All About Traffic Channels in Campaign Grouping

Overview

Traffic channels are not just buckets. They’re how you interpret your entire marketing reality.

What is a Traffic Channel?

A traffic channel is a logical grouping of publishers/referrers that represent a higher-level marketing source.

Think of them as report-level categories like:

• Paid Ads
• Organic
• Referral
• Offline
• Direct
• Social
• Chat

They’re used across:

• Filters (Advanced and Quick) on LM and AM
• Campaign and Admin Dashboard
• To understand Attribution Breakdown
• In Automation for Source specific workflows and/or communications

Why Traffic Channels Matter?

Without Traffic Channels:

• Campaign performance is too fragmented
• Campaign reports may be unreadable
• You can’t get clarity across types of marketing effort

With Traffic Channels:

• Your marketing teams see big-picture performance
• Reporting logic aligns to how they run campaigns
• You can analyze by intent, not just source

Types of Traffic Channels

System Traffic Channels (Always Present)

These are system-defined traffic channels by Meritto, created for their consistent behavior:

• Cannot be created or disabled
• Can hold custom and system publishers/referrers

System channels cannot be disabled. You can however, rename, associate or disassociate the majority of the publishers/referrers

Custom Traffic Channels (Created by Institutes)

These are institute-defined channels created for their unique logic:

• Can be created, renamed, disabled
• Can hold custom and system publishers/referrers (only Not Mapped can’t be moved)

Examples:

• Paid Ads
• Direct
• Chat
• Telephony
• Social
• Organic
• Referral
• Meritto Engagement Channels

Please note, each institute can have up to 30 custom traffic channels. 

Managing Traffic Channels

Go to: Settings → Campaign Management → Campaign Grouping → Traffic Channels Accordion

Here you can:

• Create new traffic channels
• Rename all traffic channels
• Associate or deassociate publishers/referrers
• Disable unused custom channels
• Reassign publishers/referrers on the fly

System channels are always visible and will not have status toggle. 

Traffic Channel Constraints & Rules

• A publisher/referrer can belong to max 2 traffic channels, one of which can be Offline (if toggle is ON)
• System publishers/referrers - Not Mapped cannot be moved from Publishers and Offline. Hence, it won’t be visible under the respective channels. 
• Unclassified is a traffic channel where publishers/referrers land when:
  • They're unassigned from a Traffic Channel
  • Their traffic channel is disabled
  • Create Publishers/Referers under “Unclassified”
• Offline Mapping Special Rule

• If A publisher/referrer has Offline toggle ON and the lead’s Lead Origin = Offline, 
• Then:
  That lead is attributed under Offline Traffic Channel, even if the publisher is mapped to another channel.
• Essentially, Offline is not a fallback — it’s a deliberate override.

Where Traffic Channels Show Up?

• Campaign Dashboards
• Admin Dashboard
• Publisher-level Drilldowns
• Automation Rules
• Attribution Reports

They become the top layer of segmentation in how performance of “utm_source” is viewed.

Common Scenarios to Watch Out For

Conclusion

“Traffic Channels are not just reporting buckets. They are how you narrate your marketing story.”

With Campaign Grouping, they’re now in your hands — flexible enough to reflect how your campaigns actually run.