Affiliate Marketing Glossary: Definitions of Common Terms and Acronyms

1. 2-Tier Affiliate Program: A system where affiliates earn commissions not only from their sales but also from sales made by other affiliates they recruit.
2. Ad Exchange: A digital marketplace where advertisers and publishers buy and sell ad inventory in real-time auctions.
3. Affiliate: An individual or company that promotes a merchant’s products or services in exchange for a commission on referred sales or leads.
4. Affiliate Agreement:A contract outlining the terms, conditions, and responsibilities between the affiliate and the merchant or affiliate network.
5. Affiliate Link: A unique URL provided to an affiliate that tracks referrals and sales generated from their marketing efforts.
6. Affiliate Manager: A person or team responsible for overseeing an affiliate program, managing affiliates, and optimizing performance.
7. Affiliate Network: A platform that connects affiliates with merchants, providing the tracking, reporting, and payment infrastructure for affiliate marketing.
8. Attribution Model: A set of rules that determines how credit for conversions is assigned to various marketing touchpoints (e.g., last-click or first-click attribution).
9. Banner Ad: A visual ad displayed on a website, typically in a rectangular format, used to drive traffic to the affiliate’s landing page.
10. Chargeback: A reversal of a sale due to customer refunds, fraud, or disputes, resulting in the affiliate losing their commission.
11. Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of people who clicked on an affiliate link compared to the number who viewed the ad or link.
12. Commission: The percentage or fixed fee that an affiliate earns for referring a sale, lead, or action to the merchant.
13. Conversion: When a user takes the desired action (e.g., makes a purchase or fills out a form) after being referred by an affiliate link.
14. Conversion Rate: The percentage of visitors referred by an affiliate link who take the desired action, such as making a purchase.
15. Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): A payment model where affiliates earn a commission when a specific action (like a sale or sign-up) is completed.
16. Cost Per Click (CPC): A payment model where affiliates earn money each time someone clicks on their affiliate link, regardless of whether a sale is made.
17. Cost Per Lead (CPL): A payment model where affiliates earn a commission based on the number of leads (such as email signups) generated.
18. Cost Per Mille (CPM): A pricing model where affiliates are paid based on the number of impressions (1,000 impressions = 1 CPM) their ads receive.
19. Creative: Marketing materials like banners, text links, and email templates provided by the merchant for affiliates to use in promotions.
20. Cross-Device Tracking: Technology that tracks user activity across multiple devices (e.g., mobile, desktop) to attribute conversions accurately.
21. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): The estimated revenue a business expects to generate from a customer over their entire relationship with the company.
22. Deep Linking: Affiliate links that direct users to a specific page or product on a merchant’s website, rather than the homepage.
23. Direct Linking: A type of affiliate marketing where the affiliate sends traffic directly to the merchant’s landing page without the need for a pre-landing page.
24. Disclosure: A legal requirement for affiliates to inform their audience that they may earn commissions from the products or services they promote.
25. Earnings Per Click (EPC): A metric that shows the average earnings generated by each click on an affiliate link.
26. First-Click Attribution: A model where the first marketing touchpoint (e.g., an ad or affiliate link) receives full credit for a conversion.
27. Fraudulent Traffic: Clicks, impressions, or conversions generated through deceptive means, such as bots or fake leads.
28. Geo-Targeting: Delivering ads or affiliate offers to users based on their geographic location.
29. Incentivized Traffic: Traffic generated by offering users rewards or incentives (e.g., discounts or points) for clicking affiliate links or making purchases.
30. Landing Page: A web page designed specifically to receive traffic from affiliate links and convert visitors into leads or sales.
31. Last-Click Attribution: An attribution model where the last marketing touchpoint before conversion receives full credit for the sale or lead.
32. Lead: A potential customer who has shown interest in a product or service, typically by providing contact information.
33. Lifetime Commissions: A commission structure where affiliates continue to earn commissions from referred customers for the lifetime of that customer.
34. Lookback Window: A set period during which an affiliate is credited for a conversion. For example, if the lookback window is 30 days, a conversion made within 30 days of the click is credited to the affiliate.
35. Merchant: The company or business that owns the product or service being promoted by affiliates.
36. Mobile Tracking: Technology that tracks affiliate activity and conversions made on mobile devices, ensuring accurate reporting.
37. Multi-Touch Attribution: A model that credits multiple touchpoints along the customer journey, distributing the conversion value across all interactions.
38. Offer: The product or service that affiliates promote to earn commissions, typically outlined with terms like payout, conversion criteria, and restrictions.
39. Opt-In: When a user gives explicit permission to receive communications, such as newsletters or promotional emails, often as a lead in affiliate marketing.
40. Pay-Per-Sale (PPS): A payment model where affiliates earn a commission only when a sale is made through their referral link.
41. Pay-Per-Lead (PPL): A payment model where affiliates earn a commission when they refer a potential customer who becomes a lead.
42. Payout: The payment affiliates receive for their marketing efforts, usually based on commissions from sales or leads.
43. Performance Marketing: A type of online marketing where affiliates are paid based on their performance (e.g., sales, leads, clicks) rather than just ad placements.
44. Pixel Tracking: A method of tracking conversions by placing a small, invisible pixel on the merchant’s website to record when a user takes the desired action.
45. Publisher: Another term for affiliate, referring to the individual or business that promotes offers to earn commissions.
46. Recurring Commission: A commission structure where affiliates earn a percentage of a customer’s subscription or repeat purchases over time.
47. Referral: A customer or lead sent to the merchant’s website by an affiliate through their promotional efforts.
48. Retargeting: Serving targeted ads to users who have already visited a website or engaged with its content, encouraging them to return and complete a conversion.
49. Split Testing (A/B Testing): Testing two different versions of a landing page, ad, or other marketing element to determine which performs better.
50. Sub-Affiliate: An affiliate who is recruited by a primary affiliate in a 2-tier program, earning commissions for their performance under the primary affiliate’s account.
51. Target Audience: The specific group of people that an affiliate’s marketing efforts are aimed at, based on demographics, interests, and behaviors.
52. Text Link: A clickable piece of text that contains an affiliate link, used to direct users to a merchant’s website.
53. Tracking ID: A unique identifier attached to an affiliate link that tracks the traffic, clicks, and conversions generated by an affiliate.
54. Tracking Pixel: A small, invisible image (1×1 pixel) embedded on a web page or email to track user behavior, such as conversions or page views.
55. Traffic Source: The origin of website visitors, such as search engines, social media platforms, paid ads, or email campaigns.
56. Unique Click: A metric that counts only the first click a user makes on an affiliate link, ignoring multiple clicks from the same user.
57. Vanity URL: A shortened, customized URL that redirects to an affiliate link, often used to make links more attractive and memorable.
58. Vertical: A specific industry or market segment in affiliate marketing (e.g., finance, health, fashion) that affiliates focus on promoting.
59. Whitelabel: A service or product provided by one company that can be rebranded and sold by another company under their own brand name.
60. XML Feed: A data format that allows merchants to provide affiliates with real-time updates of their product catalogs, prices, and availability for dynamic promotions.

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