Affiliate Lifecycle Management

Available in:

Post Affiliate Pro , Post Affiliate Pro Ultimate , Post Affiliate Network

What is Affiliate Lifecycle Management?

Affiliate lifecycle management covers the entire journey of an affiliate in your program:

1. Registration - How affiliates join your program
2. Approval - Review and activation of accounts
3. Activity - Monitoring engagement and performance
4. Maintenance - Handling inactive or problematic accounts

Post Affiliate Pro provides automation at each stage to reduce manual work and maintain a healthy, engaged affiliate network.

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Affiliate Statuses

Every affiliate account has one of three statuses:

Status Transitions

Registration → Pending → Approved → Active use
                   ↓
               Declined

Or with automatic approval:

Registration → Approved → Active use

Changing Affiliate Status

Merchants can change affiliate status at any time:

1. Navigate to Affiliates > [Affiliate Name]
2. Click the status dropdown
3. Select the new status
4. Optionally add a note explaining the change
5. Save

Status changes can trigger email notifications to the affiliate.

Auto-Registering Affiliates

The Auto-Registering Affiliates feature automatically creates affiliate accounts when tracking codes contain an unregistered email address. This is useful for:

• Partners who promote before formally registering
• Integration with external systems that pass customer emails
• Simplified onboarding for influencers and partners
• Capturing attributions without requiring pre-registration

Enabling Auto-Registration

1. Go to Configuration > Features
2. Enable Auto-Registering Affiliates
3. Configure options in Configuration > Affiliate Signup > Auto Registering

How It Works

When a sale or click is tracked with an email parameter:

1. System checks if the email is registered
2. If not registered, a new affiliate account is created automatically
3. The affiliate account is created with status based on your settings
4. When the affiliate earns their first approved commission, they receive a welcome email
5. The email includes login credentials and their affiliate link

Configuration Options

Auto-Registration Forms

Post Affiliate Pro provides special HTML forms for auto-registration scenarios:

• Generate affiliate links for any email
• Create banner codes for unregistered affiliates
• Embed forms on partner portals

Find these in Configuration > Affiliate Signup > Auto Registering Forms.

Notification Timing

Auto-registered affiliates don’t receive transaction notifications until they’ve logged in at least once. This prevents confusing emails to people who don’t yet know they’re affiliates.

The registration notification is sent when:

• The affiliate is approved
• They have at least one approved commission
• OR: On every sale (if configured)

Use Case: Influencer Onboarding

1. You identify an influencer promoting your product without an affiliate link
2. Add their email to the tracking code on their referred sales
3. System automatically creates their account and tracks commissions
4. When a sale is approved, they receive an email inviting them to access their earnings

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Affiliate Approval Workflow

Control how new affiliate registrations are handled:

Automatic Approval

New affiliates are immediately approved and can log in right away.

Pros:

• Faster onboarding
• Less administrative work
• Better affiliate experience

Cons:

• No screening of applicants
• Potential for spam registrations
• Less control over who joins

Configuration:

1. Go to Configuration > Signup Form
2. Set Affiliate Status After Signup to “Approved”

Manual Approval

New affiliates start in “Pending” status and must be approved by a merchant.

Pros:

• Screen applicants before approval
• Review websites and promotional methods
• Maintain quality standards

Cons:

• Requires regular attention
• Delays affiliate activation
• Risk of losing interested applicants

Configuration:

1. Go to Configuration > Signup Form
2. Set Affiliate Status After Signup to “Pending”

Approval Notifications

Configure email notifications for the approval workflow:

Configure in Configuration > Email Notifications.

Automatic Affiliate Activity Checking

The Automatic Affiliate Activity Checking feature monitors affiliates for inactivity and can automatically take action on dormant accounts.

Enabling Activity Checking

1. Go to Configuration > Features
2. Enable Automatic affiliate activity checking
3. Navigate to Configuration > Affiliates Activity Check to configure rules

Note: This feature requires the cron job to be configured.

Activity Measurement

Configure what counts as “activity”:

Inactivity Timeline

Configure the inactivity workflow:

Inactivity Actions

When an affiliate exceeds the inactivity period:

Sub-Affiliate Handling

When removing inactive affiliates who have sub-affiliates:

Configure this with the Move Children setting.

Ignored Affiliates

Some affiliates should never be marked as inactive:

1. Go to Configuration > Affiliates Activity Check
2. Add affiliate IDs to the Ignored Affiliates list
3. These affiliates are excluded from activity checking

Useful for:

• Test accounts
• VIP affiliates with irregular activity
• House accounts

Warning Notifications

Send warning emails before taking action:

Configure notifications in the activity check settings:

• Send Warning Notification - Email affiliate before action
• Send Merchant Warning Notification - Notify merchant of pending actions
• Send Merchant Apply Notification - Notify merchant when action taken

Activity Check Process

The system runs daily (via cron) and:

1. Identifies inactive affiliates based on configured criteria
2. Sends warning notifications to affiliates approaching the threshold
3. Takes action on affiliates exceeding the removal threshold
4. Handles sub-affiliates according to configuration
5. Sends notifications to merchants if configured

Affiliate Registration Forms

Post Affiliate Pro supports multiple registration methods:

Standard Signup Form

The default registration page with customizable fields:

• Required: Email/username, password
• Optional: First name, last name, company, website, phone
• Custom fields: Profile fields you define
• Captcha: Prevent spam registrations

Custom HTML Forms

Embed registration forms anywhere:

1. Create custom HTML forms on your website
2. POST to the Post Affiliate Pro signup endpoint
3. Include required fields and custom fields
4. Redirect to confirmation or thank you page

API Registration

Create affiliates programmatically:

// API v2 (PHP)
$affiliate = new Pap_Api_Affiliate($session);
$affiliate->setUsername('affiliate@example.com');
$affiliate->setFirstname('John');
$affiliate->setLastname('Doe');
$affiliate->setStatus('A'); // Approved
$affiliate->save();

Single Sign-On (SSO)

Integrate affiliate registration with your existing user system:

• Use API to create affiliate accounts when users register on your site
• Implement SSO login tokens
• Synchronize user data between systems

Best Practices

1. Balance Approval Requirements

Consider your risk tolerance:

• High-value, low-volume programs: Manual approval
• Consumer-focused, high-volume programs: Automatic approval with fraud protection

2. Set Reasonable Activity Thresholds

Don’t be too aggressive:

• 30-60 days for warning is reasonable
• 180+ days for action allows for seasonal businesses
• Consider your sales cycle length

3. Use Warning Notifications

Always send warnings before taking action:

• Gives affiliates a chance to re-engage
• Reduces complaints from declined affiliates
• Maintains goodwill with partners

4. Document Declined Affiliates

When manually declining affiliates:

• Add notes explaining the reason
• Keep records for compliance
• Consider privacy regulations when storing data

5. Regular Review of Pending Affiliates

If using manual approval:

• Check pending affiliates daily
• Set up email notifications for new signups
• Respond quickly to maintain applicant interest

Integration with Other Features

Affiliate lifecycle management works with:

• Fraud Protection - Screen registrations for fraud
• Email Notifications - Customize lifecycle emails
• Commission Groups - Assign groups based on approval
• Campaigns - Control campaign access by status

Related Features

• Fraud Protection - Prevent fraudulent registrations
• Email Templates & Notifications - Customize lifecycle communications
• Multi-Tier Commissions - Manage affiliate hierarchies
• Affiliate Panel - The affiliate experience after approval