Everything you need to know before hiring affiliate marketing companies

What are the best affiliate marketing channels for a seller?

On average, affiliate campaigns yield return on ad spend (ROAS) of 12:1.

If you wish to drive such considerable gains, the most effective strategy is to pursue social media creators, niche blogs with high readerships, and specialized networks.

Here is a breakdown of the best affiliate marketing channels for sellers, categorized by strategy:

1. Bottom-of-funnel channels with high conversion rates

If you are looking to secure immediate sales, these channels are the best as they target users that are ready to buy. Good options to consider include:

• Coupons and deal websites: Specialized coupon aggregators are excellent for converting hesitant buyers with discounts
• Cashback platforms: These grant rewards after a purchase, which can drive your sales at a higher volume
• Search ads (pay-per-click): Placing ads on Google for keywords like "best [product]" or "[product] reviews" is a proven tactic for getting high-intent traffic

2. Middle-of-funnel channels that build trust through content

If you are selling complex, high-end, very niche, or new products you might want to consider content-based channels that build brand authority and trust

• Content websites and blogs (SEO): Over 65% of affiliates use blogs, focusing on in-depth reviews and comparisons as they generate organic, longer-lasting traffic
• Product reviews and tutorials: Video content across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or Meta that allows for authentic firsthand reviews and detailed demonstrations, which helps products get quick traction

3. Top-of funnel channels that target social media

Affiliate marketing agencies suggest social media channels due to their discovery impact, especially for products that require visual presentation.

• TikTok shop affiliate: Short-form video and live shopping have a global momentum on account of their ability to drive fast, impulse-driven sales
• Instagram reels/stories: Best suited for aspirational, visual, and lifestyle brands
• Pinterest boards: Effective for visual product collections and lifestyle inspiration

What kind of budget should I allocate for affiliate marketing companies?

Many brands dedicate from 31% to 50% of their digital marketing budget to affiliate channels.

If you are considering an engagement with an affiliate marketing agency, your monthly budgetary requirements can also be determined based on your business size and objectives. Namely:

• Solo sellers or small businesses start with $300 to $1,000 per month, wherein the fee will cover basic affiliate software and a modest commission pool to attract initial partners. At this stage, you should focus on launching with an organic network of niche bloggers, brand advocates, and micro-influencers to maintain lower costs while validating performance.
• Small to mid-size businesses (SMBs) often allocate around 10 to 25% of their total marketing budget toward affiliate programs as this fraction gives them room for higher-value commission rate, creative content production, and more impactful platform features.
• Enterprise and expanding brands usually sign contracts with multiple affiliate partners, which can cost them from $10,000 to $50,000 per month. At this tier, your investment will secure premium agency services, including dedicated management teams, advanced attribution tracking, creative support, and better partner incentives.

How to choose the best affiliate marketing agency for my project?

To choose the best affiliate marketing agency and best affiliate program, you need to prepare your business for high-volume third-party traffic while selecting a platform that works best for the task. Here are some things to consider:

1. Financial audit
   Calculate your customer acquisition cost (CAC) to determine if you can afford both the affiliate commission rate (typically 10% to 30%) and the affiliate marketing company's service fee.
2. Revenue check
   Determine your annual recurring revenue (ARR) before joining an affiliate network to prove product-market fit.
3. Technical setup
   Implement server-to-server (S2S) tracking rather than legacy pixel tracking to keep your data accurate.
4. Fraud shielding
   Choose a platform with built-in monitoring for ad hijacking and unauthorized TM+ bidding to prevent affiliates from cannibalizing your organic search traffic.
5. Creator resources
   Prepare an affiliate kit that contains branding materials, content sets, product guide, and other creative assets so partners can remain on-brand during their promotion.
6. Management assessment
   Determine if you will manage recruitment in-house or require a "fully managed" service from the network to proactively source and vet high-quality publishers.
7. Competitor insight
   Audit your direct competitors' commission rates and cookie windows (the time allowed from click to sale) to make sure you negotiate a fair offer with the affiliate marketing company.

How can I find an agency partner on DesignRush that fits my budget?

To help you choose an affiliate marketing agency that's within your spending expectations, we've compiled a list of providers across different price points.

Beyond budget, our directory allows you to narrow down agencies by hourly rate, location, service type, team size, reviews, and more.

What questions should I ask affiliate marketing firms before signing a contract?

Before signing a contract with an affiliate marketing firm, you should ask them some of the following questions to make sure the candidates are a good fit:

Relevant Background

1. How long have you been in business?
2. What is your experience managing programs on our requested tracking platform (e.g., Impact, ShareASale, PartnerStack)?
3. Can you share a case study where you successfully shifted a program mix from coupon/deal sites to content creators?
4. Have you ever had to fire an affiliate for brand violations?
5. What is the typical return on ad spend (ROAS) you maintain for clients in our price bracket?

Services and Processes

1. What is your manual vetting process for new affiliates?
2. How do you manage commission tiering to reward top-performing partners without overpaying for low-intent traffic?
3. What is your protocol for auditing attribution to ensure affiliates aren't poaching credit from our internal PPC or email marketing efforts?
4. How often do you do creative refreshes over banners and copy?
5. Do you provide outreach and recruitment as a standard service, or do you only manage the partners who apply to the program?

Related to Your Project

1. Based on our product, what commission model do you propose?
2. How will you sync our product feed to the affiliate network to make sure affiliate partners are always promoting in-stock items?
3. What is the lock-in period for commissions?
4. How do you plan to re-engage dormant affiliates who have signed up but haven't driven a click in 90 days?

Sources

DesignRush sustains a directory of over 40,000 agencies categorized by service category, location, expertise, and reviews. We build our database in two ways:

• Our dedicated team of agency experts actively searches the web for top-performing companies. We then pull information from their websites, online presence, and client testimonials to verify their status and qualifications prior to listing.
• The agencies listed get notified of their profiles on the website and they can choose to claim it or not, which suggests their availability for more collaborations.

Agencies can also reach out to DesignRush and must go through the verification process prior to being listed.