Affiliate program: the 5 types of affiliates to activate

An affiliate program does not perform with a single type of affiliate. If you rely solely on promo codes, you reduce your margins without net gain: customers who would have purchased at full price look for a code at the last second, meaning you compensate the coupon site for nothing. Conversely, focusing entirely on influence generates visibility but rarely enough immediate conversions.

The reality of an affiliate program that works is a balanced affiliate marketing mix: attracting with influence, radiating the brand with blog posts, reassuring with product reviews on comparison sites, and securing the final sale with a cashback platform.

Here are the 5 levers to activate and how to orchestrate them.

1. Influence (to capture attention)

Today, consumers no longer buy a product; they buy a recommendation. The trend relies on hybrid creators: influencers capable of driving both your brand awareness (brand image, aesthetics, values) and your commercial performance (generating measurable sales via an affiliate link or tracked promo code).

To activate this lever effectively, the brief you give to your content creators is decisive. Guide them toward storytelling rather than a list of features: a TikTok video or a story that narrates a real-life problem and the solution found generates far more clicks than a classic product speech. Audiences identify with a context, not with technical characteristics.

The other variable to integrate into your briefs is urgency. An offer that is permanently available does not trigger a purchase; it postpones it indefinitely. Encourage your creator affiliates to communicate about promotion deadlines, flash sales, or limited stock. This forces the decision-making process without requiring you to structurally lower your prices.

2. Blogs and media (for awareness)

This lever comes into play early in the customer journey, when users start gathering information without having a specific brand in mind. Blog posts support this discovery phase: they position your brand in the mind of an already qualified audience interested in your product category.

Working with blog and media publishers means nurturing your brand image at a lower cost. This content remains online and generates organic traffic long after its publication: a well-indexed article can send you qualified visitors for months. This is the core of content-to-commerce, which capitalizes on the complementarity of two levers:

• “Cold” content: SEO guides and comparisons to generate ongoing sales (e.g., “Choosing your linen sofa“).
• “Hot” content: shopping curations to boost sales (e.g., “Top 10 sales deals” or “€X off product X“).

The Dolce Gusto example: cold content

hot content:

3. Comparison sites and buying guides (to reassure)

Just before validating their purchase, buyers look for confirmation. Content like “Top 3 best…” or “Product A vs Product B” answers exactly this need. It attracts users in an advanced stage of reflection, meaning visitors with high conversion potential.

For this lever to work in your favor, be precise in what you communicate to your comparison affiliates: product benefits, real product differentiators, and also points of caution. Honest content that mentions weak points with transparency generates more trust, and therefore more conversions, than purely promotional pitches.

4. CSS / Google Shopping (to occupy all the space on Google)

The moment a user searches precisely for your product or your category, CSS (Comparison Shopping Services) comes into play.

These affiliates run Google Shopping campaigns on your behalf at their own expense, using your product feed to display your offers directly in search results.

The strategic interest is twofold. First, you only pay a commission on validated sales, meaning zero financial risk on ad distribution. Second, and this is the strong point: you double your presence on Google Shopping by combining your own campaigns with those of your CSS partners. When purchasing intent is at its peak, you occupy twice as much space on the user’s screen.

5. Cashback (the ultimate conversion weapon)

Cashback steps in at the very end of the purchasing journey, at the cart validation stage. The buyer goes through cashback websites to recover a percentage of their order amount.

It is psychological: they feel like they are getting a last-minute deal. For your brand, it ensures that the cart will not be abandoned at the time of payment, while keeping your costs under control since you set the affiliate’s remuneration percentage yourself.

But it is also a powerful audience hub for highly intentional users: users log in before choosing their store to look for inspiration and the best offer. It is therefore a major lever for visibility and new customer recruitment

The La Redoute x Joko example: By appearing on Joko (push notifications, in-app banners), La Redoute captures a targeted community upstream that would not have spontaneously thought of the retailer. It is a double-effect lever that combines qualified traffic acquisition (upper funnel) and final conversion with a controlled roas.

Building a high-performing affiliate marketing mix means combining awareness and conversion by supporting the buyer at a precise moment in their purchasing funnel. Content creators and blogs awaken buyer interest, comparison sites validate their choice, and CSS and cashback trigger their purchase.