Affiliate Program Migration Checklist: Moving Networks Without Losing Revenue

Moving an affiliate program from one network or platform to another is one of the riskiest projects a brand can run in the channel. Partners have to rejoin, links have to keep working, tracking has to fire on the new platform, and publishers are still waiting to be paid for sales from the old one. Get the order wrong and revenue dips for a quarter. Get it right and most partners barely notice.

This is the checklist we use when we move a program. It is written for the brand side, it works for network to network moves and for network to software moves, and it assumes a six week plan. If you are still deciding where to go, read our guide on how to choose an affiliate network first.

Why brands migrate

Most moves we see come down to one of five reasons:

• Cost. Network fees, platform fees and minimums change as a program grows, and a model that suited a launch year can stop making sense.
• Partner mix. The partners you want, such as creators, B2B referral partners or a particular region's publishers, are concentrated on another platform.
• Tooling. You need contracts, payouts in more currencies, API tracking, or better fraud controls.
• Service. You want more, or less, account management than your current network gives you.
• Forced moves. Sometimes the platform changes under you. Awin closed the ShareASale platform on 6 October 2025 and asked advertisers to export their data before then, because reports and history would no longer be available. In 2026, Rakuten Advertising announced that its programs will move onto impact.com's technology in waves, which we cover in our Rakuten Advertising guide.

Write your reason down. It decides what "success" means after the move, and it is the first line of the message you send partners.

Data to export before you give notice

Do this first, while you still have full access. Notice periods and closures can cut off reporting sooner than you expect, as the ShareASale closure showed.

Store the exports somewhere your team owns, not inside the old platform's file area.

Partner comms plan

Partners decide whether a migration works. If they do not rejoin, there is nothing to track. We plan comms in three tiers:

1. Top partners, personally. Contact the partners that drive most of your revenue before any mass email. Tell them why you are moving, when, what stays the same, and what you need from them. Offer help with link swaps.
2. Active partners, by email. Send a clear announcement with the new program link, the timeline, the commission offer and the date old links stop being paid.
3. Everyone else. A shorter notice, plus a reminder a week before the cutover.

Keep the terms at least as good as before. A move is the worst moment to cut rates, because partners compare your new offer with every other program they could promote instead. If you are rethinking rates anyway, our guide to affiliate commission structures covers how to do it without losing your best partners.

Some platforms make rejoining easier. For programs moving from Rakuten Advertising to impact.com, Rakuten told clients that partners will not need to rejoin the program. Ask your new platform what it can import, and plan as if partners will need a nudge either way.

The dual-running period

For a few weeks, both platforms are live. Partners are moving at different speeds, so old links still send traffic while new links start to convert. This is where money leaks if the rules are vague.

• Decide which platform credits a sale. Usually the last click wins, whichever platform it came from. Write it into both sets of terms.
• De-duplicate on your side. Only one platform should record each order as payable. Awin, for example, notes that its tracking de-duplicates automatically only if you are not running partner activity on another affiliate network; when you are, you tell it which channel won.
• Watch both dashboards daily. Compare orders in your store or billing system with what each platform recorded.
• Set an end date. Publish the date old links stop earning, and stick to it.

If you plan to stay on two networks for the long term rather than a few weeks, that is a different decision, and we cover it in running an affiliate program on multiple networks.

Link redirects

Old affiliate links live in blog posts, videos, newsletters and app placements that partners may never update. Plan for them:

• Ask the old platform whether it will redirect your links, and for how long. Rakuten, for example, told clients moving to impact.com that existing links would be redirected for at least two years.
• Where the old platform will not redirect, keep the landing pages those links point to live, so readers still reach a working page even if the partner is not credited.
• Send top partners a list of their highest traffic old links, so they can swap the ones that matter most first.

Tracking and test orders on the new platform

Install the new tracking before you invite a single partner. Then place real test orders: one for each type of conversion you pay on (a sale, a lead, a first subscription payment, a renewal), on desktop and on mobile, with and without a coupon. Check that each order appears with the right value, the right commission and the right partner, and that a refund or cancellation updates it. Our impact.com setup guide walks through this step on one platform, and the same logic applies on any other.

Payout cutover

Publishers on the old platform are still owed money for sales they drove before the move, and they will judge your new program by how that goes. Networks hold commissions in a review state before they lock and pay. On CJ, for example, transactions lock on the 10th of the month after the event date under the standard cycle, and an advertiser on a custom cycle can set the lock between 7 and 60 days after the event.

• Keep the old account funded until every open transaction has locked and been paid.
• Review and validate the last transactions on time. Do not let them sit.
• Tell partners the date of the final payout from the old platform.
• Only close the old account once finance confirms the balance is clear.

A six week timeline

Larger programs, or programs with many app or offline placements, may need longer. Stretch the dual-running weeks, not the export or the comms.

Measure the move

Compare the 60 days after the cutover with the same period before it, and with the same weeks last year if you are seasonal. Track active partners, revenue by partner, conversion rate and cost per sale. If you need a refresher on which numbers matter, see affiliate program KPIs.

Case study: four networks

In our four-network case study, we managed one brand's program across CJ, Impact, Awin and Rakuten side by side, recruiting and activating partners on each and focusing effort on the partners driving revenue. The program grew affiliate revenue 120% year over year. Running several networks at once means several partner bases, reporting views and sets of terms to keep consistent, which is exactly the discipline a migration needs.

Want help with a migration?

We plan and run network moves end to end: exports, partner outreach, tracking, dual running and the final payout. See our affiliate program management service, or get in touch to talk through your move.

Frequently asked questions