This glossary collects the core terms you'll see across Buzzbassador, whether you're a merchant configuring a program or an ambassador using your dashboard. Each entry links out to a fuller article where one exists.

A person who promotes a brand to their own audience in exchange for a reward, tracked through a unique referral code and/or affiliate link. Inside Buzzbassador, ambassadors are called "Members" in the merchant admin (Members page, member profile, etc.), while the person themselves logs into a separate "Ambassador Dashboard" to view their own codes, referrals, and rewards. Depending on the brand, the same role may also be called an affiliate, creator, or influencer.

The page merchants use to collect new ambassador applicants for a program. Every form includes a required Account Section (name, email, PayPal email, and a preferred referral code) and an optional Profile Section (phone, birthday, social handles, etc.), plus any custom questions the merchant adds. Each form has a "Route To" setting that determines which program its applicants are assigned to on approval, which lets merchants run multiple forms to segment applicants automatically.

The process Buzzbassador uses to credit a sale to the specific member who drove it. Buzzbassador supports five attribution methods depending on program setup: referral code only, referral code link, UTM-only link, UTM link with auto-applied code, and BuzzLinks. A manually entered referral code at checkout always wins over any other method, and cookie-based methods (UTM links and BuzzLinks) are subject to the usual limitations of browser/device-based cookie tracking (blocked cookies, device switching, cookie expiration).

🔗 How order attribution works (all 5 tracking methods)

A unique, per-click affiliate link that solves the problem of referral codes leaking onto coupon aggregator sites. Instead of members sharing one permanent code, each click on a member's BuzzLink generates a brand-new, single-use discount code on the spot (format: BUZZ-[member-token]-[unique-suffix]), which expires immediately after redemption. The link itself stays the same and can be shared and clicked unlimited times; it's the code behind it that's dynamic. BuzzLinks require the Buzzbassador theme app embed to be enabled in the merchant's Shopify theme.

🔗 What are BuzzLinks and how do they work?

A time-bound activity merchants can layer on top of a program to reward members for something beyond standard commission on sales. Buzzbassador's Campaign Suite currently offers two campaign types: Sales Goal Campaigns and Post on Social Campaigns (see each below). Campaign rewards are tracked separately from regular order commissions and show under Source: Campaign in the Rewards tab.

A manual action on the Rewards page for merchants who pay members outside of Buzzbassador's built-in payment methods (for example, by hand via Zelle, cash, or another system not connected to the app). Marking a reward as Paid does not send any money; it only updates the reward's status to "Success (Paid)" so your records stay accurate, and it can trigger a "you've been paid" notification email to the member if that email is enabled. Merchants should only use this after the actual payment has already been sent externally.

A discount code shared by every member within a given program, used for members' own personal purchases from the store (for example, TEAM20 for 20% off). Unlike a referral code, it is not unique per member and is not used to track sales made to a member's audience. It can optionally be restricted so it only validates when the customer's email matches a member's email on file.

A campaign type where members are asked to post specified content about the brand (following whatever platform, hashtag, and content guidelines the merchant sets), then submit their post link for review. The merchant approves or declines each submission; approved submissions generate a reward, and declined ones let the member fix and resubmit. Rewards are paid per approved submission, separate from order commissions.

The configuration container that defines a segment of members' settings in Buzzbassador: referral codes, personal discount code, affiliate links (including whether BuzzLinks are used), and rewards. Also referred to as a "tier." Every account starts with one Default program, and merchants can create an unlimited number of additional programs regardless of subscription plan (plan tiers can limit the number of active application forms, but not the number of programs). Members belong to exactly one program at a time and can be moved between programs.

A unique code generated for each individual member (e.g., SARAH15) when they're approved into a program, which they share with their own audience. When a customer enters a member's referral code at checkout, the sale is attributed to that member and a commission is calculated if rewards are enabled for their program. All of a program's referral codes live inside a single Shopify "referral rule" that Buzzbassador creates and manages automatically.

🔗 Referral Codes vs. Discount Codes vs. BuzzLinks Codes

What a member earns for an attributed sale or completed campaign. Depending on the program, a reward can be a percentage commission, a flat amount, store credit, a gift card, free product, or (for programs with rewards turned off) $0. Rewards move through a lifecycle of statuses: Processing, Due, Paid, or Declined, and can be auto-declined automatically in certain scenarios (refunded orders, self-placed orders, restricted shipping countries, or rewards disabled for the member's program).

The number of days between when a member generates an attributed sale and when their reward becomes payable ("Due") on the Rewards page. The default is 5 days, and merchants can set this in Settings > Store Settings > Preferences. It exists to protect merchants from paying out commission on orders that later get refunded; if an order is refunded while its reward is still Processing, Buzzbassador automatically reduces the reward to match. Individual rewards can be fast-tracked to Due early using the Skip Processing action.

🔗 The Reward Processing Period: How It Works and Why It Matters

Another name for a Program (see above) when it's being used specifically to segment members into different reward levels, such as by audience size, tenure, or sales performance. Every section of a program (reward type/rate, referral codes, affiliate links, discount codes) can be configured independently per tier, so tiers can differ just in commission rate or be entirely different program types (a gifting-only tier alongside a full commission tier, for example).

🔗 How To Structure Your Members' Reward Tiers

A campaign type where members earn a bonus reward for hitting a sales target, either a quantity of orders or a dollar sum, within a set time frame (or ongoing, with no end date). This reward is on top of a member's regular per-order commission. A member's program needs at least one attribution source enabled (referral codes or affiliate links) for them to be able to generate the attributed sales a Sales Goal Campaign requires; the personal discount code does not count toward this.