Why Use an Affiliate Program?
Affiliate marketing and referral programs are a great way to grow your business without spending money on traditional advertising. Instead of paying for ads, you reward people who send customers your way. This could be through cash payouts, discounts, or gift cards—whatever works for your business model.
Many businesses, from SaaS companies to local services, thrive on referrals. Even something as simple as a $25 gift card for every new customer can significantly boost your business. GoHighLevel makes it easy to track, manage, and pay affiliates automatically.
How to Set Up an Affiliate Program in GoHighLevel
Step 1: Access the Affiliate Manager
Go to the Affiliate Manager inside the Marketing tab. Here, you’ll see:
Revenue generated from affiliates
Conversion ratios
Total affiliates, leads, and payouts
Step 2: Create an Affiliate Campaign
Click “New Campaign”
Choose how referrals are tracked – This could be a funnel page, checkout page, form submission, survey, calendar booking, or external website.
Assign the product or service being promoted.
Set commission structure – Choose a percentage (e.g., 20% per sale) or a flat fee (e.g., $50 per referral).
Decide on payout timing – One-time, recurring (for subscriptions), or multi-tiered.
Set cookie duration – This determines how long a referral remains valid. If someone clicks an affiliate link but buys weeks or months later, should the affiliate still get paid? Options range from 30 days to a full year.
Define payout terms – Decide whether to pay immediately, after 15 days, 30 days, or longer. This ensures you only pay commissions on confirmed purchases (e.g., no refunds or cancellations).
Step 3: Manage and Track Affiliates
Once your campaign is live, you can monitor:
Who your affiliates are
How many leads and sales they generate
Pending and completed payouts
Step 4: Automate Affiliate Enrollment
Instead of manually adding affiliates, you can create a workflow:
Trigger: Form submission (e.g., someone signs up for your affiliate program).
Action: “Add to Affiliate Campaign.”
Optional: Send a welcome email with their unique tracking link and details on how they’ll get paid.
This can also be triggered when a customer makes a purchase, inviting them to refer others.
Paying Out Affiliates
GoHighLevel allows automated payouts through PayPal. When affiliates sign up, collect their PayPal email upfront to avoid issues later.
Inside the Payouts tab, you can:
Approve or deny payments
View pending, completed, and canceled payouts
Track total commissions paid out
Using Affiliate Media & Custom Settings
GoHighLevel also allows you to:
Upload marketing materials (logos, banners, videos) for affiliates.
Rename program terminology (e.g., change “affiliates” to “referral partners”).
Final Thoughts
Affiliate marketing is a powerful, low-cost way to bring in customers. Whether you're running a local service business, coaching program, or SaaS company, GoHighLevel makes managing affiliates easy.
If you’re not using referrals yet, now is the time to start. Set up a simple incentive, track performance, and let happy customers bring in more business for you.