Affiliate & partnerships benchmarks

Performance-based marketing — pay only for outcomes. Coupon, content, cashback, loyalty, and creator-affiliate sub-channels each have different incrementality profiles.

Share of digital ad spend: ~2% of US digital ad spend (2026, affiliate)

Channel snapshot

Avg commission rate 5–18% of sale. Coupon affiliates often non-incremental (60%+). Content affiliates often highly incremental (80%+).

How to operate this channel

Operator playbook

Coupon/cashback affiliates often cannibalize — measure incrementality before scaling.
Content affiliates (editorial sites) are most incremental.
Use last-touch attribution sparingly — many affiliates win the last click without contributing.
Cap commission rates by sub-channel based on incrementality data.
Direct-publisher relationships beat affiliate networks for premium content.

Platforms in this channel

Want to model your spend in this channel? Use the CPM calculator, ROAS calculator, and budget allocator to plan allocation.