Enabling the Referral Program
The referral program allows a CAKE network to pay out affiliates based on the revenue or profit of their referred affiliates.
By default the referral program is disabled. To enable: Click on the main Setup tab > Billing Settings sub tab > Referrals, the referral program is located under the Referral Settings section.
Checking the check box located across from referrals will activate the Referral Program's global settings.
The global settings will apply to all affiliates unless otherwise modified on the Affiliate card.
Flat Fee / Percentage
You have the choice to either pay your affiliates a percentage or a flat fee.
Percentage: Selecting percentage will base affiliate referral commission on a percentage of either the revenue or profit of their referred affiliates.
Flat Fee: Selecting flat fee will base the affiliate referral commission on a numerical value placed in the amount / percentage field. The referred affiliate's revenue or profit does not effect the commission.
Commission Basis
The affiliate's commission is based on their referred affiliate's revenue, profit or cost.
Selecting profit or revenue will base the commission on the referred affiliate's profit, revenue or cost, not the affiliate's profit or revenue receiving the commission.
Minimum Threshold
The minimum threshold field references the Commission Basis drop down.
The value entered reflects the profit, revenue or cost the referred affiliates must reach until commissions are paid to the referring affiliate.
This will apply to all affiliates unless otherwise customized on the Affiliate card.
Amount / Percentage
The value entered reflects the flat fee / percentage drop down.
If flat fee was selected the value will be the commission paid to affiliates per billing cycle if the Minimum Threshold has been met.
If percentage was selected the value will be a percentage of the revenue or profit generated by the referred affiliate.
Generating an Affiliate's Referral Link
Once the referral link has been activated, the Referral tab on the Affiliate card will now be accessible.
To generate a referral link, click on the Generate Referral Link button located in the Referral Terms section.
The Referral Link
Clicking the Generate Referral Link button will open a card containing the affiliate's referral link. \LThe Referral Link is the default affiliate Signup link with an additional "r=" parameter defining the Affiliate's ID.
Referral Terms
All Affiliates will default to the Global Settings.
(1)\L However, the referral program can be disabled (2) or the affiliate can have their own custom settings (3) which are defined in the Referral Terms section. \LAll new Referrals will default to the settings placed here.
Custom Referral Terms
Custom Referral Terms that differ from the terms specified in the Referral Term section can be created by clicking the Add Referral Terms button in the Referrals section.
This allows for an affiliate to have multiple custom terms across different time frames.
Manually Creating a Referral Relationship
Referral relationships can be created for situations where the affiliates already exist in your instance.
To add a new Referral Relationship:
1) Open the Affiliate Card of the referred affiliate
2) Click on the More tab
3) Select the referring affiliate from the Referred By drop down
4) Choose the Referral settings in the New Referral Terms wizard
How Affiliates Access the Referral Link in the Affiliate Portal
1) Create a new 3rd Party offer and title it appropriately to reference the Referral Program
2) The offer link will be the URL of the affiliate signup page with the referral parameter at the end; r=
3) Instead of specifying an affiliate in the referral parameter, use #affid# to capture any affiliate who uses the link.
4) Marking the offer as public will allow the referral Link to be available to all affiliates.
The Referral Program Offer in the Affiliate Portal
The affiliate will access the Referral Program offer like any other 3rd Party offer and will provide potential affiliates with the unique link.
The unique link will redirect the potential affiliate to the offer link.
The Referral Report in the Affiliate Portal
Affiliates are able to track affiliates they have referred to your network. The Referrals widget will show upon login to the Affiliate Portal.
The report breaks down total paid conversions and expected commission for a specified date range.
The Referral Report in the Admin Portal
The Referral Report can be accessed in the main Accounting tab.
The report will display all affiliates who have referred affiliates to your network.
Reporting numbers are reflective of all referred affiliates. To drill down to see individual referred affiliates, click the icon to the left of the affiliate's name.
Drilling down will reveal all referred affiliates for the referring affiliate selected.
The report breaks down reporting numbers by referred affiliate and includes each affiliate's unique referral terms.