How to structure your affiliate and influencer marketing strategy in 2026
With the gradual disappearance of cookies, rising acquisition costs, and evolving social habits, brands must rely more than ever on affiliate and influencer marketing strategies that are measurable and aligned with their identity.
In 2026, these two approaches converge into a more automated, emotional, and business-integrated strategy, forming essential pillars of any roadmap.
Strategic pillars for your 2026 roadmap
AI as a performance catalyst in affiliate and influencer marketing
AI is no longer limited to content generation—it now optimizes every stage of the value chain.
Smart matching: contextual analysis (embeddings, LLMs, semantic scoring) allows platforms to instantly identify the most relevant partners for your brand. Manual filtering of thousands of profiles is a thing of the past; AI isolates partners aligned with your goals, audience, and lifecycle.
AI search optimization: with Google’s AI Search (SGE), affiliate content must now be designed both for search engines and large language models. This requires rethinking content strategies to remain visible and relevant in a rapidly changing landscape.
Tiktok shop and social commerce: A channel to integrate
Social commerce is rapidly taking shape in France. TikTok Shop, launched in 2025, is expanding significantly. Creators become interactive points of sale, linking inspiration directly to conversion. For brands, this is an opportunity to turn influence into a trackable, scalable sales lever—closely aligned with affiliate and influencer marketing principles.
Brand advocacy: Turning customers into affiliates
Content-driven strategies continue to grow. In 2026, the most effective campaigns leverage nano and micro-influencers who are already loyal customers.
Example: Kiabi has structured a brand advocacy program where clients become content creators, with an integrated affiliate marketing logic. This transforms a brand’s customer base into active ambassadors, generating authentic, high-performing content.
Towards “emotional performance”: Beyond classic ROI
While traceability remains central, advertisers also measure the quality of the connection with audiences.
“Emotional performance” values:
- real engagement (comments, shares, UGC)
- sense of proximity with the brand
- frequency of interactions
This requires redefining success indicators and combining quantitative data (revenue, conversions) with qualitative insights.
Smart tracking: More accurate, realistic measurement
Affiliate solutions are evolving towards holistic performance measurement, recognizing all touchpoints in the customer journey.
With smart tracking, each actor (influencer, blog, comparator, promo code) is credited for their real contribution. This approach aligns more closely with business reality and enables more accurate partner activation and investment optimization.
Actions brands should take now
integrate AI into partner selection and management tools (matching, scoring, content creation)
diversify activation channels (TikTok Shop, UGC, newsletters, advocacy)
structure creator relationships with contracts, KPIs, and tracking tools
rethink performance by combining emotional indicators with classic ROI
Affiliate and influencer marketing: Strategic trends in 2026
In 2026, brands can no longer operate partner campaigns blindly. Affiliate and influencer marketing become integrated levers, data-driven, creativity-led, and boosted by artificial intelligence.
As an affiliate platform, Affilae supports advertisers in this transformation by implementing the best technological, contractual, and marketing practices. Contact us to evolve your strategy in 2026.
