How to Create an Affiliate Program: Start Your Own Program in 8 Simple Steps (2024 Updated)

Did you know that affiliate marketing accounts for 16% of eCommerce sales in the US and Canada, surpassing email marketing? With such significant influence, can your business afford to miss out on this opportunity?

Affiliate marketing has become a cornerstone strategy for brands worldwide. In fact, over 80% of businesses worldwide have their own affiliate programs to boost brand awareness and drive sales (Rakuten).

Don’t want to be left behind? You’re ready to create your own affiliate program, but where do you start?

Don’t worry! You’re in the right place.

The good news is that getting started with affiliate marketing isn’t as complicated as it might seem.

In this article, we’ll guide you step-by-step on how to start a successful affiliate marketing program for your brand. Follow our 8-step guide:

Step 1: Clarify your goals and choose the right products

Step 2: Decide on commission rates and payment methods

Step 3: Outline the rules and conditions for affiliates

Step 4: Choose an affiliate management app that suits your needs

Step 5: Equip affiliates with necessary materials

Step 6: Find and partner with ideal affiliates

Step 7: Manage and support affiliates

Step 8: Monitor and assess affiliate performance

Plus, you’ll learn what an affiliate program is and explore real-life successful case studies, along with tips on avoiding common mistakes to run your campaign effectively.

If you’re ready to start building your affiliate program right away, we’ve got you covered. We’ll walk you through setting it up with UpPromote, the top-recommended Shopify affiliate marketing tracking software, featuring a 4.9/5 rating and over 4,000 reviews.

And the best part? You don’t need any prior experience!

Affiliate Program Definition & How It Works?

An affiliate program is a performance-based system that business owners create to encourage people (bloggers, content creators, influencers, etc.) to promote their products in exchange for a commission or other rewards for any actual sales generated.

A typical affiliate program works like this:

1. You launch an affiliate program
2. Affiliates (publishers, bloggers, influencers, or other businesses) sign up for your affiliate program
3. Affiliates get unique tracking links or codes for the products/services they want to promote
4. Affiliates promote your brand on their blogs, social channels, etc.
5. Customers make purchases through the affiliate’s link/use the affiliate’s code
6. The sales are tracked and credited to the right affiliate
7. You pay the affiliate a commission

Why Should You Run an Affiliate Program for Your Business?

You might wonder: Why put time and effort into an affiliate program? Why do so many brands leverage affiliate marketing, whether they sell physical products, digital services, or run an online subscription business?

The answer lies in the benefits it brings to your online business, including:

• Cost-effective & low-risk: You only pay affiliates when they generate actual sales or leads, avoiding upfront costs and wasted spending on marketing channels that don’t perform well.
• High return on investment (ROI): Affiliate marketing provides $15 for every dollar spent (Impact), nearly doubling the return compared to paid ads, which typically yield $8 per dollar.
• Good flexibility: You can create multiple programs with various commission models and adjust them based on campaign results to fit your affiliate pricing and customer acquisition cost.
• Broader audience reach: Think of your affiliates as your brand’s biggest advocates. They introduce your products to their existing followers—people you might never have reached on your own.
• Increased traffic: Your partners use their blogs, social media, emails, and other channels to talk about your products and direct their audience to your store’s website.
• Enhanced brand credibility: When a trusted person recommends a product, you’re more likely to try it. Affiliates’ recommendations work the same way, making their fans more likely to buy your products.

8 Steps to Create a Successful Affiliate Marketing Program

Now that you understand the value of an affiliate marketing program, the next question is how to set one up for your business.

Starting an affiliate program involves identifying your goals, evaluating the products you intend to sell, and designing the program to meet both your business objectives and the needs of your affiliates.

Follow our detailed affiliate checklist to get your program up and running:

1. Set your goals and choose the right products

First, think about what you want from your campaign. Are you aiming to:

• Grow overall sales for your store?
• Boost sales of a certain product?
• Drive more traffic to your site?

After defining your overall goals, set specific targets for a certain period. For example:

• Achieve an X% growth in total sales next quarter by partnering with Y new affiliates.
• Increase Product A sales by X% next month using an exclusive discount code for influencers.
• Attract X new visitors in 3 months by teaming up with Y bloggers.

Next, choose the products for your campaign carefully. Focus on items that offer strong profits and are attractive for affiliates to promote.

Here are some types to consider:

• Best-sellers: High-demand products can be easy to share and push, boosting affiliates’ chances of earning commissions quickly.
• High-priced items: These can offer higher earnings, making them more appealing to affiliates. For example, 10% on a $80 product is better than on a $5 one.
• Trending products: Hot items that can help affiliates tap into current trends and attract customer attention easily. If you run a fashion store, featuring the latest season’s collection can be effective. You can see how Prettylittlething collabs with influencers to promote its fall and winter products:

With UpPromote, you can easily set a special commission rule for a specific product or collection.

To enable this feature, go to Programs > locate a program > click the program name > Special product commission.

Then, you can choose to add products separately or add an entire collection and set the preferred commission rate you want to offer.

2. Determine commission rates and payout structures

The next crucial step is to decide how you will compensate partners for the results they generate. This will be the sweet spot of your program, motivating great affiliates to join.

You can structure affiliate commissions in different ways, and some common options include:

• Percent of sale: Affiliates earn a percentage of their total sales, e.g., 10% of the total order amount.
• Flat rate per item: Affiliates get a set amount for each product sold, e.g., $10 per item.
• Flat rate per order: Affiliates receive a fixed amount for each referral order, e.g., $10 per order.
• Tiered commission: Affiliates earn more as they hit higher sales targets, e.g., 10% for sales under $500 and 15% for sales over $500.

To find out which payout structure works well for your program, keep the following things in mind:

• Match your goals: Think about what you want to achieve. If you want to increase overall sales, offering a high percentage on each sale can motivate affiliates to promote a wide range of products. If boosting a specific product line is your focus, a flat rate per item or a tiered commission could be effective.
• Stay within your budget: Be clear on how much you can spend on affiliate marketing. Offering too much can hurt profits, while too little won’t attract affiliates. Find a balance that works for both sides.
• Stand out from competitors: Check what other businesses in your industry offer and ensure that your commission rates are appealing compared to theirs.
• Align with your niche: Look at the average commission rates in your industry before making a decision. For example:
  • Beauty & Personal care: 5%–15%
  • Fashion: 5%–20%
  • Electronics & Gadgets: 2%–8%
  • Food & Drink: 10%–20%
  • Pets: 10%–20%

Take BarkBox, for example. The brand focuses on its core product lines and adjusts commission rates based on each product category. This flexibility makes its affiliate program more attractive and helps it gain an edge in the pet industry’s competitive landscape.

With UpPromote, you can easily set up dynamic commissions like BarkBox. The software covers both standard and advanced reward structures, helping you to create different commission rules based on each affiliate campaign’s goal.

Next, make sure your affiliates know how and when they’ll get paid. This helps them feel secure about their affiliate income and confident in working with you.

For affiliate payments, choose a method that works well for both you and your affiliates (bank transfers, checks, PayPal, etc.) to ensure timely payouts. Also, review the transaction fees to confirm they align with your financial plan.

3. Define your affiliate terms and conditions

Clear and detailed terms and conditions are key to a smooth, transparent affiliate program. They protect your business and set clear expectations for your affiliates, reducing misunderstandings or disputes.

When setting your affiliate terms, be sure to cover these key areas:

• Program rules: Requirements to join, enrollment process, and affiliate responsibilities.
• Marketing guidelines: How to represent your brand, what materials you provide, and what’s prohibited (e.g., spamming, misleading ads).
• Commission structure and payment methods.
• Referral tracking, including the use of affiliate cookies and your cookie policy.
• Legal aspects like confidentiality, proprietary rights, and termination.

For example, take a look at Leadpages, a popular website builder. They drafted transparent and detailed terms for their affiliate program to protect both themselves and their affiliate partners, avoiding confusion from the start.

Bonus tip: Consult with a legal expert to ensure your affiliate terms and conditions comply with all relevant legal requirements for your business.

4. Choose the right affiliate marketing software

Whether you’re starting affiliate marketing for a small business or a large company, using affiliate management software is a smart choice. It makes creating, running, and managing your campaigns easier, reducing the need for manual work.

What features should you look for to find the right software for your brand?

• User-friendly interface and easy to navigate
• Automated affiliate tracking and commission management
• Pricing and scalability
• Customer support and training

If you’re looking for a robust solution that combines all the criteria above, check out UpPromote.

Designed to support brands of all sizes, from small startups to established enterprises, the app is trusted by more than 115,000 users worldwide.

UpPromote will provide you with the following features:

• Affordable pricing plans, starting at $0, so you can try UpPromote without worrying about upfront costs.
• A simple interface with built-in tooltips, making it easy to navigate.
• Quick setup, allowing you to launch your affiliate program in minutes.
• 24/7 dedicated customer support to assist with the setup process and program management.

With these powerful features, UpPromote simplifies affiliate marketing. You can quickly and easily build and launch your program with no hassle.

5. Provide ready-made affiliate marketing materials

Make sure everything is set so affiliates can start promoting your products as soon as they join your program. Give them access to high-quality marketing assets that are ready to use so they can focus on driving traffic and making sales instead of creating content from scratch.

Plus, using consistent, well-designed materials helps build trust and makes their marketing efforts more effective.

With UpPromote, you can easily provide your partners with a variety of marketing resources. Our affiliate platform allows you to upload different types of media (images, videos, documents, links) in just a few clicks.

From the affiliate dashboard, your partners can quickly view these assets and then copy or download their preferred ones to share with their followers.

6. Find and recruit high-quality affiliates

Your affiliate program only becomes truly active when affiliates get on board. That’s why you need a plan to recruit affiliate marketers and invite them to join.

Let’s consider the popular following methods:

Take advantage of your own website

Promoting your affiliate program right on your site is a great way.

Create a clear, easy-to-find affiliate signup page. Optimize it for search engines or run ads to help potential partners discover your campaign.

HubSpot created a dedicated landing page to introduce its affiliate program. The brand displays it in the website’s footer, making it easy for people to find and navigate.

Leverage extensive affiliate networks

Join partner marketing platforms like ShareASale, Impact, Rakuten, or UpPromote’s Marketplace to connect with a wide range of affiliates.

For example, if you run a beauty store on Shopify, you can leverage UpPromote’s Marketplace to find potential partners.

There are two ways to look for affiliates that fit your brand:

• First, display your affiliate program on UpPromote’s Marketplace to attract interest:

You can set specific criteria for affiliates (age, gender, location, and preferred promotion channels).

Then, add more details about your program (commissions, payment methods, product descriptions) and your brand (the store domain, banners, hashtags, etc,.) to make your offer stand out.

• Second, reach out to publishers directly in the UpPromote Marketplace:

You can filter the beauty industry to explore affiliates.

Take a look at their bios, industry experience, language, location, and social media presence. Then, handpick the perfect influencers to invite into your program directly.

With over 20,000 affiliates in the UpPromote Marketplace, you’ll have access to a large pool of potential partners.

Discover top affiliates on UpPromote Marketplace today!

Utilize social media

Another strategy for grabbing the attention of potential affiliates is to announce your affiliate program on your social channels, such as Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

You can also use keywords or hashtags related to your niche to find bloggers, content creators, and influencers who can promote your brand.

Use email marketing

If you have an email list, utilize it to attract affiliates. Inform your subscribers of your program and invite them to join.

You can use personalized emails to make your recruitment plan more effective, especially when reaching specific affiliates.

Attend affiliate groups or forums

Participate in discussions or browse through threads to gather information on various publishers, including competitors’ affiliates, to find the right fit for your brand.

If you own a makeup store, you can browse Quora discussions to see which affiliates other brands collaborate with to promote their products. From there, you can evaluate their content and engagement rates to find potential partners

After having a list of potential partners, take the time to review them carefully so you can find the right affiliates to team up with.

Before making an outreach, you should:

• Check their blogs and social media accounts to see whether their audience is a good match for yours.
• Review and make sure they create high-quality content that aligns with your brand’s values and personality.
• Ensure they have a strong and active online presence, with a large social media following and good engagement rates.

For example, Fashion Nova, a well-known fast fashion brand, seeks out models and lifestyle influencers for collaborations. These ambassadors typically have over 100,000 followers on Instagram and receive an average of 5,000 likes and around 300-500 comments per post.

7. Manage your affiliates

Once you have your team in place, you need to focus on affiliate management. This is a crucial part of running a successful affiliate program.

It’s not just about monitoring their performance; it’s also about keeping them engaged, motivated, and supported to achieve better results.

Provide ongoing support and training to affiliates

Effective management starts with properly training affiliates during the onboarding process. Ensure your partners have the right knowledge and tools to promote your business:

• Clearly explain your campaign goals and expectations.
• Make sure they understand your program’s rules, products, and brand values.
• Provide them with curated online marketing materials like logos, product images, videos, and pre-written content to stay on-brand

But it doesn’t stop there.

Make yourself available to answer questions and provide dedicated support whenever your affiliates need it. Here are some things you can do:

• Share updates on your program, new products, or promotions.
• Host webinars, make tutorials, or send emails with best practices and trends.
• Check-in if they’re less active and offer assistance.

With UpPromote, you can easily provide affiliates with a detailed guide from day one.

Go to Settings > Affiliate admin > Guide page. From there, you can update a walkthrough video, important notes, program highlights, or special announcements for affiliates.

Your partners can see this in the Guide tab of the affiliate dashboard after they log in.

Beside that, you can connect with affiliates quickly through email or in-app chat with our system. Navigate to Outreach > Affiliate Communication, you will see 2 options available for you.

• Email: You can customize email templates to keep affiliates updated about new product launches, promotions, or program changes. You can even send bulk emails to reach all your partners quickly.

• In-app chat: You can chat and send private messages to affiliates within the app if you prefer more personalized communication.

Offer attractive incentives and rewards for affiliates

As an affiliate manager, recognizing your affiliates’ hard work is really important. And nothing motivates them better than generous rewards to keep them engaged and committed to your brand.

While competitive commission rates are a good start, you can enhance motivation further by giving additional incentives to affiliates who hit specific milestones, like reaching a specific number of online sales or bringing in significant revenue. These rewards could be cash, exclusive products, or even gift cards.

Plus, you can also create seasonal or limited-time affiliate bonuses. Such perks will encourage your partners to promote certain products or focus on peak seasons for extra earnings. This strategy not only boosts sales during key times but also keeps your affiliates excited with new opportunities.

8. Track and measure affiliate performance

Launching an affiliate program is just the beginning. For long-term success, it’s crucial to regularly monitor performance and continually optimize.

You should use your goals and KPIs to measure effectiveness. Focus on some key metrics, such as:

• Clicks and traffic: See how much traffic each affiliate is driving to your website.
• Conversion rate: Monitor the percentage of clicks that turn into actual sales.
• Sales and revenue: Track affiliate sales and measure the revenue they generate.
• Average order value (AOV): Calculate the average order value from sales made through affiliate links or coupons.
• Return on investment (ROI): Evaluate the profitability of your affiliate program compared to its cost.
• Customer lifetime value (CLV): Assess the long-term value of customers acquired through your affiliates.

To accurately measure these metrics, use a reliable affiliate management tool that provides real-time data and detailed reports on affiliate performance.

If you use UpPromote, our app will offer a comprehensive suite of tracking methods. So, you’ll gain deeper insights into your program’s performance, including total affiliates, orders, commissions, referral sources, and referral status.

Then, you can visualize the real-time reports through graphics, charts, and data tables

By keeping an eye on affiliate analytics, you can identify what works and spot areas for improvement. This allows you to make data-driven decisions to optimize your campaign.

And what about optimization? It will involve:

• Adjusting incentives: Tailor rewards based on affiliate performance and your specific goals.
• A/B testing: Test different types of commissions (tier commission, special product commission, etc,.) to see which drives the best outcome.

How to Set up an Affiliate Program with UpPromote?

Now, you are ready to create your own affiliate program.

To make it quick and hassle-free, start with UpPromote, the top-rated affiliate solution on Shopify. Our software will simplify the setting process and help you jumpstart affiliate marketing right away.

Let’s take a look at how to set up a program with UpPromote:

1. Install UpPromote

The first thing you need to do is connect our app to your Shopify store.

If you haven’t set one up on Shopify yet, you can start for free and enjoy the first month for just $1.

Then, search for UpPromote in the Shopify app store and select Install.

Once you do so, you will be directed to the embedded Shopify interface. Simply click on the Install button to add UpPromote to your store.

After that, you move to the next step. Here, you will fill out your details (your name, email address, and more). You also can rename the subpath to your brand’s name. Click Register to finish the installation.

2. Configure settings for your affiliate program

Now, it’s time to set up your first affiliate campaign.

Don’t worry! We’ll guide you through the process and help you launch it in no time.

Start by choosing an affiliate tracking method and decide on the commission type.

For instance, if you wish to establish a campaign where affiliates are compensated based on a percentage of sales, such as a 10% commission, you can set it up like this.

With both recruit affiliates and get referral orders steps, our system lets you set up a test affiliate email to see how the affiliate marketing process works in the app.

Next, select the payment method, for example, PayPal and Debit Card to complete the setup.

Then, a popup will appear in the UpPromote dashboard to guide you. It will suggest to you what to do next to customize a program that perfectly matches your brand.

If you want to change the commission structure of your first program or start a new campaign, go to the Program tab. You’ll see the Program List:

• To add a new program, click Add Program.
• To edit an existing one, click on the program’s name.

To promote your program, remember to create an affiliate form. This will help interested people easily sign up to join and become your affiliates.

To tailor an affiliate application form that fits your needs and your brand’s identity, go to Settings > Affiliate admin > Registration page > Click on the Customize button on the ‘Registration page’ section.

There are 3 options available to choose from:

• The basic template: It’s free to use and provides essential options to create a standard registration form.
• The premium templates (also known as Trendy & Comfort templates): Enable you to design a modern look with diverse layouts for your affiliate form.

UpPromote also allows you to publish your affiliate registration page on the store’s website and more. It’s a great way to bring your program to potential affiliates.

3. Manage your affiliate program

After launching your affiliate program, you need to manage it to ensure everything runs smoothly and effectively. We’ll show you some of the things you can do with UpPromote.

To view affiliates that have joined your program, you can head to the Affiliates tab > Affiliates page. Here, you can see a full list of your promoters.

If you want to check the orders made through your referral program, go to Referrals > Affiliate referrals. Our app will show the details for your review:

And here’s the best part: You can get real-time insights into your program’s performance through detailed reports with UpPromote.

Navigate to Analytics. Then, you will see graphical reports on conversion statistics—such as Clicks, Referrals, Sales, and Commissions.

Plus, you can delve into and identify top affiliates and the most preferred products to optimize campaign results.

This way, you can adjust your strategies to boost sales even more. For example:

• Run special campaigns for your top-selling items
• Bundle products to increase the average order value
• Offer exclusive discounts to encourage more purchases
• Give lucrative bonuses to top-performing affiliates to motivate them

Case Studies and Best Practices for a Successful Campaign

Tapping into affiliate marketing will help you grow your brand and increase sales, but don’t expect overnight success. Just launching your campaign isn’t enough. To truly thrive, you need a detailed plan and smart tactics to achieve your goals.

Getting inspired by successful affiliate marketing campaigns is a great idea. It can help you learn proven strategies and discover best practices for your program.

Here are some success stories to check out:

Holbrook Pickleball

Holbrook Pickleball started as a family-owned business specializing in providing high-quality pickleball paddles and gears.

By running a successful affiliate program, the brand achieved fruitful results:

• 173 new affiliates joined the program
• Orders through ambassadors increased by 87% by the end of 2023
• Affiliate revenue grew by 86% in just one year

What affiliate marketing strategy can you learn from Holbrook? Here’s the list:

• Offer competitive commission rate: The brand gives ambassadors a 15% store credit for every sale made with their code, helping boost repeat purchases and improve the customer retention rate.
• Run monthly sales contests: Affiliates who reach monthly sales goals win prizes like products or bonuses.
• Attend pickable events: The brand often participates in national pickable events to meet new influencers and seek collaboration opportunities to grow its affiliate team.
• Closely monitor affiliate sales & send gifts to top performers: Using UpPromote’s analytics dashboard, Holbrook tracks real-time sales data to spot top affiliates and quickly rewards them with gift packages.

TréSkin

TréSkin, a top organic beauty and health brand from the USA, is another successful example of affiliate marketing.

In just one quarter of running a campaign through UpPromote, the brand saw strong sales growth, with over $120,000 in affiliate revenue.

How did TréSkin achieve such amazing results? Here are some smart tactics that the brand applies:

• Leverage social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram to share their offer.
• Promote the program on the UpPromote Marketplace, increasing the chances that potential affiliates would discover and sign up.
• Target the beauty niche within the UpPromote Marketplace to connect with experienced affiliates who have a strong following.
• Customize separate programs for different affiliate levels after identifying suitable influencers and placing them on a curated list.
• Introduce tiered commission rates to encourage better performance and higher earnings.

Common Mistakes in Affiliate Marketing & Tips to Avoid

If you’re new to affiliate marketing, it’s important to be aware of common pitfalls and know how to address them to run a successful program.

Here are some of the most common issues and tips on how to avoid them:

• Ignore onboarding and training for affiliates

Without proper onboarding, affiliates may not fully grasp your products or brand, leading to off-track promotions.

Prevent this by offering a clear onboarding process. This could include detailed guides, tutorial videos, and even live sessions, if necessary, to ensure that your partners are well-informed and aligned with your brand identity.

• Neglect regular communication with affiliates

Failing to communicate regularly can leave affiliates feeling disconnected and make you miss out on valuable feedback from partners.

You should schedule regular check-ins via email, direct messages, or online calls to ask how they’re doing and offer support when needed.

• Overlook fraud risks

Affiliate fraud, like fake clicks or scam referrals, can damage your program’s accuracy and cut into your profits.

Using affiliate tracking software with fraud detection can help you prevent fraudulent activities. You also need to set clear rules and implement strict policies to address any issues when they arise.

• Not provide consistent and timely payouts

Inconsistencies or delays in payments can make affiliates feel unsure about their earnings and damage your program’s reputation.

To avoid this, you should automate your payment systems to ensure timely payouts and communicate clearly with affiliates about any delays.

• Lack of transparency in tax and invoice matters

Lack of clarity in handling taxes and invoices can lead to errors in financial reporting, disputes over payments, and even legal issues.

To prevent this problem, stay updated on local tax laws and utilize reliable accounting or an affiliate management app to handle taxes and invoicing accurately.

Wrapping Up

Starting affiliate marketing is a great way to boost brand awareness and drive more sales for all types of businesses, from start-ups to established entrepreneurs.

We hope our guide helps you build a successful affiliate campaign, whether you offer physical goods, digital products, or subscription services.

To make it work, set measurable goals, plan carefully for recruiting affiliates, and keep track of how things are going. Continuously improve your program with smart strategies to get the best results.

Using an affiliate marketing platform with robust features can help you quickly launch your campaign and manage it smoothly, so you can avoid mistakes and set yourself up for success.