# Affiliate Program
The Affiliate Program template helps you set up a campaign where affiliates (partners, influencers, or content creators) promote your business and earn rewards for driving conversions. It’s designed for structured partnerships with a performance-driven focus.
### Campaign Goals
Affiliate Programs support one goal type:
* **Conversion events** – Reward affiliates when their referrals complete your defined conversion goal(s). Example: affiliates earn commission when referred customers make a purchase
### Participation Rules
In an Affiliate Program, the admin controls whether referrals receive affiliate privileges.
**Admin can choose to:**
* Convert referrals to affiliates (manually or automatically) so they can generate their own referral link
* Keep referrals as customers only, without affiliate privileges
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**NOTE:** You can add referrals to a secondary campagin (most commonly a referral campaign) with the “Add referred subscribers to a second campaign” option. This allows referrals to automatically join a campagin of their own (with different rules) and start referring!
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**For referrals without affiliate privileges:**
* Their profile shows no referral code and no referral link
* Admin sees a **Convert to Affiliate** button to upgrade them at any time
**Referrals can become affiliates in two ways:**
1. Manual conversion by the admin using the **Convert to Affiliate** button
2. Self-activation by completing the **Advocate Dashboard widget** (if already in the campaign or cookied)
👉 If a referral without affiliate privileges tries to log in to the Advocate Dashboard widget, they will see this error: *"You are currently not an advocate for this campaign. Please sign up or contact the campaign manager for access."*
### Widgets & Activation
ReferralHero provides three widgets for Affiliate Program campaigns:
* **Advocate Dashboard widget** – For affiliate signup, login, and management
* **Signup widget** – A customizable signup form to capture referrals
* **Referral Welcome Banner** – A banner-style signup option to engage referrals
**In Affiliate Programs:**
* If a referral fills in the **Advocate Dashboard widget**, they are automatically converted into an affiliate (referral link created, affiliate automations triggered)
* Automatic conversion does **not** occur through the **Signup widget** or **Referral Welcome Banner**
### Rewards
* Supports the following reward types: Conversion Bonuses, Rewards for Advocates, and Manual Rewards
* Does not support the Organic Signup Bonus
* Conversion Bonuses can only be configured for referrals
### Automations
Affiliate Programs support most automation flows, except:
* **Welcome Flow → Activation email/SMS** is not available
### When to Use
Use the Affiliate Program template if you want to:
* Build a structured network of affiliates, partners, or influencers
* Reward affiliates strictly based on conversions
* Control whether referrals themselves can become affiliates
* Manage affiliate activation more carefully compared to open referral programs
### Key Features
Alongside features available in all templates (e.g., customizable rewards, automated tracking, double-sided rewards), Affiliate Programs offer:
* **Performance-driven structure** – Rewards are tied only to conversions
* **Admin-controlled referral rights** – Decide if referrals can be converted into affiliates
* **Controlled activation** – Only the Advocate Dashboard widget triggers automatic affiliate activation
* **Manual conversion option** – Admin can upgrade referrals to affiliates at any time with the Convert to Affiliate button
* **Cross-campaign flexibility** – When the **“Add referred subscribers to a second campaign”** option is enabled, referred subscribers are automatically added as organic subscribers to the selected secondary campaign
