Configure Affiliate Center Setup
Important
As of March 31, 2020, Cleverbridge no longer issues payouts to affiliates through the Affiliate An individual or a company that markets a product to potential customers. The Affiliate receives a commission on a specific action (also called event: e.g., sale, lead, click, visit etc.) previously agreed upon with you, the advertiser. Each action is tracked via a unique tracking link from Partnerize. An affiliate is also called a publisher. Center. If you choose to continue using the Affiliate Center to manage your affiliates, you are responsible for paying them out based on the performance reports generated by the Cleverbridge platform.
If you no longer want to handle affiliate payouts yourself, ask us about upgrading to Partnerize, our newest performance marketing solution.
In the Commerce Assistant main menu, select Channel Management > Affiliate Center Setup. The Affiliate Center Setup window opens. Enter information in the following sections:
General
You can use the General section to configure settings that customize the Affiliate Center.
Enter information in the following fields:
You can add an image file for your company logo. The logo is featured in the top right corner of the Affiliate Center instead of your company name. This is an optional field. If no logo is submitted, a text version of the company name is used. For best results, use an image size that is 160 pixels x 60 pixels, or smaller.
To add an image, select Channel Management > Affiliate Center Setup > General in the Commerce Assistant main menu.
Note
The image must first be uploaded to the web files before it can be selected for use. For more information, see Web Files ✱.
You can include an iFrame URL hosted on your web server to be included as resources on the Affiliate Center Resources tab. The iFrame URL must start with https://
, not http://
. This is an optional field.
You can select to assign new affiliates with a default commission configuration. This can be changed for individual affiliates in the Affiliate portal of the Commerce Assistant by selecting a new commission configuration in the affiliate's record. For information about setting up a commission configuration, see About Commission Configurations.
To define a default commission configuration, select Channel Management > Affiliate Center Setup > General in the Commerce Assistant main menu. Click the button to add a new commission configuration.
You can select to assign affiliates to a default group. The groups that affiliates are associated with are used for reporting purposes. This can be changed for individual affiliates in the Affiliate portal of the Commerce Assistant by selecting a new partner A company that buys your products in bulk for a discounted price and resells them to their customers for a profit. In legal terms, a partner is a regular customer as there is no partnership agreement with Cleverbridge in place./affiliate group in the affiliate's record. For information about setting up a partner/affiliate group, see Add a Partner/Affiliate Group.
To define a default partner/affiliate group, select Channel Management > Affiliate Center Setup > General in the Commerce Assistant main menu. Click the button to add a new partner/affiliate group.
Language-Supported Fields
This feature supports multiple languages. For more information, see Languages ✱.
Tip
Use the Highlight selector on the right-side of the action bar to see a visual indication of which fields support multiple languages. Select Language-supported fields from the drop-down list. See Highlight Categories ✱.
Welcome HTML
You can use the Welcome HTML section to display a customized welcome message to the affiliate on the Affiliate Center dashboard. This is optional, but if included, this HTML is used instead of the default welcome message from Cleverbridge.
You can dynamically insert the affiliate name and ID with the <cb:AffiliateId />
and <cb:AffiliateName />
tags. These tags are case and space sensitive.
Below is an example of a customized welcome message.
Example
Welcome
<cb:AffiliateName />,<br><br>
Check out the new banner ads in the "Get Links" section! Shieldware was voted "Top 10 Download of 2013" by ABC Magazine.<br><br>
For general questions, please contact <a href="mailto:am@cleverbridge.com">am@cleverbridge.com</a> and include your Cleverbridge Affiliate ID <b>
<cb:AffiliateId /></b> and username.<br><br>
For product- or commission-related questions, please contact <a href="mailto:affiliates@shieldwareexample.com">affiliates@shieldwareexample.com</a>.<br><br />
Thanks,<br><br />
Your Shieldware team</p>
The message displays on the Affiliate Center dashboard instead of the default Cleverbridge text:
Tip
Use the Welcome HTML to communicate with your affiliates. You can, for example:
- Provide them with the contact details of your company’s affiliate manager
- Provide updates and news that might be helpful to your affiliates to promote your products
- Publish coupon codes that can be used for seasonal promotions
- Explain your commission scale
Get Links HTML
You can use the Get Links HTML section to communicate directly with groups of affiliates. You define a message that displays in the Affiliate Center’s Get Links page. You can assign messages for individual commission configurations here. A unique message can be applied to every commission configuration.
With customized HTML messages, you can, for example:
- Target a message to your base-level commission affiliates to motivate them to sell more.
- Target a message to promotion-based affiliates about coupon codes.
- Embed a YouTube video that describes the benefit of your products, educating the affiliate about how to sell them.
- Target a specific message to all affiliates, or only high-volume affiliates.
Example
Below is an example of a customized HTML message:
Thank you for joining the Shieldware Affiliate Program. To get links and banners, please click a product on the left.
<br></br>
Be sure to review and comply to Shieldware's <a href="/mycontent/123/cbTESTKeywordRestrictions.txt" target="_blank">Keyword Restrictions</a>.
<br></br>
<font face="Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0161b6" size="4">Payments and Commissions</font><br>
<br>
</b>Commissions are paid on the 16th of the month, for the previous month, after your account reaches the 100 USD/GBP/Euro/AUD threshold.<br /><br />
<b>To check your commission report in the Affiliate Center:</b><br /><br />
Click Reports > Order An agreement between a seller and a buyer to exchange goods and/or services for money. An order can: - contain multiple products and quantities; - have multiple financial transactions. A preorder authorization is considered an order. Value and Commission > Date Range: This Year, Group by: Month. View in Plain Table<br /><br />
For payment Exchange of money for goods and services in an acceptable amount to the customer where the payment amount has been agreed upon in advance. The customer can only pay with an accepted payment method. Each payment has an individual payment cost.-related questions, please send an email to: <a href="mailto:am@cleverbridge.com">am@cleverbridge.com</a>
</html>
The message displays on the Affiliate Center Get Links page:
Products
You can use the Products section to customize which products display in the Affiliate Center's Get Links page. If no products are selected here, the Get Links page displays by default all of the products defined for the affiliate's commission configuration.
Tip
Choose the top selling or highest converting products for the affiliates to promote. The products listed here are only for obtaining links.
Even if the customer An individual or business purchasing your product or service by placing an order through Cleverbridge. The customer is the end user of this product, as they are not allowed to resell the purchased products or services. A customer is unique per client. If a customer purchases products or services from two different clients, there are 2 separate records of said customer. ultimately purchases a different product, the affiliate will still receive a commission as long as the product is part of the affiliate’s commission configuration.
Example
Below is an example of a Get Links page configuration:
Three of the top-selling products are selected for the Get Links page. They are ordered in the Commerce Assistant as shown below.
These three products display in the Get Links page, in the same order as they are arranged in the Commerce Assistant.
Language-Supported Fields
This feature supports multiple languages. For more information, see Languages ✱.
Tip
Use the Highlight selector on the right-side of the action bar to see a visual indication of which fields support multiple languages. Select Language-supported fields from the drop-down list. See Highlight Categories ✱.
Campaigns
You can use the Campaigns section to add online marketing materials to the Affiliate Center’s Get Links page for individual products. The campaigns are displayed and selected below a product's description information.
Example
For the product Internet Security Basic, the following banner campaigns are available for affiliates. Affiliates click the Campaign Source Code drop-down to access and copy the code.
Best Practice
Add more than one campaign for a product so that affiliates can select the most appropriate one for their websites.
The top five recommended banner sizes (in pixels):
- Medium rectangle 300x250
- Square 250x250
- Leaderboard banner 728x90
- Full banner 428x60
- Wide skyscraper 160x600
Language-Supported Fields
This feature supports multiple languages. For more information, see Languages ✱.
Tip
Use the Highlight selector on the right-side of the action bar to see a visual indication of which fields support multiple languages. Select Language-supported fields from the drop-down list. See Highlight Categories ✱.
Types of Campaigns
There are three types of campaigns that can be added to a product:
Use to easily create a banner campaign by adding an image and a URL to which the customer is directed after clicking the banner. This is the recommended method due to ease of setup, as this type of campaign requires no knowledge of HTML. Cleverbridge automatically sets a cookie for the affiliate in the customer’s browser and redirects the customer to the target URL.
To set up, see Add a Simple Banner Campaign to a Product.
Use to create a banner campaign by providing your own HTML code. This is useful if you need to customize your links by:
- Adding additional tracking parameters
- Defining the affiliate cookie expiration time
- Hosting all banners on your server
This type of campaign displays to affiliates in the Affiliate Center the same as the Simple Banner campaign. The difference is that for this campaign, you enter the HTML code.
To set up, see Add a Banner Template Campaign to a Product.
Tip
To give the affiliate an impression of the campaign, provide a thumbnail representation of the banner campaign. The banner image must first be uploaded to the web files before it can be selected for use. For more information, see Web Files ✱.
Use for those affiliates who prefer to use a text link instead of placing banners on their website. Text campaigns can be used in multiple ways, such as in a blog post, product review, forum, or newsletter.
You provide affiliates with HTML code in a template form that renders a text-based link. This helps to create a link for the right product, with consistent wording, and, optionally, with the correct tracking parameters.
Example
Text campaigns display as code that affiliates can copy and use.
To set up, see Add a Text Template Campaign to a Product.
Acceptance Email HTML
You can use the Acceptance Email section to add additional content to the email that is automatically sent to an affiliate when they have been accepted into your program. The default email text includes the affiliate ID and the link to the Affiliate Center. Additional text is displayed below the default text.
Tip
Communicate regularly with your affiliates. To encourage regular communication, use the Acceptance HTML section to provide, for example:
- More information about your products
- Tips to get started
- Your direct contact information, such as phone number and email address
Example
An example of the default acceptance email text is shown below.
You can also add custom HTML code to append it to the default email text
<body>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"></div>
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="600" align="center" style="border-bottom: #002f80 1px solid; border-left: #002f80 1px solid; border-top: #002f80 1px solid; border-right: #002f80 1px solid">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<table id="Table_01" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="705" height="437">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: left">
<p><img src="http://www.cleverbridge.com/mycontent/864/Logo.png"></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<table width="95%" align="center">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><span style="font: 12px Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000">
</span>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> <span style="font: 12px Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000">
<o:p></o:p>
Welcome to the Shieldware (Example Company) affiliate program! Help us protect PCs across the planet against spyware, worms, and malware by promoting our <strong>Internet Security</strong> series of products on your website.<br><br>
If you need any assistance regarding promotions, please email our affiliate managers at affiliates@shieldwareexamplecompany.com. We are happy to help and will respond to emails within 1-2 business days.<br><br>
</p>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
</body>
</html>
This content is displayed below the default email text.