What is Affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a performance model where creators earn a commission for each sale or action driven through their unique link or discount code.
Affiliate deals tie creator pay directly to results, making them low-risk for brands and scalable for creators.
Many creators combine affiliate links with sponsorships and UGC for diversified income.
The catch with affiliate deals is attribution. A creator can drive a sale that never touches their link, because the buyer saw the video, searched the brand, and bought direct. Brands that only pay on last-click undercount creator contribution badly and lose their best affiliates to competitors offering a flat fee. A hybrid deal, a small guaranteed payment plus commission, usually attracts stronger creators than commission alone.
Related terms
- Brand ambassador
- A brand ambassador is a creator or customer who represents a brand over time, regularly promoting it in exchange for pay, free products, commissions, or perks.
- Creator economy
- The creator economy is the ecosystem of people who earn a living by making online content, plus the platforms, tools, and brands that pay and support them.
- Content creator
- A content creator is someone who produces and shares photo, video, audio, or written content online, often building an audience and earning income through brand deals, UGC, and monetisation features.
More in Monetisation
Affiliate marketing sits in the monetisation part of the glossary. These terms come up in the same conversations and are worth reading alongside it.