In a world of savvy customers and complex marketing funnels, voucher codes remain a powerful tool to drive conversions, incentivise action, and track campaign success. But not all voucher codes are created equal.
If you’re still relying on generic voucher codes for your affiliate, influencer, or marketing campaigns, you may be leaving money, and data, on the table.
In this post, we’ll break down the difference between generic and unique voucher codes, why it matters for performance marketing, and how you can get more from your campaigns with the right approach.
Generic Voucher Codes
Example format: SUMMER10, WELCOME20
How they’re used: Same code shared across users/channels
Tracking: Limited, difficult to attribute accurately
Risk of abuse: High (leaked, shared, misattributed)
Unique Voucher Codes
Example format: X5JQ9K2MZ, HG7WM2V7H
How they’re used: Individually generated for each user/partner
Tracking: Fully traceable to a user, channel, or campaign
Risk of abuse: Low (single-use or restricted use)
Generic codes are simple to create and easy to distribute. They’re typically used in large, mass-marketing campaigns, think: 10% off with WELCOME10.
Pros:
Easy to set up
Great for broad campaigns
Low technical barrier
Cons:
Codes can be leaked or shared widely
Hard to track which partner/channel drove the sale
Makes fraud and coupon stacking more likely
Reduces control over campaign performance
Unique codes are automatically generated and assigned to individual users or partners. For example, an affiliate called Jenna might be given 10,000 codes, each traceable back to her.
Precise attribution to user, campaign, or channel
Prevents code leakage and misuse
Supports affiliate payouts and reward logic
Enables A/B testing and campaign optimisation
GDPR-friendly when cookies are restricted
Requires code generation logic
Needs proper distribution via platform, email, etc.
Slightly more technical setup
Generic codes when used for tracking by affiliate networks break the attribution chain. Last click is always overruled. If you want to know who truly drove what sale, unique codes are the answer, especially in a world where third-party cookies are disappearing.
Giving each partner a batch of unique codes allows for clean attribution, individual performance measurement, and precise payout. No more disputes over who “really” earned the commission.
Generic codes often end up on deal sites, hurting margins and making it impossible to control the user journey. Unique codes can be tied to a single use, limited timeframe, or specific product.
Want to test which offer works best by influencer? Or which time of day has the highest conversion rate? Unique codes let you slice the data and act fast.
A brand working with three affiliate partners used a single generic code: SAVE20. It ended up being leaked online, used across other channels, and even entered into Google Ads campaigns.
The result? Thousands of redemptions, but zero attribution to the partners. No way to reward them fairly. No visibility into who drove real value.
Generic codes are a relic of a simpler time. In today’s marketing environment—dominated by privacy concerns, data complexity, and performance accountability, unique codes are essential.
If you care about attribution, campaign control, and partner performance, it’s time to upgrade your code strategy.