Affiliatiemarketing

Affiliatiemarketing, commonly written as affiliate marketing, is a performance-based marketing arrangement in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for generating traffic or sales through the affiliate's marketing activities. Publishers promote products or services using tracking links or codes, which attribute resulting customer actions to the referring affiliate.

Typically, a merchant or advertiser offers an affiliate program. An affiliate network or program tracks clicks, leads, or purchases via cookies or device identifiers, and reports commissions based on predefined criteria. When a customer completes a qualifying action within the attribution window, the affiliate earns a commission.

Participants include merchants, affiliates (publishers), affiliate networks or platforms, and customers. Common compensation models are pay-per-sale (commission on completed purchases), pay-per-action (on lead or signup), and pay-per-click. Revenue sharing and tiered rates are also used.

Affiliates vary from content creators such as bloggers and reviewers to influencers, price or coupon sites, and email marketers. Successful programs emphasize relevant promotions, transparent disclosure, and compliance with advertising guidelines to maintain trust and avoid consumer confusion.

Benefits include scalable reach, performance-based spend, and cost efficiency. Risks involve fraud, cookie hijacking, attribution complexity, and reliance on third-party platforms that may change terms or tracking accuracy.

Regulatory guidance, such as disclosures of affiliate relationships and data privacy rules, governs how affiliates operate in many jurisdictions. Brands typically provide promotional materials, tracking pixels, and reporting dashboards, while affiliates optimize content and SEO to attract audiences.

Affiliate marketing has roots in the late 1990s and 2000s and remains a major channel in digital marketing, spanning e-commerce and services across numerous industries. Platforms range from large networks to individual program pages, enabling both small creators and large publishers to participate.