How to Configure Affiliate Webhook Postbacks to Trigger Workflows

Introduction

You can connect your CRM's built-in affiliate program to your workflows using webhooks, also known as postbacks. This allows you to automatically trigger specific workflows when key events occur, such as when a new lead signs up via an affiliate link or a commission is earned. This guide walks you through setting up these essential postbacks.

Note: This article covers the main agency-level affiliate program, not the separate Affiliate Manager feature available within individual sub-accounts.

Enabling Activity Notifications

Before you begin, it's a good idea to enable email notifications for your affiliate portal. This provides an easy way to stay updated on referral activity.

1. In your Affiliate Dashboard, click your profile name in the top-right corner.
2. Select Notification Settings.
3. Turn notifications on and customize them to your preference.

Prerequisites and Initial Setup

To get started, you will need to navigate to the correct area and prepare your workflows.

1. Log into your main agency account in the CRM.
2. Navigate to a sub-account. It's recommended to use one dedicated to affiliate tracking to avoid unintentionally triggering other campaigns.
3. Click on the Affiliate Portal tab.
4. Go to Promoter Reports.
5. Scroll down and click on Postbacks.

Preparing Your Workflows

For each postback you create, you must have a corresponding workflow that uses an Inbound Webhook trigger. The general process for each workflow is:

• Create the postback in the affiliate portal.
• Send a test postback.
• Within the workflow trigger, fetch the sample request data.
• Save the field mapping reference.
• Save and publish the workflow.

Important: You must fetch a sample payload for the webhook trigger to save correctly.

The Five Core Postbacks

You will set up five postbacks to capture the full affiliate lifecycle. The following table outlines their purposes.

• Lead Subscribed: Triggers when someone completes the first step of an affiliate signup form but has not started a trial.
• New Referral (Trial Started): Triggers when someone starts a trial.
• First Payment Customer: Triggers the first time a user becomes a paying customer. This only fires once per customer.
• New Commission: Triggers every time a commission is generated. This can fire multiple times for the same customer.
• Cancelled Customer: Triggers when a customer account is fully closed and their subscription ends.

Step 1: Lead Subscribed Postback

This postback captures initial lead information.

1. In the Postbacks section, click Create Postback.
2. Set the Name to "1 - Lead Subscribed".
3. Select CRM Affiliate Program as the Campaign.
4. Select Lead Subscribed as the Trigger.
5. Open the corresponding workflow and copy its Inbound Webhook URL.
6. Paste this URL into the Postback URL field.
7. Click Test Postback.
8. Return to the workflow trigger, click Fetch Sample Request, save the mapping, and then save the workflow.

Step 2: Trial Signup / New Referral Postback

This postback fires when a trial begins.

1. Create a new postback.
2. Name it "2 - Trial Signup".
3. Select CRM Affiliate Program as the Campaign.
4. Select New Referral as the Trigger.
5. Paste the webhook URL from your second workflow into the Postback URL field.
6. Click Test Postback, fetch the sample in the workflow, save the mapping, and save the workflow.

Step 3: First Payment Customer Postback

This triggers when a user makes their first payment, either via an in-app purchase or trial conversion.

1. Create a new postback.
2. Name it "3 - First Payment Customer".
3. Select CRM Affiliate Program as the Campaign.
4. Select New Customer as the Trigger.
5. Paste the webhook URL from your third workflow.
6. Click Test Postback, fetch the sample in the workflow, save the mapping, and save the workflow.

Step 4: New Commission Postback

This triggers for each new commission event.

1. Create a new postback.
2. Name it "4 - New Commission".
3. Select CRM Affiliate Program as the Campaign.
4. Select New Commission as the Trigger.
5. Paste the webhook URL from your fourth workflow.
6. Click Test Postback, fetch the sample in the workflow, save the mapping, and save the workflow.

Tip: Since this can fire multiple times for the same contact, consider disabling workflow re-entry or using tagging logic in your workflow if you want to prevent repeated entries.

Step 5: Cancelled Customer Postback

This triggers when a customer's account is fully closed. Note that this fires when the subscription ends, not when a cancellation is requested. For example, a trial user's account closes at the trial's end, and a paid user's account closes at the end of their billing cycle.

1. Create a new postback.
2. Name it "5 - Cancelled Customer".
3. Select CRM Affiliate Program as the Campaign.
4. Select Lead Cancelled as the Trigger.
5. Paste the webhook URL from your fifth workflow.
6. Click Test Postback, fetch the sample in the workflow, save the mapping, and save the workflow.

Finalizing the Setup

After configuring all five workflows and their corresponding postbacks, you must publish the workflows for the system to work.

1. Open each of the five workflows.
2. Click Publish.
3. Click Save.

If the workflows are not published, the postbacks will not trigger.