Affiliate marketing glossary

All the key terms you need to understand affiliate marketing, from attribution to sub-affiliates.

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Affiliate: A person or company that promotes another business's products or services in exchange for a commission on resulting sales or leads.; On Traaaction, affiliates are called Sellers.
Attribution: The process of identifying which affiliate (or marketing channel) is responsible for a conversion so the correct partner receives credit.; Traaaction uses first-click attribution with a 90-day cookie.

Clawback: The reversal of a commission when the underlying transaction is refunded or cancelled. Protects program owners from paying commissions on revenue they did not keep.; Traaaction handles clawbacks automatically on Stripe refund and subscription cancellation events.
Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of people who click an affiliate link out of those who see it. Calculated as clicks divided by impressions.
Commission: The payment an affiliate earns for driving a desired action, such as a sale or a lead. Can be a flat fee or a percentage of the transaction amount.
Conversion rate: The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action (purchase, signup, install) after clicking an affiliate link.
Cookie duration: The length of time a tracking cookie remains active in a visitor's browser. If the visitor converts within this window, the affiliate receives credit.; Traaaction's cookie duration is 90 days.
CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): A pricing model where the affiliate earns a fixed amount for each completed action, such as a sale or qualified lead.
CPL (Cost Per Lead): A pricing model where the affiliate earns a fixed amount for each lead generated, such as a form submission, trial signup, or app install.
CPS (Cost Per Sale): A pricing model where the affiliate earns a commission only when a sale is completed. The most common model in affiliate marketing.

Deep link: A URL that points to a specific page within a website or app rather than the homepage. Deep links improve conversion by sending visitors directly to the relevant product or offer.

EPC (Earnings Per Click): The average revenue generated per click on an affiliate link. Calculated as total commissions divided by total clicks. A key metric for affiliates comparing programs.

First-click attribution: An attribution model that credits the conversion to the first affiliate whose link the visitor clicked, regardless of subsequent interactions.; Traaaction uses first-click attribution. Once set, the attribution is never overwritten.

Hold period: A waiting period between when a commission is earned and when it becomes available for payout. Protects against chargebacks and returns.; Traaaction applies a 30-day hold for sales and recurring commissions, and a 3-day hold for leads.

Lead: A potential customer who has taken an initial action such as signing up, registering, or submitting a form, but has not yet made a purchase.

MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue): The predictable monthly revenue generated from active subscriptions. A critical metric for SaaS and subscription businesses.

Payout: The transfer of earned commissions from the program to the affiliate. Can be made via bank transfer, PayPal, Stripe Connect, or other methods.

Recurring commission: A commission paid to an affiliate each time a referred customer renews their subscription. Aligns affiliate incentives with long-term customer retention.; Traaaction supports monthly recurring commissions with configurable limits or lifetime payouts.
Referral link: A unique, tracked URL assigned to an affiliate. When a visitor clicks this link and converts, the sale is attributed to the affiliate.
ROI (Return on Investment): The ratio of revenue generated to the cost of running the affiliate program. Calculated as (revenue - cost) / cost. A healthy affiliate program should deliver strong positive ROI.

Sub-affiliate: An affiliate recruited by another affiliate, forming a multi-tier network. The recruiting affiliate may earn a percentage of the sub-affiliate's commissions.; Traaaction supports multi-tier referrals through its portal referral program with up to 3 generations.

Tracking pixel: A small piece of code embedded on a webpage that fires when a conversion occurs, allowing the affiliate platform to record and attribute the event.