A performance-based arrangement in which partners earn compensation for driving tracked traffic, leads, or sales to a business.
A channel that extends a brand’s reach through publishers, creators, and referral partners.
Short and sweet:
A performance-based arrangement in which partners earn compensation for driving tracked traffic, leads, or sales to a business.
A channel that extends a brand’s reach through publishers, creators, and referral partners.
See also: Referral Marketing, Conversion, Attribution
Affiliate marketing pays independent partners a commission for driving a sale or lead, tracked through a unique link or code assigned to each affiliate, aligning the affiliate’s incentive directly with actual results rather than paying simply for exposure or clicks alone. Because payment only happens after a genuine conversion, it’s often considered a relatively low-risk channel for the business paying the commission, even though it can still represent a substantial cost at scale once a program grows large. Affiliates range from individual bloggers and reviewers to large coupon and deal sites, and each type tends to attract a noticeably different kind of customer to the business they’re promoting.
Wirecutter earns a share of every purchase made through its product recommendation links, a textbook example of affiliate marketing funding an entire editorial operation.
Amazon’s program for this, Amazon Associates, pays bloggers and YouTubers a small commission whenever someone buys a product through their personalized link.
Fitness influencers frequently practice this same model by sharing a discount code for a supplement brand, earning a cut of every sale traced back to that specific code.
