Affiliate marketing is a success-based form of online marketing: A company (Advertiser) remunerates partners (Publisher) with a Commission if a sale, lead or other agreed action is made via their recommendation. The mediation is measured via individual affiliate links or voucher codes.
What is affiliate marketing?
The English word affiliate means in German as much as "member" or "partner". In affiliate marketing, a company works with affiliated partners who promote its products or services. In German-speaking countries, one therefore also speaks of partner programs or partner marketing.
The decisive difference to classic advertising: The company does not pay for reach, but for results. A blog, a comparison portal or a creator only receives money if a user actually buys or registers after clicking on the recommendation. For companies, affiliate marketing is thus one of the best calculable sales channels, for partners a way to earn money with their own content.
Well-known examples are product recommendations in reviews, tariff comparisons for electricity or insurance, voucher sites or discount codes that creators mention in their videos. In all these cases, there is a partner program in the background, which records and remunerates every brokered order.
How does affiliate marketing work?
The principle can be summarized in five steps. From the first click to the payout, almost everything runs automatically via a tracking system, which is usually provided by a affiliate network.
- 01Program
The advertiser starts a partner program and sets commissions and rules.
- 02Link
The publisher is unlocked and receives his personal tracking link.
- 03Click
A user clicks on the link and ends up in the advertiser’s shop.
- 04Purchase
If the user buys, the tracking assigns the order to the publisher.
- 05Commission
After the audit, the commission is released and paid out.
There is usually a test phase between purchase and payout, the so-called validation. The advertiser checks whether the order was paid and not returned. Cancelled orders are not paid, so the Reversal rate is an important metric for publishers.
Participants in affiliate marketing
Every affiliate business involves at least three, usually four parties. Each pursues its own goal, and the model only works if everyone benefits from it.
The company that wants to sell products – such as an online shop, a travel provider or a software manufacturer. Also called merchant or provider.
The partner who promotes the products: blogs, magazines, comparison portals, creators, newsletters or coupon pages. Also called an affiliate.
The platform in between. It provides tracking and reporting, checks partners, bills commissions and pays them out.
The user who buys through the recommendation. There are no additional costs for him – the price is the same as without an affiliate link.
In principle, advertisers can also operate their partner program themselves (in-house program). However, most rely on a network like Adlesa because they immediately get access to thousands of publishers, checked tracking and central billing. Publishers, on the other hand, benefit from the fact that they manage many programs via a single account and get paid out collected.
Remuneration models: What is paid for?
Which action a commission triggers, determines the advertiser in the partner program. The following models are the most widely used:
| Model | Remuneration shall be: | Typical for |
|---|---|---|
| CPS – Cost per Sale | a completed purchase, usually percentage of the basket | Online shops, fashion, electronics |
| CPL – Cost per lead | a qualified contact, e.g. registration or application | Finance, insurance, software |
| CPO – Cost per order | an order as a fixed amount, regardless of value | Delivery, subscription, travel |
| CPC – Cost per click | Every click on the creatives | Reach campaigns, rarely in the affiliate |
| Lifetime | all subsequent sales of a recruited customer | SaaS, Subscriptions, Hosting |
The largest share is pay per sale. The level of the commission varies greatly depending on the industry: A few percent are common in electronics, and 8 to 20 percent in fashion, beauty or digital products. Many programs also work with commission groups, i.e. different rates for new customers, existing customers or certain product categories. An overview of current conditions can be found in the partner program directory.
Tracking: How to Assign Sales
In order for a commission to be credited correctly, the system must recognize which partner a customer came from. There are several methods for this, which are usually combined in practice:
- Cookie tracking: When clicking on the affiliate link, a cookie is stored in the browser. If the user buys within the cookie duration, about 30 days, the purchase is assigned.
- Server-to-server tracking: Instead of the browser, the shop transmits the order directly to the network (Postback). This cookieless tracking is more robust against ad blockers and browser restrictions.
- Coupon codes: An exclusive coupon code is permanently assigned to a publisher. If a customer triggers it, the sale counts – even without a click. This is especially important for creators and podcasts.
If several partners appear in the Customer Journey, the Attribution model decides who receives the commission. Common is “Last Cookie einess”: The mitborne partner before the purchase receives full the administrationcip. Modern also allow commissions to be backed well into between backsciples.
Examples of Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is more diverse than many think. Typical publisher models are:
- Content pages and blogs: An outdoor blog tests hiking shoes and links the models in the shop.
- Comparative portals: A portal compares credit cards or electricity rates and receives a fixed commission per application.
- Creator and influencer: A fitness creator recommends sports nutrition with its own discount code.
- Coupon and cashback portals: They collect discounts or pass on part of the commission to their users.
- Newsletter and email: A specialist newsletter presents suitable software tools.
A travel blog links to a hotel portal with 6% commission. In the month, 4,000 clicks come through the blog, 2% of them book (conversion rate), the average booking value is € 350.
- Bookings
- 4,000 × 2 % = 80
- Revenue
- 80 × 350 € = 28,000 €
- Commission
- € 28,000 × 6 % = € 1,680
- EPC
- € 1,680 ÷ 4,000 = € 0.42
Advantages and disadvantages
For advertisers
- Costs arise only if successful
- Planned costs per sale
- Access to new target groups and trustworthy recommendations
- Partner management takes time
- Risk due to misconduct of individual partners, such as Brand Bidding
For publishers
- No own product and no warehouse necessary
- Free entry, flexible working hours
- Income grows with reach
- Revenue fluctuates and is only safe after release
- Building reach usually takes months
Starting affiliate marketing: In 6 steps to first earnings
For publishers, getting started is free. More important than fast earnings is a solid basis – because users only buy on recommendations they trust. The detailed guide with schedule can be found in the guides Start affiliate marketing.
- Choose niche.Concentrate on a topic where you are familiar and where there are ready-to-shop searches, such as “best running shoes for beginners”.
- Build a channel. Website, blog, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest or newsletter – what matters is where your target group is looking for advice.
- Select Partner programs. Register with a network and apply for suitable programs. Pay attention to EPC, cookie duration and allowed forms of advertising.
- Install links. Set Deeplinks directly on suitable products, instead of just linking to the start page of the shop. Exactly how this works shows our guides Create affiliate links.
- Proper labelling. Mark affiliate links and advertising clearly and visibly (see below) Legal provisions).
- Measure and optimize. Values with Sub-IDs that earn pages and links, and expand the successful content.
If you want to get started right away: As a publisher at Adlesa you get access to all programs in the network, advertising materials and real-time reporting – without minimum reach.
Affiliate marketing for businesses
For advertisers, affiliate marketing begins with its own partner program. There are three ways to do this:
- About an affiliate network: Tracking, billing and access to publishers come from a single source. This is the fastest start and the standard for most companies.
- With own affiliate software: Full control, but partners must be won and cared for themselves.
- With an agency: An external affiliate manager takes over strategy, partner acquisition and support.
In addition to commissions, the costs usually include a set-up or platform fee and a network commission on the partner commissions paid out. Decisive for success are attractive conditions, good Creatives, a current product feed and fast releases. The guides Build your own partner program. How this works with Adlesa, you can find out on the page for advertisers.
The most important indicators
Whether a partner program is worthwhile shows few metrics. They help publishers choose and advertisers control:
- EPC
- Average earnings per click. The best comparison between programs.
- Conversion rate
- Percentage of clicks that turn into a sale or lead.
- Reversal rate
- Percentage of commissions that are rejected after the examination.
- Ø basket
- Average order value. Determines the earnings at percentage commissions.
- Cookie duration
- Period in which a purchase is still allocated after the click.
- ROAS
- Revenue in relation to costs – the central indicator for advertisers.
Legal: labelling, data protection, taxes
Affiliate marketing is legal in Germany. But you should know a few rules:
- Obligation to label: Advertising must be recognizable as such (e.g. § 5a UWG, § 6 DDG, § 22 MStV). Affiliate links should therefore be clearly marked, for example with a note such as “Advertising” or “Affiliate Link” directly on the link or before the post. More on this under Requirement to label.
- Privacy: For cookies that are not necessary on your site, you usually need consent (§ 25 TDDDG, GDPR). Affiliate links and integrated creatives belong in the data protection declaration. Details in Guides on affiliate marketing and GDPR.
- Taxes: Who earns regularly with commissions, is usually commercially active and must register a trade. The income is subject to income tax, depending on the revenue also subject to sales tax – clarify the details with tax advice.
This section provides a general overview and does not replace legal or tax advice.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing connects businesses and content creators in a model where only results count. Advertisers win predictable new customers, publishers earn recommendations without needing their own product, and customers get helpful advice at no extra cost. Success depends less on tricks than on suitable programs, honest content and clean tracking.