Program Tiers is LoudCrowd's structured incentive system: ranked tiers with their own qualification requirements, reward categories (welcome gift, monthly gift, monthly tasks, lifetime milestones), linked commission rates, and automatic evaluation each period.

Depending on how your program is set up today, you may or may not already have some of these things in place — a program-level welcome gift, monthly recurring rewards, commission tiers configured separately, auto-accept rules, and so on. That's fine. The setup steps below work whether you're moving from legacy Program Activity rewards or building your incentives from scratch.

Availability: Program Tiers is available for every program. The metrics you can measure are the same on every platform. The gifts you can give, and how the codes are provisioned, depend on whether your store runs on Shopify or a custom eCommerce platform — see What You Can Give in the Program Design Guide. Your Client Strategist helps you plan the structure and switch your program over — reach out to them before you start.

Do I have to remove my existing Program Activity rewards? Only if you have them. If your program is currently using legacy Program Activity rewards, work with your Client Strategist to deactivate them so creators don't earn from both systems. If you don't have any legacy rewards configured, no action is needed.

Will my existing creators automatically receive a welcome gift when I switch? No. Welcome gifts only send when a creator is first approved into the program — existing approved members won't be re-welcomed, even when you move them into a tier with a welcome gift. If you want to give your current members something at launch, use a Monthly Gift or a one-time manual reward instead.

Will high-performing creators automatically earn milestone rewards for things they've already done? No. Lifetime milestones are forward-looking: a creator who has already passed the threshold before you create the milestone will not be granted it retroactively. Creators below the threshold who later cross it earn it normally. Set milestones at levels your creators will reach after you launch them.

What happens to my creators' current commission rates when I assign them a tier? A creator's commission rate is set to the commission tier linked to their program tier — this overwrites their previous rate. If a tier has no commission tier configured, assigning it can clear the creator's existing rate. Set the commission tier on every program tier before you assign members.

Can I have some creators on tiers and others not? A creator without a tier gets nothing from Program Tiers (no rewards, and the tier system doesn't drive their commission). Make sure every current member is assigned a tier when you switch.

Will the first automatic evaluation move or demote my creators? It can — automatic tiers re-evaluate based on measured performance, and an established creator may move if their recent performance is below a tier's requirements. To avoid surprises during the transition, use Manual tiers for migrated members (Manual tiers aren't moved by auto-evaluation), or confirm your requirements match real performance before the first 1st.

How often are tiers re-evaluated? Based on your evaluation period: monthly (1 month), quarterly (3 months), semi-annual (6 months), or annual (12 months). Evaluations run on the 1st of the month. Nothing is evaluated by default: new tiers start with Automatic evaluation off, and no Evaluation Period is preselected. An account Owner must click one of the four period buttons in the Incentives tab, and until they do, tier evaluation does not run (monthly gifts and tasks still do).

When is the first evaluation? The very next 1st of the month after your tiers exist and a period is selected. It does not wait a full period, and it looks back over the full window even though your tiers were only just set up. Select a 3-month period on September 15th and members are re-tiered on October 1st based on July–September activity; the 3-month spacing only applies after that (January 1st, April 1st, and so on). If you want the first reshuffle later, keep your tiers on Manual until the month before the evaluation you want to count — evaluations still run on schedule while tiers are Manual, they just don't move anyone. Dated examples for 1-month and 3-month periods, including how a recently approved creator is treated, are in How Program Tiers Work After Setup.

When do members actually move between tiers? Members move up or down only when an evaluation runs. Each evaluation looks back over the previous 1, 3, 6, or 12 completed months (your Evaluation Period) and places members based on that performance. Members who joined the program partway through that window won't be moved down until they've completed a full one. Manual tiers are never changed by evaluation.

Can I run a tier without a commission tier? You can, but it's risky during transition: assigning a creator to a tier with no commission tier clears their existing commission rate. Set the commission tier on every tier before assigning members.

Where do creators see their tier, progress, and rewards? In the Creator Hub. Each tier task and milestone shows the creator their current progress (e.g., "3 of 5 posts"), and earned rewards appear on their Earnings page to claim.

What if I want to invite top creators to a special tier without them being subject to auto-evaluation? Use a Manual tier (invite-only). Creators in a Manual tier are never moved by automatic evaluation — they stay put unless you move them.

Programs that are eligible for tiers but haven't set any up yet will show an upgrade banner at the top of the Program Activity tab with a "Set up tiers" button. Clicking it takes you straight to the Incentives tab to start building your tier structure.

Once tiers are configured, the program defaults to the Incentives tab instead of Program Activity. If your program has both tiers and legacy Program Activity rewards during the transition, you'll see a "Back to Program Activity" link at the bottom of the Incentives tab — use it to navigate back and verify that legacy rewards have been deactivated.

Welcome gifts only send when a creator is first approved into your program. Assigning a tier to someone who is already an approved member does not re-send a welcome gift — so you can safely move all of your current members onto tiers, and nobody gets a duplicate welcome gift. Going forward, new creators approved into a tier receive that tier's welcome gift once.

The flip side: your existing members also won't retroactively receive a tier's welcome gift. If you want to give your current members something at launch, use a Monthly Gift or a one-time manual reward instead of relying on the Welcome Gift.

A lifetime milestone is measured from the moment you create it. A creator who has already passed the threshold before the milestone existed will not be granted it retroactively.

For example: if you add a "Drive $10K lifetime revenue" milestone and an existing creator has already driven $50K, they will not receive that milestone reward — they were already past it when you created it. Creators who are below the threshold when you launch the milestone and later cross it will earn it normally.

Set milestones at levels your creators will reach after launch, and don't expect them to reward past performance.

Each program tier can be linked to a commission tier. When you assign a creator to a tier, their commission rate is set to that tier's commission tier — this overwrites their current commission rate. If a tier has no commission tier set, assigning it can clear the creator's existing commission rate.

Set the commission tier on every tier before you assign members, so no one's rate is unexpectedly changed or wiped.

A creator's tier drives all of their new rewards. Any approved member who is not assigned a tier simply receives nothing from Program Tiers — there's no error, they're just inactive in it. Make sure every current member is assigned a tier when you switch.

If you previously had legacy Program Activity rewards configured, they run as an independent system from Program Tiers. If both are still active for a program, a creator could earn from both in the same month — a double-reward. The Incentives UI hides the legacy Program Activity tab, but the old rewards can keep firing in the background until they're deactivated. Your Client Strategist will make sure your legacy rewards are turned off as part of the switch.

Tiers are re-evaluated automatically on the 1st of the month. The first evaluation runs on the very next 1st after you select an Evaluation Period — it does not wait a full period — and it measures the full look-back window (the previous 1, 3, 6, or 12 completed months), even though your tiers were only just set up. Select a 3-month period on September 15th and the first evaluation is October 1st, measuring July through September. An established creator may move if their performance over that window is below a tier's requirements. To avoid surprises during the transition, use Manual tiers for migrated members (automatic evaluation never moves them) until the month before the evaluation you want to count, or confirm your requirements match your members' real performance before the first 1st.

Your Client Strategist can plan your tier structure, switch your program over, deactivate your legacy rewards, and confirm your members are assigned and earning correctly. Reach out to them to get started.