# Share Links Overview

Share links are the URLs a referrer uses to invite friends to your referral program. When someone clicks a share link, they're redirected to your referral program's landing page, and a tracking cookie is set to credit the referrer.

### How share links are organised

Each user has many share links, organised by two dimensions:

* **Engagement medium**: where the referrer accessed the program. Values include `EMBED`, `POPUP`, `HOSTED`, `MOBILE`, `EMAIL`, and `UNKNOWN`.
* **Share medium**: the channel the referrer used to share. Values include `EMAIL`, `FACEBOOK`, `TWITTER`, `PINTEREST`, `WHATSAPP`, `LINEMESSENGER`, `FBMESSENGER`, `SMS`, `LINKEDIN`, `DIRECT`, and `UNKNOWN`.

For example, the `WHATSAPP` link under `MOBILE` is used when a referrer on a mobile device shares via WhatsApp. This segmentation powers the [impact.com analytics platform](https://help.impact.com/en/support/solutions/articles/155000000948), which provides insight into how and where your users are sharing.

A *clean* share link is also provided. If the program uses a vanity link, the clean version is unencoded (for example, `https://example.com/free`) and is returned under the `UNKNOWN` engagement and share mediums.

### How tracking works

When a friend clicks a share link, two things happen:

1. A tracking cookie is set in their browser containing the referrer's referral code. The cookie can be read using the UTT [autofill](https://integrations.impact.com/impact-brand/docs/install-the-utt#autofill-referral-codes-or-cookies) method, and is also picked up automatically by the UTT library.
2. The referrer's referral code is appended to the landing page URL as the `rsCode` query parameter, for example `https://example.com/?rsCode=JOHNDOE`.

### When to use share links vs. referral codes

Share links are ideal for channels like email marketing, CRM, and product integrations where a widget or mobile webview isn't practical.

In some cases, sharing a referral code instead is more reliable, for example on mobile apps or in environments where cookies may be blocked. Adding a "Referral Code" input to your sign-up form ensures referrals can still be tracked when the link itself can't carry the attribution. To look up a user's referral code, use the Lookup a user endpoint.

For the full list of supported share mediums, see the [Share Mediums article](https://help.impact.com/en/support/solutions/articles/155000000322-referral-program-sharing-options-open-graph-metadata-) in the help center.


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