Affiliate Marketing That Pays for Results

Network selection depends on your sector, publisher targets and technical infrastructure. Awin is the largest UK network with the broadest publisher base and is often the default choice for UK retail and e-commerce. CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction) has strong coverage in finance and technology. Impact is preferred for SaaS and subscription products with its flexible contract structures and superior attribution tools. Rakuten is strong in fashion and luxury. We assess your requirements during onboarding and recommend the right network — or networks, as some programmes benefit from a multi-network approach. We handle network negotiations, setup and ongoing account management regardless of which you choose.

Incremental attribution is the central challenge in affiliate marketing — ensuring you are paying commission on sales that would not have happened without the affiliate's contribution, rather than on sales already driven by your SEO, PPC or email. We address this through several mechanisms: excluding branded PPC bidding by publishers (enforced through BrandVerity monitoring), de-duplication rules that prevent affiliates from claiming last-click credit over other channels, publisher tiering that limits or excludes pure voucher-code affiliates, and basket-level validation to prevent attribution on transactions using internal promotional codes. Properly managed, affiliate should deliver genuinely additive revenue.

Commission rates need to balance two things: being attractive enough to recruit and motivate quality publishers, whilst keeping cost-of-sale within your target margins. Typical retail commission rates range from 3–15% of sale value depending on product margin, average order value and competitive landscape. We model your programme economics before launch — taking into account your gross margin, target customer acquisition cost and competitor commission benchmarks — and recommend a tiered structure that rewards performance whilst protecting profitability. We also advise on network override rates (higher commissions for specific placements or periods) to secure premium publisher positioning.

A new programme can typically be live on network within 4–6 weeks of project kickoff — covering programme strategy, commission design, network setup, tracking implementation and QA, creative production and initial publisher outreach. The timeline depends on the speed of your technical team in implementing the tracking pixel and product feed. Publisher recruitment is an ongoing process: a programme typically has its first active publishers within 2–4 weeks of going live, with the publisher base growing progressively over the first 3–6 months as the programme builds a track record that makes it easier to attract premium publishers.

Yes — we offer affiliate programme audits for existing programmes and frequently take over management of programmes that have underperformed under previous management. Common issues we find include: commission rates that are uncompetitive or misstructured, poor-quality publisher mix (too many voucher sites, insufficient content publishers), weak or outdated creative assets, tracking issues causing under- or over-attribution, compliance failures (brand bidding, misleading content), and lack of proactive publisher development. A programme audit typically takes 2–3 weeks and results in a prioritised action plan with clear revenue impact projections.

All major affiliate networks have updated their tracking infrastructure to comply with UK GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. Tracking now includes server-side and cookieless options that maintain attribution accuracy without relying solely on browser cookies. We implement tracking in a compliant configuration from the outset, ensure your cookie consent implementation does not inadvertently block affiliate tracking, and advise on the incremental impact of consent rates on your programme's attribution accuracy. This is a technically complex area and getting it right from the start avoids significant attribution discrepancy issues down the line.