So, you’ve finalized your newest WordPress plugin and are promoting it across all channels available to you. You’ve written about your plugin on your website. You have shared the breaking news on all of your social media networks.
But there is more to be done.
In fact, as a product creator, you should be thinking about setting up an affiliate program for your WordPress plugin.
WordPress has long been the perfect platform for creating an affiliate program, whether you use a WordPress plugin solution or a third-party alternative.
That said, since setting up an affiliate program is one of the best ways for plugin developers to generate additional income off their projects, it is no wonder there are so many affiliate program solutions available today. That’s why we are going to take a look at some of them best ones on the market today, so you can get started with your affiliate program right away.
WordPress Affiliate Program Plugin Solutions
Using a WordPress affiliate program plugin is going to be the easiest, most intuitive way to set up an affiliate program dedicated to your WordPress plugin and maximize your earning potential. This is because many of them work straight out the box, require very little configuration, and all of them integrate directly into your existing WordPress website.
AffiliateWP
AffiliateWP is one of the most popular, and reliable, affiliate marketing plugins on the market today. Created by the talented team over at Pippin’s Plugins, you can rest assured this affiliate program solution will have high quality code, security, and support.
Features
- Unlimited affiliates
- eCommerce and membership site integration
- Real-time reporting and affiliate tracking
- Affiliate dashboard for easy management
- Referral link generator
- Coupon codes
- Easy affiliate registration
- Custom referral rates (flat or % rate on global, per-affiliate, or per-product basis)
Price: $99
YITH WooCommerce Affiliates
YITH WooCommerce Affiliates is the perfect WordPress affiliate program plugin for those running a WooCommerce website to sell their plugins and other products. Let your loyal customers take part in promoting your newest plugin using your easy to register for affiliate program.
Features
- Affiliate link generator
- Convenient affiliate dashboard
- Filter reports based on date
- Automatic referral calculations
- Set cookies expirations
- Approve/ban any affiliate
- Varying commission amounts based on performance
- Easy affiliate registration
Price: FREE
Affiliates Manager
Affiliates Manager is another free affiliate program plugin designed to drive traffic to your website and generate more sales of your newly developed plugin. Maintain complete control over your affiliate program, make affiliate registrations easy on your site visitors, and easily track as many affiliates as you want, all in real time.
Features
- Simple installation and setup
- eCommerce platform support
- Mass payments using PayPal
- MailChimp integration for autoresponding
- Unlimited creatives including banners and text links
- Translation ready
- Flat rate or % payouts
- Real-time reporting
Price: FREE
Affiliates
Affiliates is packed with powerful tools for setting up and managing a successful affiliate program for your WordPress plugin. Working right out of the box, it also comes with a solid foundation so developers seeking a little bit more customization can dive in and build unique affiliate programs.
Features
- Automated affiliate registration
- Integrate with any eCommerce platform
- Unlimited affiliates
- Track leads using Contact Form 7
- Shortcodes for showing affiliates their performance
- Easy referral storage and affiliate attribution
- Affiliate Area page creation capability
- Email notifications to new affiliates
Price: FREE
Ultimate Affiliate Pro
Ultimate Affiliate Pro is a premium affiliate program plugin for WordPress intended to increase your plugin’s sales, drive traffic to your site, generate quality leads, and increase your SEO efforts. With easy management of affiliates and ads in one convenient location, this affiliate program solution is well worth its premium price.
Features
- Unlimited affiliates creation
- Classify affiliates by rank and assign commission levels
- Lifetime commission options
- Easy PayPal and Stripe payouts
- Integrate with social media networks and add share buttons
- Custom registration form fields
- Translation ready
- Multiple email notification types
Price: $38
Affiliate Platform Solutions
In addition to utilizing a WordPress plugin, you can also setup an affiliate program using a more complex solution – an affiliate platform. In short, an affiliate platform is a network of affiliates that you can access for increasing affiliate sales. With an affiliate platform, you can also start, manage, and grow your program.
ShareASale
ShareASale is a large affiliate platform with thousands of merchants listed, proving that it’s a reliable and successful place to promote your WordPress plugin to eager affiliates.
Features
- 4-week training program for affiliate program building
- Continued webinar training
- Real-time tracking for clicks, sales, and commissions
- Segmentation capability for making improvements
- Clickstream attribution
- Program diagnostics with reports
- Merchant API for retrieving reporting data
- Affiliate pre-screening
Price: $650 to get started, $25/month plus transaction fees
CJ Affiliate
CJ Affiliate is by far one of the largest affiliate platforms available today. It comes packed with lots of customization options for maximizing your affiliate sales, encouraging people to buy, and establishing your new plugin as one to contend with.
Features
- Timely affiliate and commission payments
- Intuitive cross-device tracking
- Powerful dashboard for accessing all metrics
- Email campaigns and coupon vouchers
- Performance-based pricing model
- Lead generation tools
- App installation and in-app transactions
- Placements Marketplace for easily promoting inventory
Price: Inquire for Pricing
Final Thoughts
In the end, setting up an affiliate program for your WordPress plugin is not as challenging as it may seem. And, with so many available options, both free and premium, simple and complex, you can achieve whatever you want with your affiliate program and start generating more revenue than ever for the hard work you put into your plugin.
Whether you want to set up an affiliate program and integrate it directly into your WordPress website, using any number of WordPress affiliate program plugins, or use an off-site, third-party affiliate platform, the lead generation, affiliate sales, and increased brand exposure you gain is the way to becoming a successful WordPress plugin developer.
About the Author
Lindsay Liedke is a freelance writer who loves all things WordPress. When she is not writing she can be found spending family time with her son and two silly nephews.