Setting up performance-based bonuses is a powerful way to incentivize your affiliate partners, drive specific actions, and significantly boost your business's overall sales and conversion rates. This guide walks you through the benefits, setup process, and management of affiliate bonuses.
🎯 What You Will Learn in This Guide
📈 Why Use Bonuses? The Power of Performance Rewards
Bonuses are performance-based rewards that are separate from standard commissions. They reward affiliates for reaching a specific, pre-determined goal within a set timeframe, creating a strong motivation for them to push harder and achieve higher tiers of performance.
Motivation | Business Impact |
Increased Engagement | Higher traffic and conversion volume. |
Targeted Goals | Affiliates focus on high-value actions (e.g., reaching a conversion count). |
Competitive Edge | Makes your program more attractive to top-performing affiliates. |
Statistic Insight: Programs that implement well-structured performance bonuses often report a measurable increase in affiliate activity and revenue generated through the channel, as affiliates are incentivized to achieve the next tier of reward.
🎁 Examples of Bonus Structures
You can configure bonuses based on various goals and reward them with either a fixed amount or a percentage increase:
Bonus Type | Goal Example | Reward Example |
Fixed Bonus | When an affiliate generates 10 or more conversions in a month. | They earn a $50 Fixed bonus. |
Percentage Bonus | When an affiliate generates $5,000 in total conversion amount in a month. | They earn an extra 10% on all commissions for that period. |
⭐️ Feature Availability
The Bonuses feature is typically reserved for advanced plans.
Note: This feature is part of the Scale and Enterprise plans. To access it, you can upgrade your subscription or purchase this specific feature as an add-on. For more info, check the article: Can I mix & match features from different plans?
⚙️ Step-by-Step: How to Set Up a Bonus
The setup process is quick and lets you define the exact goals and rewards for your affiliates.
Step 1: Navigate to the Bonus Section
Go to Programs.
Click on the Bonuses tab.
Select your specific Program (If you have more than 1 program).
Click the + Add bonus button to open the configuration window.
Step 2: Define the Basic Information
In the "Add bonus" pop-up window, fill out the basic information:
Title: Give your bonus a descriptive name (e.g., "Monthly Conversion Booster").
Please note: This name will be visible to affiliates within their portal, so we recommend choosing a title that is clear and professional.
Bonus form: Select the type of reward:
Fixed: The affiliate earns a set dollar/currency amount.
Percentage: The affiliate earns an additional percentage on their standard commissions for the period.
Bonus period: Select the interval for the goal to be achieved:
Monthly (resets at the start of each calendar month).
Weekly (resets at the start of each calendar week).
Note: Other plans may offer custom date ranges.
Affiliate Group: Select a specific affiliate group to apply the bonus to, or leave it as All affiliates to apply universally.
Target type: Select the goal metric for your affiliates:
Total conversion amount: The total monetary value of all conversions.
Number of conversions: The count of successful conversions (sales/leads).
Step 3: Build the Tiers (Bonuses)
The Tiers section allows you to define thresholds for earning an additional bonus based on the influencer's performance.
Click + Add tier.
Set the goal: You define the amount needed, for example: "When an affiliate generates [300] or more in total conversion amount in a given calendar month."
Set the reward: You define the bonus percentage corresponding to that goal, for example: "They will earn a [15] % bonus."
Important Note: Bonuses are not cumulative. The affiliate will receive only the reward corresponding to the single highest tier they reach (e.g., if they hit the $300 tier, they get the 15% bonus, not the 5% and 10% from lower tiers).
⏳ Managing and Approving Bonus Periods
Bonus commissions are a separate type of commission that require their own review and approval.
1. Tracking Bonus Periods
Navigate to Conversions and click on Bonus periods in the sidebar.
This view shows all bonus periods and their current Status (e.g., Pending or Closed.
2. The Generation Requirement
Bonus commissions will only be generated and attributed to the affiliate after the bonus period is over, and all commissions within that period have been reviewed (approved or disapproved).
When you view a bonus period, a message indicates that commissions will be generated once all commissions are reviewed. Commissions that are pending approval will not be counted towards the bonus goal.
3. Reviewing Unreviewed Commissions
If a bonus period has unreviewed commissions (e.g., "There are 1 unreviewed commissions in this bonus period"), you must review them first.
Clicking on the unreviewed commission link often takes you to the Conversions & Commissions tab.
Here, you can review, approve, or disapprove the pending conversions to finalize the data for that period.
4. Approving the Bonus Commission
Once all base commissions are reviewed, a separate Bonus commission is created if the goal was met.
When viewing the specific bonus period, the Bonus commission will appear, and you can review it (e.g., "+100.00 EUR" for affiliate "Rachel Green").
You must then click Approve all pending commissions or approve/disapprove the bonus commission individually.
Affiliate View: Affiliates can see their active bonuses and track the fulfillment of the necessary conditions for receiving a bonus on their partner portal under the Bonuses tab, which is often found near Referral link & Assets. Once the bonus commission is approved, the payout is added to their balance.
Still need help?
If you have any questions or if something in this guide is unclear, please don't hesitate to contact us at support@tapfiliate.com-we're happy to assist!
FAQ
❓Are bonuses based on commissions?
No. Bonuses are separate, performance-based rewards tied to reaching a goal (like a conversion count or amount), not a percentage of the standard commission structure (unless you select the "Percentage" bonus form).
❓What happens if I approve a commission that occurred during the bonus period?
If you approve or disapprove a commission that falls within a past bonus period, the system will regenerate the bonuses to account for the change. Bonus regenerations typically happen hourly to ensure accuracy.
❓Can I set up a bonus that increases with each tier?
Yes, but remember they are not cumulative. If an affiliate qualifies for Tier 2 ($100 bonus) and Tier 1 ($50 bonus), they will only receive the reward for Tier 2 ($100), as it is the highest tier reached.
❓Can affiliates see their bonuses in the affiliate portal?
Yes. Affiliates can go to the Programs section and click on the Bonuses tab to see their active bonuses and track the conditions they need to fulfill.
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