Last-click or promo code, how food creator partnerships attribution methods differ

What to take away

A Manchester restaurant group running three creator posts a month faces a familiar problem. The booking system says one thing, the creator's dashboard another, and the finance director wants one number.

Why single-source attribution keeps failing

The temptation is to pick the method with the biggest number, and that number usually belongs to the platform. Views and saves are cheap to generate but say nothing about whether the room filled on a Tuesday.

Double-counting is the second trap. A diner who sees a video, taps a tracked link, then mentions a code at the table appears in three systems. Without a written rule on which source wins, cost per acquisition looks better than it is.

The fix is a hierarchy, not a better dashboard. Decide which system is the source of truth for each booking channel. Our guide to food creator partnerships measurement and reporting shows how that hierarchy feeds a monthly report.

Promo codes compared with last-click tracking

Of the food creator partnerships attribution methods in common use, promo codes suit restaurants with table service, phone bookings or a busy walk-in trade. The code is captured at payment, so the cover is real and the margin is known. Codes reward people who were already coming, and rarely capture reach.

Last-click suits delivery-led and online-booking businesses. It is precise about the final click, but misses anyone who saw the content and then booked by phone. It also credits the last touch, which may be a retargeting ad rather than the creator.

A practical split is codes for in-venue trade and last-click for online orders. Issue each channel its own code, record any overlap, and exclude the duplicate from acquisition cost.

What platform dashboards actually prove

Platform reporting is delivery evidence. TikTok's own food and beverage campaign case studies show how brands present performance, and they are useful for benchmarking format and creative, not for your till.

Use platform figures to confirm the post went live as briefed, to check audience geography against your catchment, and to spot unusually strong saves. Do not convert views into covers with a made-up rate.

If your content is aimed at younger audiences, check the children's information rules from the ICO before you collect or match personal data for attribution.

A four-step method that survives an audit

Step four is the one teams skip, and the one that makes the number defensible to a finance director.

Where the evidence gets weaker

Attribution weakens as the journey gets longer. A diner who sees three creators and books a fortnight later cannot be attributed to one post without personal data you may not hold lawfully.

Advertising rulings also affect what you may claim. The ASA publishes independent reviews of its decisions, worth reading before repeating a performance claim.

When numbers keep disagreeing, the cause is often process rather than tracking. Our piece on food creator partnerships measurement mistakes covers the errors that recur most across UK campaigns.

Common questions

Can I use promo codes and last-click together?

Yes, provided each booking channel has one source of truth. Give codes to in-venue and phone bookings, use last-click for online orders, and exclude bookings that appear in both.

Which method suits a small restaurant?

Promo codes are usually the cheapest to run and the easiest to defend, because redemption happens at the till. Add last-click later if online orders become a meaningful share of covers.

How often should I reconcile the numbers?

Monthly suits most operators, with a reconciliation within five working days of a campaign ending. Weekly checks create noise without changing decisions.