“Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
Almost every brand I meet says:
“We have an affiliate strategy.”
Most of the time, what they actually have is:
An affiliate program.
There’s a big difference.
And if you don’t know which one you’re running, you’re probably leaving serious growth on the table.
What You’ll Get in Chaos to Grow
• The real difference between a program and a strategy
• Why most affiliate programs plateau
• Practical steps to move from maintenance to architecture
• What brands should demand from their affiliate leadership
• The uncomfortable questions you should be asking right now
What an Affiliate Program Is
An affiliate program is:
• A network contract
• A commission structure
• A list of approved partners
• Monthly reports
• Occasional recruitment
It runs.
It generates revenue.
It exists.
And that’s fine — until you want it to scale.
What an Affiliate Strategy Is
An affiliate strategy answers:
• What role does affiliate play in our full customer journey?
• Which partner types should we prioritize and why?
• What behaviors are we incentivizing — and which ones are we discouraging?
• Where does affiliate fit in our margin structure?
• How do we want this channel to look in 24 months?
A strategy is directional.
A program is operational.
Most brands confuse activity with direction.
Practical Signs You Only Have a Program
Be honest. If any of these are true, you’re running a program — not a strategy.
- You don’t have partner type targets (content %, creator %, loyalty %, etc.)
- Your commission structure hasn’t changed in 12+ months
- You recruit whoever applies instead of proactively targeting
- You can’t explain affiliate’s contribution margin impact
- You have no annual partner roadmap
- You’ve never mapped affiliate against the full customer journey
- Your incentives reward volume, not quality
That’s maintenance.
Maintenance doesn’t compound.
How to Build an Actual Affiliate Strategy
Here’s what almost no one talks about.
1. Define Your Partner Mix Intentionally
Instead of “we work with whoever drives revenue,” ask:
• What percentage of revenue should come from upper funnel vs lower funnel?
• Do we want creators influencing new customers?
• Are we over-indexed on coupon partners?
• Where are we vulnerable?
Create targets.
If you don’t choose your mix, your mix chooses you.
2. Design Commission Around Behavior, Not Channel
Stop paying flat commissions.
Instead:
• Pay higher rates for new-to-file customers
• Bonus for AOV growth
• Increase payout for content partners creating evergreen assets
• Tier commission based on quality signals
Incentives shape ecosystems.
Most brands don’t shape theirs.
3. Map Affiliate to Margin
This is rarely done.
Know:
• Gross margin by product line
• Max allowable CAC
• Where affiliate can flex commission safely
• Where it can’t
If you don’t understand margin, you can’t scale safely.
4. Build a 12-Month Recruitment Thesis
Not “let’s recruit.”
Instead:
• Which 25 partners would materially change our program?
• Which creators align with our brand positioning?
• Which media sites reach our ideal audience?
• Which partnerships create defensive moats?
Recruit with intention.
5. Tie Affiliate to the Bigger Picture
Affiliate should connect to:
• Paid search strategy
• Social launches
• Product drops
• Influencer campaigns
• Promotional calendar
If affiliate is operating in isolation, it’s not strategic.
The Uncomfortable Truth
Most brands don’t have affiliate strategies.
They have affiliate vendors.
That’s not the same thing.
A strategy requires:
• leadership
• financial understanding
• partner insight
• intentional design
• proactive communication
It requires thinking.
Your Chaos Challenge This Week
Answer this honestly:
If your affiliate manager left tomorrow, would someone else be able to clearly explain the strategy — or just the commission rate?
That’s your answer.
Final Thought
Affiliate programs generate revenue.
Affiliate strategies generate advantage.
One maintains.
The other compounds.
Decide which one you’re building.
—Matt Frary
Chief of Chaos
