Content
Affiliate Marketing Definition
Choose Affiliate Network
Recruit New Affiliates
Launch Campaigns and Optimize
Summary
Reference

1.Affiliate Marketing Definition 

“Affiliate Marketing is a type of perfomance-based marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each vistors or consumers brought by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts.” ——Wikipedia

“Affiliate marketing is performance-based marketing, whereby a product or service gets remunerated for every sale, visit, or subscription sent to the merchant. Because of this performance-based component, which is the cornerstone of affiliate marketing, it is also sometimes called performance marketing. “——Affliate Program Management: An Hour a Day

Affilaite Marketing Investment

source： Affiliate Markteting Australian Industry Review by IAB.au

2.Choose Affiliate Networks
In-house VS Third-party affiliate networks
a. Tracking technology
b. Affiliate resources
c. Professional support team for affiliates
d. Reports (clicks, impressions, sales, sku, and …)

Third-party Affiliate Networks
1.geos
2.traffic (type)
3.advertisers number
4.affiliates number and type
5.fee (account set-up fee, affiliate/network commission, monthly minimun fee)
6.Tracking method (pixel, S2S tracking, API) 7.Report
8.Contract term (payment method: deposit or invoice)
9.Support team
10. Antifraud system

3.Recruit New Affiliates
Top 100 affiliates list from the affiliate networks Recruit new affiliate in and outside affiliate networks
Affiliate network exposure opportunity
Affiliate program on the official website
Affiliate program forum
Affiliate program summit

Different types of affiliates
Coupon RetailMeNot, Coupons.com, savinng.com (exclusive vanity code)
Loyalty Ebates, Shopathome, Goodshop (email, cashback)
Niche closetsamples.com, couponmon.com (blog, SNS)
Sub-affiliate Network Skimlink, Viglink, Rewardstyle (influencer network)
Cart Abandonment Yieldify,Salecycle, RTB House (pixel )
Search coupons.com, wickfire, offers.com (trademark + bidding, PPC)
Toolbar joinhoney, wikibuy (coupon toolbar）
Price Comparison pricerunner,pricespy,Idealo （data feed, CPC)

4.Launch Campaigns and Optimize
Prepare promotional materials:
Text link,Banner, Coupon, Data feed
Set KPI goal
Optimize: (data from affiliate networks and GA)
Banner size, landing page, ad copy ,products,A/B test

5.Summary

“affiliate marketing is not a type of marketing (such as social-media marketing, PPC, content, display, SEO, email marketing, and so on) but rather a name for the type of business relationship/partnership between a marketer and an online (or now even offline) business being marketed—one where the former is being paid by the latter based on the performance/conversions drive.”

6.Reference
Affiliate Program Management: An Hour A Day
The Big Affiliate Marketing Handbook by IAB.uk Affiliate Markteting Australian Industry Review by IAB.au
PI Affiliate Programme Buyers Guide
《增长黑客：创业公司的用户与收入增长秘籍》