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Roles and players

Affiliate manager

Also called affiliate program manager, partner manager, partnership manager, affiliate marketing manager.

Short answer

An affiliate manager is the person who runs an affiliate program day to day: recruiting affiliates, setting commission rates, approving or rejecting sales and enforcing the program terms. The role sits with the store, an agency or the network.

Definition of Affiliate manager.

An affiliate manager's responsibility falls into four parts: recruiting new affiliates, the terms that govern the partnership, the ongoing review of sales, and communication with the affiliates already sending traffic. It is an operational role more than a campaign role – a program does not create value by itself, but because someone answers, decides and cleans up in time.

The workload follows three numbers: how many sales must be reviewed before the rejection deadline, how many applications are waiting for an answer, and how many breaches of terms must be dealt with. A program with two active affiliates can be run alongside other work. A program with 200 cannot – there, reviewing sales is a fixed task with a deadline.

The role is often confused with the network's. The network provides the tracking, the links, the payout process and access to affiliates. The affiliate manager makes the decisions inside it: which rate, which channels, who is let in, which sales are rejected and why. A network with nobody to make those decisions gives you a program that works technically and stands still commercially.

The role's fixed rhythm

Daily: review new sales and reject the wrong ones while the deadline is running. A sale that is not rejected in time is approved – and an approval is harder to roll back than a timely rejection.

Weekly: answer applicants, welcome new affiliates with what they need to get started, and look at the affiliates who suddenly send much more or much less than usual. Monthly: review rates against contribution margin, update the terms when something has happened, and take stock of payouts.

What the role is measured on

Four numbers describe a program better than revenue alone: the approval rate, meaning the share of recorded sales that end up approved; the share of signed-up affiliates who actually send traffic; response time on applications and enquiries; and the program's overall EPC, which is the number affiliates themselves compare programs on.

When the approval rate falls, it is rarely because affiliates have got worse – it is usually the tracking, the terms or the rejection practice that has slipped. That makes it the earliest warning the role has.

How it goes wrong

  • 01

    The rejection deadline is forgotten

    If sales are not reviewed while the deadline runs, they are approved. The review must be a fixed task, not something that happens when there is time.

  • 02

    The rate is changed without notice

    An affiliate who has built content around a rate plans by it. Change it overnight, and the program loses exactly the partners who had invested the most in it.

  • 03

    Only the biggest affiliates get answers

    A program's growth comes from the middle tier that is not yet big. Spend all your time on the top 3, and the affiliates who should have been next year's top 3 disappear.

At Affilyflow

Affiliate manager in practice

Affilyflow puts a framework around the decisions an affiliate manager makes. The store has the program's approval period (30–90 days) to reject a sale, after which it is approved automatically, and a rejection requires a reason the affiliate can read. An ongoing recurring agreement cannot be cut back afterwards, and all privileged actions are audit-logged – including those taken during a busy week.

Frequently asked questions

What does an affiliate manager do?

An affiliate manager recruits affiliates, sets commission rates and terms, reviews recorded sales and approves or rejects them, and keeps in touch with the partners sending traffic. The role is operations with fixed deadlines, not periodic campaign work.

When does a store need an affiliate manager?

When the number of sales to review before the rejection deadline can no longer be handled ad hoc, or when more applications and breaches of terms come in than anyone has time to answer. Until then, the role can sit with whoever already owns marketing.

What is the difference between an affiliate manager and an affiliate network?

The network provides the technology and the access to affiliates: tracking, links, reporting and the payout process. The affiliate manager makes the decisions in the program – rates, channels, who is let in, and which sales are rejected. The network cannot make them for the store.

Can affiliate management be outsourced?

Yes, the day-to-day running can be handed to an agency or an external affiliate manager. Decisions on commission rate, terms and rejections still remain the store's responsibility, so the agreement should spell out what the external party may decide alone and what must go past the store.

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