Affiliate Manager lets your practice recruit patients, partners, or influencers to refer new business in exchange for a commission. Before you launch your first affiliate campaign, a few pieces need to be in place so commissions can be tracked accurately and your affiliates can get paid. Here is what to check off first.
Affiliate commissions are calculated from real transactions, so your practice needs a connected payment processor before any campaign can track sales.
Go to Settings > Integrations and connect Stripe Connect to enable payment processing for your account.
Tip: Aesthetix CRM also offers AX Pay, our own built-in payment processor with better rates than Stripe. If you have not set up payments yet, review the AX Pay help article before connecting Stripe, since it can serve as your primary processor for order forms, funnels, and your online store, including the sales your affiliates generate.
Your affiliates need something to refer patients to. Make sure the products, packages, or services tied to your campaign are listed in at least one of these places:
Funnels: add products to a funnel page so affiliates can share a direct link to a specific offer.
Website: add products to pages on your practice website.
Online Store: list products in your native Store if you are running a full storefront.
Products need to exist in one of these areas before you can attach them to an affiliate campaign, since campaigns track commissions against real purchases.
Decide how you will capture the leads your affiliates send you. Use Forms, Surveys, or Calendars to collect prospective patient information from affiliate referrals. Whichever tool you choose, make sure it is published and connected to the funnel or website page your affiliates will be sharing, so every referred lead is attributed correctly.
Once an affiliate earns a commission, you need a way to pay them. Connect a PayPal Business account under your payment settings for fast, straightforward affiliate payouts. This is separate from the payment processor you use to collect payments from patients: one takes payment in, the other sends commission payouts out.
Before inviting affiliates, decide on your commission structure (flat rate or percentage), payout schedule, and any rules around what counts as a qualifying referral. Having this settled ahead of time avoids confusion once affiliates start generating leads and sales.
With payments connected, products listed, lead tracking active, and a payout method ready, you can create your affiliate campaign, invite affiliates, and start tracking referrals and commissions from one dashboard.
Do I need both Stripe Connect and PayPal Business? Yes, they serve different purposes. Your payment processor (Stripe Connect or AX Pay) collects payment from patients for the products or services affiliates refer. PayPal Business is used to pay out commissions to your affiliates.
Can I use AX Pay instead of Stripe Connect for affiliate campaigns? Yes. AX Pay is Aesthetix CRM's own payment processor and offers better rates than Stripe. Set it up under payment settings and it can be used the same way Stripe Connect is for tracking affiliate-driven sales.
Where do I list the products my affiliates will promote? In Funnels, on your website, or in your native Online Store. A product needs to live in one of these places before it can be tracked as part of an affiliate campaign.
What if I do not have an online store? That is fine. You can list a product or service on a single funnel page or website page instead of building a full store.
Which lead tracking tool should I use? Forms, Surveys, and Calendars all work. Choose whichever matches how affiliates will send you leads, for example a booking link (Calendars) versus a general interest form (Forms).
Can I run an affiliate campaign without connecting PayPal Business? You can build the campaign, but you will not have a way to pay out commissions until a payout method is connected. Connect PayPal Business before your first affiliate is due a payment.
Where do affiliate commission triggers and automations live? Commission calculations and any automated actions tied to affiliate activity are managed in Workflows, not in Affiliate Manager itself. Set up your campaign prerequisites first, then build out automation separately.
Do affiliates need an Aesthetix CRM account to participate? No. Affiliates use a unique referral link or code tied to your campaign. They do not need direct access to your Aesthetix CRM account.
What happens if I change my product pricing after launching a campaign? Commission calculations are based on the transaction amount at the time of sale, so future pricing changes apply only to new sales going forward, not retroactively.
Can I run more than one affiliate campaign at a time? Yes. You can set up separate campaigns for different products, services, or affiliate groups, each with its own tracking and terms.
