Looking for a simple way to get your affiliates working harder to promote your products and services?
Well, you can easily set up tiered affiliate commission rates to supercharge your affiliate program. Set up tiers so your most hardworking affiliates earn higher commissions once they pass revenue thresholds. You decide what groups they move into and how much to increase commission rates at each tier. Suddenly, your affiliates are motivated to go the extra mile.
In this guide, we’ll walk through exactly how to set up and launch tiered affiliate commissions to get your affiliate program pumped.
What are Tiered Affiliate Rates
Tiered affiliate rates are an awesome, simple way to incentivize your most loyal and successful affiliate partners.
Here’s how it works:
With a tiered rate system, you set up different commission rate levels that affiliates automatically unlock once they pass certain milestones. For example, maybe all new affiliates start at a 10% rate. But once they refer 100 customers or generate $1000 in revenue for your business, they automatically start earning 15% on all referrals.
You can create as many custom tiers as you want in your affiliate program, with increasing commission percentages tied to higher referral numbers or earnings thresholds.
Every affiliate will then progress through the tiers as they drive more sales.
But why are tiered rates so powerful? Two reasons:
- It gives your affiliates a tangible reward to strive for. Having an exciting new commission tier to unlock helps affiliates stay motivated to promote you.
- It incentivizes your established top affiliates to keep up their great work. Maintaining their hard-earned 20% or 30% rates means they’ll keep actively referring buyers.
Ultimately, tiered rates are a win-win. Your affiliates are happier and more engaged, because they’re earning more from their partnership with you. And you’re earning more too – because their increased motivation is driving higher referral traffic and sales!
Ready to start rewarding your reliable affiliates? Let’s look at how you can set up tiered affiliate rates in WordPress in a few minutes.
Steps to Set Up Affiliate Commission Tiers in WordPress
Implementing affiliate commission tiers in WordPress is a strategic move to enhance your affiliate marketing efforts. If you want to set up tiered commission rates to your WordPress affiliate program, you can easily do it by installing AffiliateWP.
Just follow these steps and take your business to new heights:
Step 1: Install AffiliateWP
The first thing you need to do is get the Professional license, to use the Tiered Affiliate Rates addon.
After selecting and purchasing your plan from the AffiliateWP pricing page, the next stage is installation. You can easily install the plugin by navigating to the Plugins tab in your WordPress dashboard.
This is where you’ll find the option to add new plugins and where you can install AffiliateWP.
The great thing about AffiliateWP is that it doesn’t require any technical expertise for setup.
The plugin comes with a handy setup wizard that makes the entire process straightforward and efficient, taking less than 10 minutes to complete.
AffiliateWP has various features and tools like Affiliate Landing Pages, Vanity Coupon Codes, and Direct Link Tracking. These tools are designed to help you grow your business by enhancing your affiliate program’s effectiveness.
If you get stuck during the installation process, check out this installation guide.
Step 2: Configure Using Setup Wizard
Once AffiliateWP is installed, the next crucial step is setting up your affiliate program, which is done through the AffiliateWP Setup Wizard. This wizard is a key feature of the plugin, guiding you seamlessly through each configuration stage.
You’ll start by entering your license key, which is a critical step for activating the plugin.
This key is found in the confirmation email you received after purchasing AffiliateWP.
During the setup process, you’ll select integrations that match your website’s e-commerce setup, like WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, or MemberPress. This step ensures that your affiliate program is perfectly aligned with your existing e-commerce environment.
The wizard will also guide you through setting up your payout preferences. AffiliateWP provides multiple payout options, including direct payments through the AffiliateWP payout service, PayPal, or manual payment setups.
Another important aspect you’ll configure in the setup wizard is your referral rate and type. You have the option to set a fixed rate or a percentage-based referral amount.
Remember, these settings are not set in stone and can be adjusted later as your affiliate program evolves.
Once you’ve input all the necessary information, you’ll finish the setup and exit the wizard.
Step 3: Install Tiered Rates Addon
Now that AffiliateWP is fully configured, we can augment the program with the Tiered Rates addon. This unlocks the ability to set automated commission tiers based on affiliate milestone achievements.
First, log into your AffiliateWP dashboard and navigate to the Addons page. Locate Tiered Rates and click the Activate toggle. This will automatically download, install, and activate the powerful addon seamlessly on your WordPress site.
Alternatively, to install an add-on manually, download it from your AffiliateWP account and upload it to your WordPress site via the Plugins section.
The process is straightforward: upload the zip file, install it, and then activate the plugin.
Once activated, the Tiered Rates submenu will appear alongside your program’s other configuration options in Settings.
Step 4: Configure Tiered Rates
Configuring the Tiered Affiliate Rates is the next crucial step. To do this, go to the Settings section of AffiliateWP and click on the Tiered Rates tab.
This area allows you to add as many tiers as you need. The referral rate type, either percentage or flat rate, is based on your global settings in AffiliatesWP » Settings » Commissions.
You’ll see options for different tier types, such as Number of Referrals or Total Referral Earnings. For each tier, you’ll set a threshold that affiliates must meet to qualify for that rate.
The rate itself is the commission the affiliate earns upon reaching the threshold. There’s also an option to enable or disable each tier.
The process of setting up these rates involves choosing the type of tier, setting a threshold for referrals or earnings, and deciding the rate for each tier. For example, you might set a tier that offers a 25% commission rate for affiliates who achieve 20 referrals.
For more detailed information on examples of tiered rates, check out our documentation.
Each tier can be customized to suit your business model and motivate your affiliates effectively.
Remember, these tiers only apply to referrals with a Paid status, and the new rates apply to future commissions, not retroactively.
Note: If your business model includes recurring payments, like subscriptions or memberships, you can apply tiered rates to these as well. This is done using the Recurring Referrals add-on in AffiliateWP.
Once you enable this option in the settings, your tiered rates will also apply to ongoing subscription payments, further incentivizing affiliates who bring in long-term customers.
Step 5: Monthly Reset
Don’t forget to check the box to reset affiliate tiers on the 1st day of each new month. This encourages consistent high performance month-over-month.
Now your affiliates have exciting new rates to push towards every 30 days! Monitor your program growth and tweak tier settings accordingly.
Reward and Retain Your Top Affiliate Partners
Rolling out automated tiered affiliate rates doesn’t need to be a complex process. With the steps covered in this guide and the power of AffiliateWP, you can have a dynamic commission structure incentivizing your top affiliates in no time.
Also, we have more resources to help you, don’t forget to check these out:
- How to Maximize Affiliate Rewards and Boost Sales (Step-by-Step)
- How to Assign Coupons to Affiliates and Drive More Sales (Guide)
- How to Start a WordPress Affiliate Program (Easy Steps)
- 8 Reasons Why Your Business Should Have an Affiliate Program
Now that you’re armed with a personalized blueprint for tiered rate success within WordPress, you have all the information needed to ignite your affiliate program growth.
The next step is to take action and configure those exciting commission rates for your affiliates right away using AffiliateWP.
So what are you waiting for?
