkedIn? One template. Just swap destination URL and customize slug.

UTM Use Cases: 18 Scenarios

Every link follows one of these use cases. Pick yours, follow the structure, done.

Parameter Values

{channel_name}: linkedin, email, sms, whatsapp

{medium_name}: linkedin, x, reddit, substack, youtube, other

{placement}: landing, library, arcade

{campaign_id}: prosp or smartlead campaign id

{partnership_type}: integrations, advisors, co-sell, educators, communities, affiliates, marketplaces, events, influencers, seo

{ICP_code}: diy, inbound, outbound, demandgen, abm, other

{medium_id}: subreddit or channel or profile name

{content_topic}: experiment, myth_busting, build_in_public, fame_stealing, lesson, etc

{demo_id}: demo_id from respective channel (youtube, tiktok, etc)

{video_id}: video_id from respective channel (youtube, tiktok, etc)

Rules:

• Use only combinations from this table
• All values: lowercase_underscores
• {variable} = replace with actual value
• Empty cells = don't use that parameter
• Referral IDs handled automatically by Dub Partners

Naming rule: lowercase_underscores only

Google Analytics is case-sensitive. Outbound and outbound = different sources = split attribution.

Custom short URLs

Dub auto-generates Link Broken. Custom slugs increase trust and clicks.

Personalized: Link Broken, Link Broken

Tools: Link Broken, Link Broken

Content: Link Broken, Link Broken

Campaigns: Link Broken, Link Broken

Bulk campaigns (100+)? Auto-generated fine.

Workflow

Before creating: Search Dub. Link exists? Reuse it.

1. Choose your use case – Find which of 18 scenarios matches what you're doing
2. Choose template – Find template for your use case. None exists? Create template, not one-off link
3. Set destination URL – Where should link go?
4. Fill UTM variables – Replace {variables} with actual values from allowed lists
5. Add tags – Small Team (required), ICP if known, content type if relevant
6. Customize slug – For personalized outreach or key content. Bulk = auto-generated
7. Create – Done

What we track

UTMs: Motion, channel, campaign, content

Tags: Small Team, ICP, content type

Dub Conversions: Click → signup → payment. Revenue per link. LTV by source.

Events Stream: Complete journey. All touchpoints.

Customer Insights: Highest LTV sources. Expansion vs churn by channel.

Answers questions like:

• Which partnership converts trials to annual contracts?
• Do personalized demos close faster?
• Which ICP has lowest CAC?

Common mistakes

❌ Links without templates

❌ Capitals in UTMs

❌ Dashes in UTM values

❌ Multiple tags per category

❌ Guessing ICP tags

❌ Missing Small Team tag

❌ Using values not in allowed lists

Who owns link management

Data team owns the system, Small Teams create their own links. Data maintains templates, naming conventions, and weekly audits. Small Teams use templates to generate links autonomously. No bottlenecks, no chaos.

New team member? 15-minute onboarding with Data. Create first 5 links supervised, then work independently. Data sends weekly report: broken conventions, missing tags, duplicate links. Teams fix their own mistakes. System self-corrects without micromanagement.

What makes this valuable

UTMs give detailed click data. Traditional attribution (last/first click, linear) forces one perspective.

Events Stream shows complete journey. Calculate incremental value of each touchpoint instead of picking single model.

Customer Insights slices by customer. Sort by LTV. See which sources drive retention vs churn.

Combined: Answer questions traditional attribution can't.