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Traffic and channels

Influencer marketing

Also called creator marketing, influencer advertising, social media influencer marketing, influencer partnerships.

Short answer

Influencer marketing is marketing through people who have built a following and recommend products to their audience. Payment can be a flat fee, commission per sale or a combination – when pay is per sale via trackable links, it is also affiliate marketing.

Definition of Influencer marketing.

The channels are typically Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, podcasts and newsletters, and the value lies in the trust between sender and audience: a recommendation from a person the followers chose to follow carries more weight than an ad. The scale runs from micro-influencers with a few thousand engaged followers to profiles with nationwide reach.

Pay falls into 3 main forms: a flat fee per post, commission per sale, and hybrids where a smaller fee is combined with commission. The fee pays for reach regardless of results; commission shifts the risk towards the influencer and rewards measurable sales. On top of that come pure product collaborations, where the payment is the product itself.

Without tracking, the effect is guesswork. Trackable affiliate links or personal discount codes make sales measurable, so the collaboration can be judged on clicks, conversions and earnings rather than likes. The legal position is clear: in Denmark, commercial collaborations must be clearly labelled as advertising under the Danish Marketing Practices Act (markedsføringsloven) and the Danish Consumer Ombudsman’s (Forbrugerombudsmanden) guidelines for influencers – and that also applies when payment is commission through affiliate links. Other countries have their own rules – check locally.

Influencer marketing vs. affiliate marketing

AspectInfluencer marketingAffiliate marketing
The corea person with an audience recommends a productpayment is triggered by a measurable result
Paymentoften a flat fee per post or campaigncommission per sale, lead or action
Riskthe advertiser pays regardless of the outcomethe advertiser only pays for results
Measurementreach, views and engagementclicks, conversions, EPC and approved sales

The models are not mutually exclusive – an influencer paid by commission through trackable links is doing affiliate marketing.

How it goes wrong

  • 01

    Missing ad disclosure

    Commission through affiliate links is a commercial interest and triggers the requirement for clear labelling – regardless of follower count. Hidden advertising hits both influencer and advertiser, and in Denmark the Consumer Ombudsman actively supervises the area.

  • 02

    Follower count mistaken for impact

    Reach is not sales. A micro-influencer with 8,000 engaged followers in the right niche can beat a profile with 100,000 passive ones – but that only shows if sales are tracked per link or code.

  • 03

    Tracking agreed after the campaign starts

    Without a trackable link from the very first post, neither party can document what the collaboration produced. Agree the tracking setup, commission and attribution window before the content is published.

At Affilyflow

Influencer marketing in practice

An influencer can sign up as an affiliate with Affilyflow and get trackable links to the stores they recommend. The commission is locked the moment the click happens – rate and type are copied to the click row – so a later rate change does not affect traffic already created. The affiliate gets exactly the rate the program shows; Affilyflow’s fee is part of the store’s total price.

Frequently asked questions

Is influencer marketing the same as affiliate marketing?

No, but they overlap. Influencer marketing describes the channel – a person with an audience makes a recommendation – while affiliate marketing describes the payment model: commission per measurable result. An influencer paid by commission via trackable links is doing both at once.

Do influencers have to label affiliate links as advertising?

Yes. Commission from affiliate links is a commercial interest, and in Denmark the Marketing Practices Act and the Consumer Ombudsman’s guidelines require the content to be clearly labelled as advertising. The requirement applies regardless of follower count and also covers discount codes the influencer earns from. Other countries have their own rules – check locally.

How do you measure whether an influencer collaboration works?

Give the influencer a trackable affiliate link or a personal code, and measure clicks, conversions, order value and approved sales instead of likes and views. Then the fee can be held up against documented revenue.

What is the difference between paying an influencer a fee and paying commission?

A fee pays for reach regardless of results, while commission only costs something when sales are generated. The commission model shifts the risk towards the influencer and therefore fits best where sales can be tracked reliably – many collaborations combine a smaller fee with commission.

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