What are common commission structures in IT affiliate marketing?
1. Pay-Per-Sale (One-Time Commission)
- Affiliates earn a fixed fee or percentage for each confirmed sale
- Common for downloadable software, licenses, or service packages
- Example: 20% of a ₹10,000 CRM tool purchase = ₹2,000 commission
- Often includes a minimum qualifying period before payout
- Simple and preferred for one-time purchases or consulting services
2. Recurring Commission (Subscription-Based)
- Affiliates earn a percentage of every monthly or annual payment
- Best suited for SaaS, hosting, or IT monitoring tools with active billing cycles
- Example: 25% monthly commission on a ₹1,000 subscription = ₹250/month per customer
- Encourages affiliates to focus on retention and customer value
- Commonly used by SaaS providers like Freshworks, Zoho, and others
3. Tiered Commission Model
- Offers increased rewards as affiliates achieve performance milestones
- Example: 15% for 1–10 sales, 20% for 11–25 sales, 25% for 25+ sales/month
- Motivates high-performing affiliates to scale promotion
- Encourages consistency and long-term relationships
- Useful for IT products with competitive markets or long sales cycles
4. Pay-Per-Lead (Qualified Lead Generation)
- Pays affiliates for generating a qualified lead or demo booking
- Leads must meet criteria (e.g., company size, region, valid contact info)
- Example: ₹500–₹1,000 per verified lead for B2B IT consulting services
- Effective for high-ticket services with long sales cycles
- Requires lead validation through CRM or manual approval
5. Hybrid Commission Models
- Combines multiple structures such as a flat fee per lead + recurring commission on conversion
- Example: ₹500 per lead + 10% recurring on subscription
- Balances volume and quality by rewarding both referrals and outcomes
- Ideal for flexible IT businesses offering trials, demos, or multi-tiered products
- Suitable for enterprise SaaS or multi-service IT firms
