Glossary
Referral Marketing Terms
Learn the key concepts behind referral programs, affiliate management, and viral growth with ViralRef.
Affiliate#
- A person who promotes a business through referral links in exchange for rewards or commissions. In ViralRef, affiliates can be clients, influencers, or agency partners. Learn more →
Affiliate Group#
- A segment of affiliates that share custom commission rates. Group commissions override program defaults and commission tiers.
Affiliate Portal#
- A self-service dashboard where affiliates view their referral link, click stats, conversion history, and earnings. Login via phone OTP. Learn more →
Attribution#
- The process of linking a customer's purchase to the affiliate who referred them. ViralRef uses Square payment webhooks for automatic attribution. Learn more →
Bounty#
- A time-limited challenge with a bonus reward to motivate affiliates beyond standard commissions. Affiliates submit proof of completion for approval. Learn more →
Click-Through Rate (CTR)#
- The percentage of people who click a referral link after seeing it. Calculated as clicks divided by impressions.
Commission#
- The reward paid to an affiliate for a successful referral. Can be a percentage of revenue or a fixed amount per conversion.
Commission Tier#
- A graduated commission structure where rates increase as affiliates hit performance milestones (e.g., higher rate after 10 conversions).
Conversion#
- A completed referral action, typically a purchase by a referred customer. ViralRef tracks conversions automatically via Square payment webhooks. Learn more →
Coupon Reward#
- A single-use discount that auto-applies at Square POS when the referred customer checks out. No code entry needed. Learn more →
Fraud Detection#
- Automated screening of referrals for suspicious patterns: self-referrals, duplicate payments, rapid conversions, and disposable email addresses. Learn more →
Gift Card Reward#
- A Square gift card issued as a referral reward. Keeps the reward money inside the business and guarantees a return visit. Learn more →
K-Factor#
- A viral growth metric measuring how many new customers each existing customer generates. A K-factor above 1 means exponential growth.
Payout#
- The process of distributing earned commissions to affiliates. Payouts follow a workflow: Draft, Exported, Paid. Learn more →
Referral Code#
- A unique identifier (e.g., sarah-abc123) assigned to each affiliate for tracking clicks and conversions back to the referrer.
Tracking Link#
- A URL containing an affiliate's referral code that tracks clicks, signups, and purchases attributed to that affiliate.