How to Start an Affiliate Program for Your Brand: Step-by-Step
Eight steps from “should we do affiliate?” to a live program with real partners, including a launch-week plan and a 90-day review.
Starting an affiliate program means more than signing up to a network and waiting for partners to find you. The brands that get traction early make a few decisions well before launch: whether affiliate fits their economics, which platform to use, what to pay, what the rules are, and who they’ll recruit first. This step-by-step guide walks through those decisions in the order you’ll need to make them, then sets out a launch-week plan and a 90-day review.
If you want the bigger picture of what running a program involves once it’s live, start with our complete guide to affiliate program management.
Before you start, you’ll need
- Clear unit economics: gross margin, average order value and, ideally, repeat purchase rate or customer lifetime value.
- Someone who owns the program, whether a team member, an agency or both, with a few hours every week.
- A website or checkout where tracking can be installed and tested.
Step 1: Check affiliate is right for you (margins, AOV)
Affiliate is a pay-for-performance channel, so it works best when you can afford to share a meaningful slice of each sale and still make money. Before anything else, answer these questions honestly:
- What can you afford to pay per new customer? Take your gross margin on a typical order, subtract fulfilment and payment costs, and decide how much you would happily pay to win that customer. If repeat purchases are common, you can justify paying more on the first order.
- Is your order value high enough? A 10% commission on a $15 order is $1.50, which is hard for a publisher to get excited about. Low-AOV brands often need higher percentages, flat-fee bonuses or bundles to be attractive.
- Do publishers already cover your category? Search for “best [your product]” and “[your product] review”. If you find plenty of content sites, creators and comparison pages, there is an audience of partners to recruit. If you find almost none, you’ll be building the category from scratch.
- Can you handle the volume? Stock, customer service and returns need to cope if a large partner features you.
If the numbers only work at a commission no partner would accept, fix the economics first: a higher-margin bundle, a subscription offer or an entry product built for affiliate traffic.
Step 2: Choose a network or affiliate software
You have two broad options for the technology:
- An affiliate network such as Awin, CJ or Rakuten Advertising gives you tracking and payments plus access to a marketplace of publishers already on the network. You usually pay platform fees and a network fee or override on top of commissions.
- A partnership platform or affiliate software, such as Impact, PartnerStack for B2B and SaaS, or lighter tools like Refersion and Tapfiliate, gives you tracking and payouts with more control over your own partner relationships. Discovery of new partners relies more on your own recruitment, although some platforms also include a partner marketplace.
Pricing models vary widely. Impact publishes a self-serve Starter plan from $30/month plus 2.5% of revenue for supported ecommerce platforms (Impact pricing). Awin’s Access plan is $49/month plus a 3.5% tracking fee per transaction (Awin pricing). Both figures were checked in October 2026. CJ, Rakuten Advertising and Partnerize quote individually. If you were considering ShareASale, note that it has been upgraded onto the Awin platform, which Awin announced as complete in August 2025; the standalone ShareASale platform closed on October 6, 2025.
To choose, think about where your customers are (some networks are stronger in particular regions), which publishers you want (check whether your target partners are already on the network), your budget for fixed fees, and whether you sell to consumers or businesses. Our guide to choosing an affiliate network lists the questions to ask each provider.
Step 3: Set your commission and cookie window
Your launch commission should be competitive enough to win your first partners and sustainable enough that you never have to cut it. Cutting rates later damages trust far more than starting modestly and adding bonuses.
- Start from your affordable cost per new customer from Step 1.
- Benchmark competitors. Look up competitors’ programs on network directories and their own “affiliates” pages to see what they offer.
- Decide what to reward. Consider a higher rate for new customers, for specific product lines, or for content and creator partners whose recommendations introduce buyers.
- Plan your incentives: a first-sale bonus, performance tiers or a launch-period boost to get partners moving.
The cookie window, or referral window, is how long after a click a sale still earns commission. Longer windows suit products with a considered purchase, like software, furniture or travel. Shorter windows can be fine for impulse purchases. Pick a window you can defend, publish it clearly, and keep it stable. Partners compare programs on this.
Step 4: Write your program terms
Clear terms protect your margin and save arguments later. Keep them short and specific. At minimum, cover:
- Commission rules: rates, what counts as a valid sale, and the referral window.
- Returns, cancellations and fraud: when commissions are reversed and how long the locking period is.
- Paid search: whether partners can bid on your brand name or trademarks, and any keyword or ad-copy restrictions.
- Coupons and discount codes: which codes partners can use, and that leaked or unapproved codes may not earn commission.
- Disclosure: partners must clearly disclose the relationship. In the US see the FTC’s Endorsement Guides FAQ; in the UK, the ASA/CAP influencers’ guide.
- Brand and claims: approved product claims, logo use and anything partners must not say.
- Payment: when and how partners are paid, and any minimum threshold.
Step 5: Build creatives and landing pages
Give partners everything they need to promote you on day one:
- A partner brief: one page on who your customer is, what makes the product different, best sellers, and the messages that convert.
- Links and deep links to your key categories and products, plus a product feed if you sell many SKUs.
- Creative assets: logos, product images, lifestyle photos and a small set of banners in common sizes.
- An offer calendar so partners can plan content around launches and promotions.
- Landing pages that convert: make sure the pages partners link to load fast, work on mobile and keep any offer the partner promised visible.
Before launch, place test orders through affiliate links and confirm each one tracks correctly, including on mobile and with any discount code applied.
Step 6: Recruit your first 50 partners
Waiting for partners to discover you on a marketplace is the slowest way to launch. Aim to approach your first 50 targeted partners before or during launch week, with a mix of types:
- Content and review sites already ranking for your category’s “best” and “review” searches.
- Creators and newsletters whose audience matches your customer.
- Partners of competing brands: look at who reviews and links to your competitors.
- Your own fans: customers, ambassadors and existing collaborators who already talk about you.
- A small number of loyalty, cashback or coupon partners, chosen deliberately and with clear rules.
Personalise every pitch: why your product suits their audience, what you pay, the referral window and what support they’ll get. Our article on recruiting publishers who bring new customers covers where to find them and how to pitch. If you would rather hand this off, our partner and publisher recruitment team does exactly this.
Step 7: Plan launch week
A focused first week gets partners live while your launch has momentum. A simple plan:
- Day 1: Final tracking test. Publish the program on your network and an “affiliates” page on your site. Send your first personal invites.
- Day 2: Approve applications quickly. Send each new partner a welcome email with links, the brief and assets.
- Day 3: Ship product samples to content partners and creators who need to try the product.
- Day 4: Follow up on invites with no reply. Book calls with your highest-potential partners.
- Day 5: Check incoming clicks and conversions for tracking issues. Fix anything broken immediately.
- Days 6–7: Review applications, tidy your partner list and plan week two’s outreach.
Step 8: Run a 90-day review
At around 90 days, step back and look at what is working. Useful questions:
- How many partners did you approve, and how many have made at least one sale (your activation rate)?
- Which partner types drove revenue, and what share of orders came from new customers?
- What is your all-in cost of sale, including commissions, network fees and bonuses?
- Which partners have the most potential and deserve more support, and which should be paused?
- Are your terms being followed, including disclosure, brand bidding and coupon use?
Turn the answers into three to five changes for the next quarter: a commission tweak, a recruitment focus, new creative or tighter enforcement. Our affiliate program audit checklist is a good framework for this review. Or ask us for a free program audit and we’ll do it with you.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to start an affiliate program?
Expect three costs: the platform (monthly fees and/or a percentage of sales), partner commissions, and the time or agency fees to manage it. Some platforms publish entry prices; Impact’s Starter plan and Awin’s Access plan are two examples. Commissions are only paid on tracked sales.
Should I join a network or use affiliate software?
A network gives you a ready marketplace of publishers plus tracking and payments, which helps when you’re starting from zero. Software or partnership platforms give you more control and can cost less on fees, but you’ll do more of the partner recruitment yourself.
What commission should I offer when starting an affiliate program?
Start from what you can afford to pay for a new customer, then check what competitors offer. It is safer to launch at a sustainable rate and add bonuses or tiers than to launch high and cut rates later.
How long is a typical affiliate cookie window?
It varies by category and program. Products people research for longer tend to use longer windows. Choose one that reflects your customers’ buying cycle, publish it clearly and keep it stable.
How do I find my first affiliates?
Recruit actively rather than waiting: content and review sites ranking for your category, creators and newsletters your customers follow, partners already promoting competitors, and your own customers and ambassadors.
Get in touch
Let’s talk about your program.
Tell us about your brand and what you need: launching a program, fixing one, or finding better partners. We’ll come back within one business day with how we’d approach it.
