Life Time Cookie, the Real Benefit to Promoting WA

byTheCatherine

14K followers

2 months ago

In live chat last week a member asked does the last affiliate link the buyer clicks on before joining gets paid a commission on a sale. The answer was a resounding yes. That is not true Wealthy Affiliate has and always has had a lifetime cookie. I have checked this with Kyle, yesterday, as I was the only person in the chat with that opinion about lifetime cookies.

What is a Lifetime Cookie

A "lifetime cookie" in the context of affiliate marketing refers to a tracking mechanism that attributes sales or conversions to an affiliate for the lifetime of the customer, rather than for a single transaction or within a limited tracking period. This means that once a customer clicks on an affiliate's link and makes a purchase ( which activates the cookie), any future purchases made by that customer will also be credited to the affiliate, without the need for another click-through from the affiliate's link.

What Does A lifetime Cookie mean For you, the Affiliate?

A lifetime cookie for a membership site that always pays commission to the first affiliate link pressed operates under what is called " a first click attribution" model. Here's how it typically works:

First Click Attribution

The first affiliate link that a potential customer clicks sets a cookie in their browser with a unique affiliate ID. This ID is associated with the affiliate who provided the first click, regardless of any other affiliate links the customer may click on afterward.

Cookie Placement

Once the cookie is placed on the customer's device, it stores information linking that customer's subsequent purchases or sign-ups back to the originating affiliate's ID. This cookie is what's referred to as a "lifetime" cookie because it doesn't expire after a short period or after the first purchase.

Membership Sign-Up

When the customer signs up for the membership site, the system checks for the presence of this cookie. If found, the affiliate ID within the cookie is used to attribute the membership sign-up (and any future recurring payments) to the affiliate whose link was first clicked.Yes that means that if someone joins Wealthy Affiliate as a monthly member and subsequently wants to pay annually, you are still credited with the commission.

Recurring Commissions

For membership sites, where users pay a recurring fee whether it be monthly, or annually, the affiliate earns a commission not just on the initial sign-up but on every renewal payment as well. This is where the "lifetime" aspect becomes particularly lucrative, as the affiliate continues to earn from a customer they referred for as long as the customer remains a paying member. This recurring income can become a substantial sum.

• Customer Lifetime Value: This model emphasizes the lifetime value of each customer brought in by affiliates. It rewards affiliates for introducing new, loyal customers to the membership site, incentivizing them to target high-quality leads likely to maintain their subscriptions.

What Does A lifetime Cookie mean For you, the Affiliate in Wealthy?

If you are the first referral when someone has a starter account and they don't get upgrade for months, or years then you get paid.

Customer Influence Over A life Time Cookie

Request for Change

A customer might request that their purchase be attributed to a different affiliate, possibly due to a personal connection or because they feel another affiliate was more directly responsible for their decision to upgrade or renew. Whether such requests are honored can depend on the merchant's policies and the specifics of the request. In the case of Wealthy Affiliates the terms and conditions means it NEVER happens, the lifetime cookie stands.

Cookie Management

Customers can attempt to "break" a lifetime cookie by clearing cookies or using privacy tools, but this does not inherently allow them to choose which affiliate gets credit for their actions. Customers can do this when they are a paid member and upgrade to annual. The established procedure of a lifetime cookie holds at Wealthy Affiliate and the original link stands.

The advantages and Disadvantages of a Lifetime Cookie

Many newbies click a lot of links before they commit to creating a starter account. It's a bit like kissing a lot of toads before getting your prince. It's tough on the Prince not the toads. The Prince is the last in a long line and he get left out of the cash. He does get his Princess.

I have been here a long time, and in that time i have seen many blog posts along the line of "Kyle stole my commission!". This happens when a newbie affiliate gives her sister her link, her sister joins and............. Lo and behold Affiliate A doesn't get paid. It seems obvious to the Newbie that Wealthy Affiliate has stolen the commission. In reality what has happened is that the first referrer gets paid.

How Does This Happen

The sister has clicked on a Wealthy affiliate link before she clicked on her sisters.

There is no Benefit to Any Membership Site Stealing Commissions, And WA is no exception.

New members are the life blood of ANY membership site. Wealthy Affiliate is no different. The whole structure of Wealthy Affiliate is to teach newbies to promote this website and earn. Kyle and Carson would be cutting off their noses, big time, if they stole commissions. It has never happened. What happened was that affiliate A, the newbie lost out to life time cookies. The first affiliate won the commission.

This is a policy decision here and it has more advantages for affiliates than disadvantages.

So there you have it Wealthy Affiliate has a lifetime cookie