What Is an Affiliate Network? How It Works for Brands
Written by Edward Cranmer on 17 minute read
A quick guide for brand owners: who’s involved, how it all works, and how a network helps you grow with partners you pay only for results.
An affiliate network is a marketplace that connects brands with publishers, such as websites, creators and apps, who promote products to their audiences. Publishers earn commission when their promotion leads to a sale or other agreed action. The network tracks each sale, pays each partner and checks who joins.
Awin is a global affiliate network connecting 30,000 advertisers with 1 million publishers.
If you run a brand and keep hearing that affiliate marketing could help you grow, this guide is for you. It covers how a network like Awin works, who you could partner with, and how a click on your affiliate link becomes a sale you only pay for once it’s confirmed.
Publishers looking for brands to promote can visit our page for affiliate partners.
What does an affiliate network do?
Think of a network as the meeting point between your brand and the people who want to promote it. You bring the products and decide what you’ll pay. Publishers bring their audiences. The network handles everything in between, so both sides can focus on selling.
Here’s what the network takes care of:
- Matching: helps you find publishers whose audiences suit your products, and lets the right publishers find you
- Tracking: records which publisher sent each customer, so every sale is credited to the partner who earned it
- Payments: collects commission from you and pays each publisher, so you settle up in one place instead of paying every partner separately
- Quality checks: partners are checked before joining and monitored on an ongoing basis
This model works differently from most online advertising. With search or social ads, you pay for clicks or views whether anyone buys or not. On a network, commission is due when a customer completes the action you agreed with your partners, such as a sale or a sign up.
Behind Awin’s network are more than 1,400 people across 17 locations, supporting brands and publishers around the world. You can read more about Awin and how the network has grown since 2000.
Who’s involved in an affiliate network?
Every affiliate partnership has three sides: your brand, the publishers who promote it, and the network that links you together. Knowing what each one brings makes it easier to picture how your programme would run.
Advertisers (your brand)
In affiliate marketing, the brand selling the product is called the advertiser. As an advertiser, you choose which actions earn commission, how much each one pays and which publishers can promote you.
Awin works with 30,000 advertisers of all sizes, from brands running their first programme to those operating in dozens of countries.
Publishers (your partners)
Publishers are the partners who recommend your products to their audiences. The term covers a wide mix of businesses and people, and each type reaches shoppers at a different stage of buying.
| Publisher type | How they promote you | When a brand might use them |
|---|---|---|
| Content sites | Reviews, buying guides and gift lists | Building trust with shoppers who are still researching |
| Social media | Posts, videos and live streams from creators and influencers | Reaching new audiences through a voice they already follow |
| Cashback and loyalty sites | Money back or points on each purchase | Winning shoppers ready to buy and encouraging repeat orders |
| Voucher code sites | Promo codes and limited time deals | Converting price conscious shoppers during sales and launches |
| Comparison sites | Side by side listings of products or prices | Standing out in sectors like finance, energy and travel, where people compare before choosing |
| Technology partners | Tools that work on your site or checkout | Recovering abandoned baskets or adding offers after purchase |
Most brands work with a blend of these types, since each one plays a different part in the journey to purchase. With 1 million publishers on Awin, you can build that mix without leaving the platform.
Social media is often where new brands want to start. Awin can help you find influencer partners who suit your products and track the sales they bring in.
The network (like Awin)
The network is the third side, and the one that keeps everything running smoothly. It supplies the technology, sets the rules partners agree to and makes sure commission reaches the right people on time.
Why publishers prefer working through a network
Good publishers are choosy about who they promote, so it helps to know what draws them in. A network gives them one account to join many brands, tracking they can rely on and regular payments without chasing each advertiser.
That reliability matters to you as a brand, because publishers who trust the setup are more likely to feature your products. Awin generated £1.2 billion ($1.4 billion) for its publishers in the last financial year.
How does an affiliate network work?
From when you join to when a partner gets paid, the process follows six steps. Some happen once during setup, and others repeat with every sale. Here’s how each one looks from your side, using an example outdoor clothing brand (Fernleaf) to show the process.
Step 1: Join the network and set your commission
Everything starts with your terms. You decide which action earns a reward, usually a sale, and whether partners receive a percentage or a fixed fee each time.
Commission can also follow your goals. On Awin, custom commission rules let you set different rates by:
- product or category
- coupon code
- new or existing customers
Fernleaf might pay 8% on most orders and 12% when a first time customer buys a jacket, which rewards partners who bring in new shoppers. Commission rules are available on selected plans, which you can compare on the pricing page.
Step 2: Find the right publishers
Partners reach your programme in two ways. Publishers can apply to join, and you can invite the ones you’d like to work with.
Awin’s discovery tools make the second route quicker. Smart Partner Search lets you describe the partners you want in everyday words, such as “UK hiking blogs”, and returns matches. AI partner recommendations then suggest publishers likely to perform well for you. The AI tools guide shows both in action.
You review each application and choose who joins, so every partner promoting you is one you’ve approved.
Step 3: Partners share tracked links
Once approved, each publisher gets tracked links to your site. To a shopper, a tracked link looks like any other link. Inside, it carries a code that identifies the publisher who shared it.
Publishers place these links wherever their audience spends time: articles, social posts, newsletters, apps and comparison listings. A hiking blog might add Fernleaf’s waterproof jacket to its kit list for spring walks, with a tracked link beside the product.
Step 4: A customer buys, and the sale is tracked
When a reader clicks that link and buys the jacket, the network records which publisher sent them. On Awin, this starts with the MasterTag, a single tag added to your site.
Browsers now limit the cookies that tracking has long relied on, which can leave some sales unrecorded. Awin’s Conversion API adds server to server tracking, sending sale data from your systems straight to Awin so partners are still credited. Our guide to tracking on Awin explains the setup.
Step 5: Approve the sale
Before any commission is paid, you get a set window to check each sale, known as the validation period. Genuine orders are approved, and returned or cancelled ones can be declined with a reason, so publishers know what happened.
This step means you only pay for sales that stick. The validating transactions guide covers the options for approving sales.
Step 6: The network pays your partners
After approval you pay the commission to the network, which then passes on to each publisher. That way everyone gets paid automatically, however many partners you work with.
Payment speed shapes how keen publishers are to promote you. Awin pays publishers twice a month, on the 1st and the 15th, through its accelerated payments system.
What can an affiliate network do for your brand?
Most brands come to affiliate marketing with a goal in mind: more customers, a new market or a launch that needs a push. A network gives you partners and tools to work towards each of these, at a pace that suits your business.
| If you want to… | How a network helps |
|---|---|
| Reach new customers | Publishers already have loyal audiences, from cashback members to creator followers, that would take years to build alone |
| Launch quickly | Partners are ready to apply from the day your programme goes live, so there's no need to recruit them one by one |
| Keep costs in line with sales | Commission rises and falls with the results partners bring in, which makes budgeting simpler |
| Build trust with shoppers | Reviews and recommendations from voices people follow can carry more weight than a brand's own ads |
| Sell in new countries | A global network gives you local publishers in the markets you're entering |
| Save your team time | Partners, tracking and payments sit in one place, with one account to manage |
If you run a skincare brand, for example, you might start with a few beauty creators and review sites in the UK. Once sales pick up, cashback sites could come on board for a seasonal sale, followed by publishers in Germany and France as you expand.
Plenty of brands are already growing this way. Awin created 2M+ partnerships in the last year, and its network generated £18 billion ($19 billion) in revenue for advertisers in the last financial year.
There’s more on the reasons brands choose this route in our guide on why affiliate networks are essential.
Affiliate network vs affiliate programme: what’s the difference?
People often mix these two terms up, partly because they describe parts of the same setup. An affiliate programme is one brand’s offer to partners, setting out what it pays and the rules to follow. An affiliate network is the marketplace that puts those programmes in front of publishers looking for brands to promote.
| Affiliate programme | Affiliate network | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | One brand's offer to partners, including commission rates and terms | A marketplace that connects brands' programmes with publishers |
| Who runs it | The brand | The network, with each brand managing its own programme inside it |
| Publishers you can reach | The ones you find and recruit yourself | Everyone already signed up to the network |
| How publishers join | They apply to that brand directly | They apply to your programme from the account they already use |
| Tracking and payments | Handled through the brand's own software, or through a network | Handled by the network for every programme it hosts |
| Example | A skincare brand's partner programme | Awin, 30,000 advertisers run programmes and 1 million publishers can find yours |
In practice, the two work together, and it’s how 30,000 brands on Awin run their affiliate marketing. Joining a network means setting up your own programme inside it, with your commission, your rules and the partners you approve.
Publishers already on the network can discover your brand straight away, and the network’s matching tools help you reach the ones whose audiences match your products.
Some brands choose to run a programme without a network, using affiliate software and recruiting every partner themselves. Our guide to choosing an affiliate network compares that route with joining one.
Is an affiliate network right for your brand?
Affiliate networks suit most brands that sell online, whether you launched last spring or have been trading for years. A few signs you’re ready to start:
- You sell online. Shoppers can buy, sign up or book through your website or app, which gives partners a clear action to drive.
- Your margins leave room for commission. After paying a share of each sale, you’d still make a profit you’re happy with.
- Tracking can go on your site. Most ecommerce platforms make this straightforward, and Awin has plugins for popular ones such as Shopify and WooCommerce.
- You can give it time. Partnerships grow over weeks and months as publishers test your products and learn what their audiences respond to.
Picture a small homeware brand selling through its own online shop. With products people love and a margin that covers commission, it has what it needs to launch a programme and start working with interior bloggers and home creators.
Once you’re set up, the next step is choosing who to work with. Our guide to finding profitable affiliates shows how to build your first partner list.
When you’re ready, you can sign up and start building your programme with Awin.
FAQs about affiliate networks
How do affiliate networks make money?
Affiliate networks make money by charging brands for access to their technology, publishers and support. Fees often combine a platform fee with a charge on each tracked sale, paid on top of partner commission. Publishers usually join for free. Awin publishes its advertiser plans openly on its pricing page.
How are affiliates paid?
Affiliates are paid commission for each approved sale or action they drive. The brand pays the network, which then passes commission to every publisher in one regular payment. Awin pays its publishers twice a month, on the 1st and the 15th, once sales have been validated.
Is Awin an affiliate network?
Yes, Awin is a global affiliate network connecting 30,000 advertisers with 1 million publishers. It provides the tracking, partner checks and payments that let brands work with publishers in one place, and has been running affiliate programmes for brands for more than 25 years.
How many partners does Awin work with?
Awin works with 30,000 advertisers and 1 million publishers, giving it over a million partners worldwide. Awin created 2M+ partnerships in the last year, and its network generated £18 billion ($19 billion) for advertisers and £1.2 billion ($1.4 billion) for publishers in the last financial year, according to its About page.
Is an affiliate network worth it for a small brand?
Yes, an affiliate network can work well for a small brand, since commission is tied to results and you can start with just a few partners. Working with a small group of well matched publishers first lets you test what works before growing your programme further.