What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing creates a distributed sales force that only costs money when it produces results. Publishers (bloggers, review sites, YouTube channels, newsletters) join an affiliate program, promote a brand using unique tracking links, and earn a commission on every sale or lead that comes through their link. The brand benefits from marketing at scale without upfront costs; the affiliate benefits from monetizing their audience.

The affiliate ecosystem includes several types of partners: content affiliates (bloggers who write product reviews or comparison articles), coupon and deal sites (platforms like RetailMeNot that drive purchase intent with discount codes), email affiliates (newsletter publishers promoting offers to their list), and comparison sites (platforms that review products in a category and link to the top-rated ones). Each brings different traffic quality and intent.

Managing an affiliate program requires tracking technology (typically an affiliate network like ShareASale, CJ Affiliate, or Impact, or a direct integration like Partnerstack for B2B SaaS), competitive commission rates, promotional materials for affiliates, and fraud detection. The two biggest risks are affiliate fraud (fake clicks or sales) and brand safety (affiliates promoting your product in ways that damage your reputation).