Affiliate Marketing
Paying creators a commission on the sales they drive, tracked via unique links or codes, rather than a flat fee.
Definition
Affiliate marketing pays creators only on outcomes — a percentage of revenue, a flat per-sale fee, or both. It scales naturally with creator performance and limits brand risk, but it also caps creator effort because there's no guaranteed payday.
Most mature programs blend affiliate with flat-fee deals: flat fees attract tier-one talent and lock in deliverables; affiliate scales the long tail and rewards continued promotion. Pure-affiliate programs almost never attract top creators.
Example
A supplement brand pays $500 flat plus 15% commission to 30 tier-two creators — top performers earn $3K+ a month on backend commission alone.
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