Affiliate marketing fundamentals
Understand the people, platforms, links and payments that make the channel work.
How an affiliate sale works
Step 1: The brand sets a commission, e.g. 10% of each sale, and approves partners.
Tap any step to see what happens.
1. What affiliate marketing actually is
A brand pays an outside partner when that partner creates an agreed result, such as a sale or qualified lead. Payment is tied to measured performance rather than simply publishing an ad.
- The advertiser is the brand paying for a result.
- The publisher or affiliate is the partner promoting the brand.
- The customer should pay the same price whether or not a commission is earned.
2. How tracking and payment connect
A customer clicks a unique tracking link. The tracking platform records the click and later matches an eligible purchase or lead to it. The brand reviews the result, then an approved commission becomes payable.
- A cookie window is the time in which a click may receive credit; it is not a guarantee of credit.
- Attribution rules decide which marketing touchpoint receives credit.
- Returns, cancellations and invalid leads can reverse a pending commission.
3. The people around a program
An affiliate manager recruits and supports partners, monitors performance and protects program quality. A network or tracking platform supplies technology; an agency may run the day-to-day program for the brand.
- Networks, agencies and publishers do different jobs.
- A program can be managed in-house, by an agency, or through a mixed model.
- Clear ownership matters because partner questions and approvals require fast decisions.
Manager checklist
- Name the customer action the business would pay for.
- Identify who owns commercial terms, tracking and partner relationships.
- Write a one-sentence explanation of the channel without using industry jargon.
A simple tracked sale
A comparison site links to a $100 order. The brand offers 8% commission. If the order is eligible and remains valid, the publisher earns $8. The brand may also pay platform or management fees, so the commission is not the channel's entire cost.
Treating affiliate marketing as a coupon-only channel. Coupon and loyalty partners are important types, but content sites, comparison services, creators, technology partners and specialist communities can also participate.
What normally happens before a publisher commission is paid?
Key terms
- Advertiser / Merchant / Brand
- The company running the affiliate program and paying commission.
- Affiliate / Publisher / Partner
- A person or business that promotes your brand and earns when it works.
- Affiliate link / Tracking link
- A unique URL that identifies the partner who sent the visitor.
- Affiliate network
- A marketplace that connects brands and publishers and handles tracking and payments, e.g. CJ, Awin, Rakuten.
- Affiliate program
- Your structured offer to partners: what you pay, for what, and under which rules.
- Cookie
- A small file stored in the browser that remembers which partner referred the visitor.
Put this into practice
AFFN builds your private affiliate platform for $0 setup and $0 monthly — you pay 1% of approved partner sales.