07 — Affiliate Media
Full-funnel PR, finally.
Affiliate is what editorial coverage becomes when publishers monetize through commerce. We help brands target, structure, and earn the placements that drive real revenue.
The problem we solve
Most brands run affiliate as a backend afterthought. Then they wonder why the reviews go to competitors.
Editorial publishers — the ones that used to write reviews for advertising revenue — now write reviews for affiliate revenue. The byline still matters; the link in the byline matters more. The brands that show up in those reviews are the ones whose affiliate programs are operationally tight, commercially competitive, and editorially worth covering.
We treat affiliate as the commerce arm of PR — and we run it that way.
“Affiliate is the commerce arm of PR — and we run it that way.”
How we work
Audit. Target. Negotiate. Optimize.
A first engagement starts with an audit of three things: your existing program (network, terms, performance), your competitive set (what publishers are featuring competitors, on what terms), and your fundamentals (product feed, creative assets, deep linking, tracking).
- 01
Program strategy.
Network selection or migration if needed, commission structure, cookie window, exclusivity terms, promotion calendar.
- 02
Publisher targeting.
Direct outreach to the editorial publishers that drive your category — not just the cashback and coupon sites that show up automatically. Negotiated placements, content partnerships, exclusive offers when they make sense.
- 03
Operational hygiene.
Product feed quality, image and copy assets, deep-link mapping, tracking setup, attribution review. The boring infrastructure that determines whether a great placement actually converts.
- 04
Editorial coordination.
Pitching products into roundups, gift guides, comparison pieces, and category reviews. The same craft as PR, applied to a different kind of placement.
- 05
Performance management.
Publisher-by-publisher reporting, commission tuning, fraud monitoring, top-performer scaling.
What’s included
Editorial-grade affiliate, end to end.
- Affiliate program audit and strategy.
- Network selection, setup, or migration.
- Commission and terms strategy.
- Editorial publisher targeting and outreach.
- Roundup and gift-guide pitching.
- Product feed and creative asset management.
- Deep-link strategy and tracking setup.
- Publisher-level performance reporting.
- Fraud monitoring and program hygiene.
- Quarterly program reviews and optimization.
Who it’s for
Consumer brands competing in editorially active categories.
Best fit for consumer brands with an e-commerce site, a competitive category, and editorial publishers actively reviewing the space — beauty, fashion, home, electronics, wellness, parenting, outdoor, fitness, and the long tail of considered consumer goods.
Also a strong fit for direct-to-consumer brands looking to diversify revenue beyond paid social, and for brands whose PR coverage isn’t translating to revenue because the affiliate plumbing isn’t there. Less of a fit for pure B2B businesses where the editorial-affiliate flywheel doesn’t really exist.
What success looks like
Setup in 30 to 60 days. Compounding by quarter two.
The first 30 to 60 days are setup and audit work. Publisher outreach and editorial pitching ramp from month two. Most clients see meaningful affiliate revenue lift within the first quarter, with stronger compounding effects in the second and third quarters as editorial relationships mature and the back catalog of placements continues to drive sales.
Reporting is publisher-level and revenue-tied. We don’t measure success in clicks. We measure it in net commission revenue, return on program spend, and the share of category coverage we own across the publishers that matter.
Related practices
These work especially well together.
Start a conversation
Let’s talk about what this could look like for your brand.
Two business days. Honest answer. Even if we’re not the right fit.
Contact the team