Definition
Affiliate marketing is a performance model where a business pays partners (affiliates) a commission when they send a tracked visitor, lead, or paying customer through a link or promo code — not for vanity shares or untracked mentions.
Detailed Explanation
The merchant owns product, checkout, and attribution rules. The affiliate brings traffic through content, email, social, or ads. Tracking uses UTMs, cookies, or promo codes so you can pay CPA or revenue share fairly. Flat-fee influencer posts without tracking are a different package — treat them that way.
A usable program needs clear offer terms, payout rules, fraud checks, and a conversion definition everyone understands (lead vs paid vs delivered). “Everyone share our page” without links or rules is not an affiliate program.
Creator coupons shared in Facebook groups can look busy and still fail if COD cancellations wipe the commission base. Pay on delivered orders, or your best partners will leave after the first reconciliation fight.
Nepal Context
COD, WhatsApp closes, and festival spikes make last-click attribution messy in Nepal. Prefer paying on confirmed or delivered orders — not abandoned checkouts. See affiliate marketing Nepal, the merchant guide, and related influencer marketing.
Do not scale payouts until you can name the conversion event and who approves refunds. COD markets punish fuzzy affiliate rules.
Practical Examples
- Local D2C: 10% commission on delivered orders with a unique UTM per partner
- Consultancy: Tiered payouts — lead vs enrolled student
- Nepal path: WhatsApp coupon codes for creators; reconcile against ERP before monthly payout
Key Takeaways
- Pay for referred outcomes, not vanity shares.
- Define conversion (lead vs paid vs delivered).
- Influencer retainers ≠ affiliate unless tracked.
- Fraud review before scaling payouts.
Common Mistakes
- Paying on checkout when COD cancel rates are high.
- No cap on coupon abuse or self-referrals.
- Launching affiliates before conversion tracking works.
