commission mechanics
Lead
A referred visitor who completes a form or signup — the qualifying action in CPL programs.
What is Lead?
In affiliate marketing, a lead is a referred visitor who completes a defined information-submission action — such as a name and email form, quote request, or trial signup — triggering a cost-per-lead (CPL) commission, typically without requiring a purchase.
Lead In Practice
Lead-based affiliate programs are common in finance, insurance, legal services, and B2B software, where the acquisition journey involves a sales process rather than an immediate online purchase. The affiliate drives the visitor to fill out a form; the merchant handles the sales conversion. CPL rates vary by industry: insurance leads pay $15–$40, financial services $20–$100, B2B software trials $20–$50 per verified registration. Qualification criteria matter as much as the payment rate — some programs pay for any form submission, others require a verified work email, a minimum income level, or a specific geographic location. Understanding exactly what qualifies as a payable lead before promoting is essential, because traffic that generates high form-submission volume but low qualification rates produces commissions that reverse during the validation period.
Example of Lead
An affiliate promotes a B2B CRM tool, which pays a CPL rate for each qualified lead defined as a free trial signup with a verified work email. They drive 400 clicks and 48 trial signups, but only 31 meet the work-email requirement. Those 31 are payable leads. The 17 personal Gmail signups are not counted. The affiliate adds a note near the CTA clarifying that the trial requires a work email — which filters unqualified signups earlier and increases the qualifying lead percentage per click from 64% to 82% in the following month.