{"id":20902,"date":"2020-01-30T13:42:07","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T13:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital\/affiliate-marketing"},"modified":"2026-09-28T14:58:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T14:58:15","slug":"affiliate-marketing","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/affiliate-marketing","title":{"rendered":"Affiliate Marketing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"boxpad alignright wp-image-23262 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/affiliate-marketing.jpg\" alt=\"Affiliate Marketing\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/affiliate-marketing.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/affiliate-marketing-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><strong>Definition:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Affiliate marketing<\/strong> is a partnership model in which a business rewards third parties for generating sales, registrations, or other measurable actions through tracked links or codes. The affiliate promotes the offer through its own channels and receives a commission when the agreed result occurs.<\/p>\n<p>Performance-based remuneration distinguishes this model from a conventional advertising placement. <strong>A commission depends on program rules, attribution, and validation<\/strong>, not only on someone clicking a link.<\/p>\n\n<h2>How affiliate marketing works<\/h2>\n<p>The advertiser creates an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/affiliate-program\">affiliate program<\/a> directly or through a specialist network. Each affiliate receives unique links, identifiers, or codes that connect an interaction with its promotional activity. <strong>Tracking links the recommendation to a verifiable action.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When a user follows one of these links, the system records data such as the affiliate identifier, visit time, and subsequent action. The program applies an attribution window and a specified model, which may recognize the last click, first click, or another rule. <strong>Programs do not all attribute conversions in the same way.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The conversion remains pending until the advertiser confirms that it meets its conditions.<\/strong> A return, cancellation, duplicate registration, or fraudulent action may invalidate the commission. The program then pays approved amounts according to its settlement schedule.<\/p>\n<h2>Participants<\/h2>\n<p>The relationship may be managed directly or involve intermediaries. <strong>Each participant has a different role in promotion, tracking, and payment.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Advertiser:<\/strong> The business or professional offering the product, service, or rewarded action.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Affiliate:<\/strong> The person, publisher, or company that publishes the recommendation and sends traffic through its identifiers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>User:<\/strong> The person who views the promotion and may complete the action.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Affiliate network:<\/strong> A platform that connects advertisers and affiliates and provides tracking, validation, or payment management.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Technology platform:<\/strong> The system that generates links, records events, and produces reports when a program is managed directly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Affiliates may operate through comparison sites, specialist publications, newsletters, content sites, communities, creators, or authorized advertising. <strong>Influence alone does not define an affiliate<\/strong>: there must be an identifiable relationship with the program and performance-based remuneration.<\/p>\n<h2>Compensation models<\/h2>\n<p>The rewarded event depends on the advertiser&#8217;s objective and the value of the action. <strong>A commission may be fixed, percentage-based, or tiered<\/strong>, and its terms should specify which actions qualify.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Pay per sale:<\/strong> A fixed amount or percentage is paid when a purchase is completed and validated.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pay per lead:<\/strong> The commission applies to a registration or inquiry that meets agreed requirements.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pay per action or CPA:<\/strong> Rewards a defined action such as a trial, download, or booking.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pay per call:<\/strong> Uses phone numbers or call-tracking systems to attribute valid calls.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pay per click:<\/strong> Uses a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/cpc\">CPC<\/a> model, although it is less characteristic of performance-based affiliate marketing.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pay per impression:<\/strong> Uses <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/cpm\">CPM<\/a> and is closer to exposure-based advertising.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some programs combine models or add incentives for volume, new customers, or specific categories. <strong>The headline commission alone is not enough to compare programs<\/strong>: conversion, cancellations, attribution duration, and payment schedules also matter.<\/p>\n<h2>Channels and platforms<\/h2>\n<p>Promotion may appear in reviews, comparisons, tutorials, product selections, emails, or social posts. <strong>Content should provide context and clearly disclose the commercial nature of the links<\/strong>, particularly when a recommendation can generate remuneration.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Well-known programs and networks include Amazon Associates, eBay Partner Network, Awin, CJ Affiliate, Impact, Rakuten Advertising, and ClickBank.<\/strong> Booking.com and other travel businesses also operate programs directly or through networks. Availability, supported countries, and terms may vary.<\/p>\n<p>The historical list included ShareASale, Publicideas, and generic brand names. <strong>Platform selection requires confirming that a program remains active and accepts the intended channel<\/strong>, as well as checking restrictions on trademarks, paid advertising, coupons, email, or social media.<\/p>\n<h2>Measurement and risks<\/h2>\n<p>Reports commonly show clicks, actions, conversion rate, order value, pending commissions, and approved commissions. <strong>Evaluation should separate recorded activity, validated conversions, and revenue actually paid<\/strong>, because they do not represent the same result.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fraud may include false registrations, cookies placed without a valid interaction, unauthorized trademark use, or attribution of sales that would have happened anyway.<\/strong> Advertisers apply validation rules, while affiliates need to review rejections and tracking discrepancies.<\/p>\n<p>Privacy, consent for tracking technologies, and advertising transparency also apply. Affiliate links should be disclosed clearly, and product claims should be truthful. <strong>The model guarantees neither affiliate income nor profitable sales for the advertiser<\/strong>: results depend on the audience, offer, attribution, costs, and promotional quality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Affiliate marketing rewards attributed sales, leads, or other actions. Learn about participants, commission models, platforms, measurement, and risks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":80939,"template":"","encyclopedia-tag":[1356],"class_list":["post-20902","encyclopedia","type-encyclopedia","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","encyclopedia-tag-relationship-marketing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia\/20902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/encyclopedia"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"encyclopedia-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia-tag?post=20902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}