Introducing Aspire’s Payout Rules: Smarter Commission Logic for Creator Campaigns

Affiliate marketing has evolved. Brands are no longer rewarding flat commission rates to every creator. Instead, they’re gamifying their programs to incentivize high performance — rewarding top sales drivers and encouraging behaviors that directly impact revenue. 

As commission structures become more sophisticated, so should the tools that power them. That’s why we’re excited to introduce our newest addition to our suite of affiliate marketing tools: Payout Rules.

With Payout Rules, brands can apply logic-based conditions to their commission tiers — based on product, date range, order type, and more. This unlocks powerful new ways to drive revenue, streamline workflows, and align creator incentives with business goals.

What are Payout Rules?

Payout Rules gives you the flexibility to fine-tune your commission structure by applying custom rules to each payout tier within an offer. These rules determine how and when commissions are awarded, empowering you to: 

• Incentivize the right creator behaviors 
• Align payouts with profitability 
• Run more targeted and effective campaigns

Prior to this update, brands could only offer flat or percentage-based payouts across all conversions. This meant:

• No way to differentiate commissions by products or collections
• No option to reward repeat purchases or subscriptions
• No ability to customize commissions for time-bound promotions (i.e. BFCM)
• No control over payouts for low-margin or low-value products

Now, brands can set up Payout Rules and apply rules based on the following conditions:

• Specific SKUs or product categories
• Minimum or maximum order value
• Date range
• Recurring purchases

How do Payout Rules work?

Each payout tier can include one or more payout rules, and each payout rule can contain multiple conditions. This flexible logic allows you to create highly customized commission structures that align with your campaign goals, whether that’s driving more conversions, encouraging repeat purchases, or protecting profit margins.

Here are a few powerful ways to leverage Payout Rules.

1. Drive more revenue with smarter incentives. 

Use commission rules to prioritize the products, behaviors, or customer actions that move the needle for your business. Whether you're looking to push high-margin items, increase average order value (AOV), or boost sales for a new collection, you can tailor payouts accordingly to guide creator focus and effort.

For example, you can reward a creator with higher commissions for selling a high-value product, such as a $1,000 outdoor patio set.

2. Automate rewards for subscriptions. 

Recurring purchases are great for long-term customer value — and now, you can incentivize creators to drive those outcomes without the hassle of manual tracking. With Payout Rules, you can automatically apply payouts to subscription renewals, upsells, or repeat orders, ensuring your creators are rewarded consistently.

For example, your creator gets paid a commission every month or every time a subscription is renewed.

3. Customize payout rules by timing. 

Time-sensitive campaigns require agile commission strategies. With Payout Rules, you can adjust payout logic based on specific date ranges to align with product launches, seasonal promotions, or major retail events like Black Friday-Cyber Monday. This helps drive urgency among creators and ensures you’re maximizing impact during high-opportunity windows.

For example, you can run time-sensitive promotions that give creators boosted commission rates for selling products from your brand’s Spring Collection.

4. Easily exclude low-value products.

Not every product in your catalog contributes equally to your bottom line. With Payout Rules, you can exclude low-margin SKUs, warranties, replacement parts, or add-ons from commission eligibility — helping you control costs and ensure payouts are tied to meaningful sales activity.

For example, prevent creators from earning commission on selling a $5 teaspoon, as compared to a $200 dinnerware set.

This level of flexibility means your affiliate strategy can be just as nuanced as the rest of your marketing — helping you get the most out of every creator partnership.

And starting today, all Aspire customers have access to Payout Rules. Log in to your Aspire account to get started.

Not on Aspire yet? Get in touch to see Payout Rules in action.