For ecommerce businesses, the biggest challenges aren’t about having a great product or a well-designed website. It's about getting noticed in the market. With the rising cost of customer acquisition from traditional marketing efforts, you need to leverage alternative strategies that are more cost-effective while driving real results. Affiliate marketing works because it taps into the credibility of real people to generate sales.

This blog will take you through the six best affiliate marketing techniques you can implement to get the most out of your affiliate programs and drive marketing success.

What is affiliate marketing? 

Affiliate marketing is where brands work with content creators, bloggers, or influencers to promote their products, reach potential customers, and convert them. In turn, these affiliates earn a commission for every customer that they successfully refer. 

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While similar to influencer marketing, your affiliate marketing strategy is directly related to how affiliates drive clicks and conversions for your ecommerce brand. In fact, many influencers join affiliate programs to leverage their following and earn passive income. For brands, this kind of partnership helps them generate brand awareness, reach new audiences, and build trust.

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Due to its performance-based incentives, affiliate marketing is often a more affordable alternative to other digital marketing channels since marketing costs are dependent on the sales generated. 

6 Affiliate marketing techniques to boost sales for ecommerce stores 

When setting up your affiliate program, follow these techniques to set your program up for success. This will help you tap into new customer segments and drive sales while building long-term customer relationships for sustainable growth.

1. Offer generous cash commissions

Give your affiliates a generous cash incentive for referring their friends and followers to your brand. The more generous you are with your incentives, the more likely your affiliates will refer new customers to you. 

Not sure what incentives you should be giving for your affiliate marketing program? Here are some ways to figure it out:

• Percentage-based: A commission rate of 5% to 30% is common, with lower percentages for brands with high AOVs.
• Pay-per-lead or pay-per-sale: A flat fee of $15 or $20 for every new customer that the affiliate brings in is a common option.
• Pay-per-click (PPC): You can also set up flat-fee payouts based on clicks that affiliates drive. While this is a great incentive for affiliates, it could create opportunities for fraud and doesn’t guarantee conversions.
• Gift cards or store credit: If you don’t have a budget to pay affiliates, an alternative is offering gift cards or store credit to your affiliates. This is the least motivating incentive and works best as a bonus rather than the main commission.

Pro-tip: Use the cost-per-acquisition (CPA) of your paid social efforts as a benchmark. Based on that, set your commission percentage.

For example, Duradry keeps affiliates engaged by offering both cash rewards and gift cards, among other incentives.

2. Automatically enroll your customers into your affiliate program

The easier it is to join your affiliate program, the more people will sign up. By removing friction from the registration process, you can turn more customers into affiliates instantly. There are two easy ways to do this:

1. Through the post-purchase thank-you page

Your customers are most excited about their purchasing decision right when they make it. Take advantage of the post-purchase excitement by automatically sharing their affiliate coupon code or link with them. 

Whenever your customers purchase your online business, this is what they’ll see on their thank you page: 

2. Through a sign-up form 

Another way to enroll your customers into your affiliate program is by having a sign-up form embedded directly into your website. Adding this allows influencers, bloggers, and content creators to register as affiliates in just a few clicks.

This also automates the approval process so that every sign-up gets instant access to their tracking link, eliminating delays and allowing them to start promoting your brand instantly.

Here’s what the sign-up form by Javy Coffee looks like:

Pro-tip: Integrate Social Snowball with Klaviyo to create customized, on-brand emails that'll be sent to your affiliate email list. 

3. Send reminders to your affiliate email list

The key to a successful affiliate marketing program is timely communication. Once someone purchases from you or signs up through the form, set up email marketing flows to regularly remind them of your program and the perks associated with it.

Send gentle reminders to your customers consistently and reignite their interest. Social Snowball’s built-in email feature automatically sends four emails to your affiliates after referred purchases.—one right after, 24 hours after purchase, 48 hours after purchase, and 120 hours after purchase.

Here is an example promotional email from Javy Coffee:

Other kinds of emails you could send your affiliates include: 

• Success stories from other affiliates. How much affiliate income have your top creators earned?
• Teach them how the affiliate program works. When should they expect their payouts?
• Educate them about your affiliate products. What aspects should they highlight when promoting your brand?
• Monthly payout updates. How much did your affiliate earn? This update will motivate them to continue promoting your brand.

Check out our swipe file of examples of winning emails you can implement for your affiliate strategy. 

4. Create marketing materials for your affiliates

Influencers primarily promote your brand through social media content like TikTok shorts, YouTube videos, or Instagram Reels. While it’s best to let these creators tailor their content marketing to their target audience, providing them with online marketing materials, webinars, and tutorials can help them create high-quality content that aligns with your messaging.

Essentially, you're teaching them what it means to be an affiliate marketer for your store. Here are some ways you can create marketing materials: 

• Share successful past campaigns: Show them examples of past affiliate-created content that performed well. This helps them understand what type of content, messaging, and visuals work best.
• Communicate your brand’s values: Make sure they know what your brand stands for so they can integrate those values into their content.
• Highlight your unique selling points (USPs): Provide key product benefits and differentiators so they can create engaging content that emphasizes what makes your brand special.
• Offer pre-made creative assets: Share editable templates for banners, Instagram stories, or Reels with your affiliate network to streamline content creation while keeping branding consistent.
• Share a list of post ideas: Send affiliate creators ideas of the content they can create (like product reviews, unboxing videos, and before-and-after carousels).

For example, Divi includes top-performing affiliate content in their onboarding email for affiliate partners to get inspiration for their own content.

Another brand, Javy Coffee sends reminder emails with some of their viral videos that affiliates can use as references.

5. Activate your affiliates

Many affiliate programs fail because affiliates sign up but never start promoting. To avoid this, you need a structured approach to activate affiliates and keep them engaged. Instead of waiting for affiliates to take action, guide them with clear steps, incentives, and ongoing support.

Here are 2 of the best affiliate marketing techniques to help you effectively activate your affiliates:

1. Onboard with a clear, actionable welcome flow

Affiliates need clear guidance from day one. Instead of sending a generic welcome email, create an automated multi-step welcome flow that includes:

• Immediate welcome email: Explain how the program works, where to find referral links, commission structure, and payout details.
• Follow-up email (Within 24 hours): Share success stories of top affiliates, best practices, and promotional tips.
• Reminder email (48 hours after signup): Provide additional resources, marketing templates, or a checklist to help affiliates get started.

For example, Divi automates its welcome emails to affiliates, which include affiliate links, commission details, and engagement incentives to encourage quick action.

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2. Offer a fast-action incentive

Many affiliates sign up but delay their first promotion. However, a quick-start bonus pushes them to take immediate action. After they sign up, nudge them with helpful resources and incentives to get them to share immediately: 

• Offer a higher commission rate for their first three affiliate sales.
• Give an exclusive bonus for generating their first sale within the first week.
• Provide early access to new products for affiliates who make their first sale quickly.

For example, Latico Leathers sends targeted activation emails within 24 hours, reminding affiliates about their instant bonus and offering tips to secure their first sale.

3. Keep affiliates engaged with targeted updates

Affiliates are more likely to promote your products if they feel connected to your brand. Regular updates help them stay motivated and informed.

• Exclusive product sneak peeks: Let affiliates be the first to know about new launches.
• Seasonal promotions: Share pre-made content for holiday sales, limited-time affiliate offers, or trending affiliate marketing campaigns.
• Personalized performance insights: Send automated reports showing their earnings, ways to improve, and even an update on the next reward tier that they are close to unlocking.

While activating your affiliates is a great marketing strategy, tracking inactive affiliates manually is time-consuming. A marketing tool such as Social Snowball can automate and optimize this process by identifying inactive affiliates and sending targeted reactivation emails.

You can also use the affiliate marketing platform to create custom email flows and track engagement metrics to refine activation strategies.

6. Gamify your program

Many brands focus on acquiring affiliates but struggle with retention and performance. Gamification adds a competitive edge, encourages continuous participation, and increases conversion rates. Here’s how you can leverage gamification within your program.

1. Tiered commission structures

A tiered reward system encourages affiliates to strive for better performance by offering increased commissions as they reach new sales milestones. This keeps them engaged and continuously working toward higher rewards.

For example, PurelyB, a wellness brand, has a well-structured tiered commission system that keeps affiliates motivated. They send an email out explaining their commission structure:

2. Exclusive bonuses for top performers

Beyond commissions, exclusive challenges can boost motivation and reward high-performing affiliates. Based on specific milestones that affiliates achieve (like 50 new leads), set up performance-based rewards like:

• Cash bonuses at specific milestones
• Gift cards
• Free products 
• Feature on your brand’s website or social media platforms

3. Leaderboards & public recognition

Nothing fuels motivation like some friendly competition. Share leaderboards via email, your affiliate dashboard, or inside a private community to highlight:

• Top-performing affiliates of the month
• Total sales generated
• New rewards your brand is offering for the month

Download our playbook on ‘How To Gamify Your Affiliate Programs’ to explore tactics and examples that will help you maximize your affiliate revenue.

Ready to take your ecommerce affiliate program to the next level?  

Your affiliates can only perform as well as the systems and support you provide them. With the right affiliate marketing techniques, you can easily onboard affiliates, communicate with them on time, and deliver a smooth experience from end to end. 

However, the tool you use to manage your affiliate program is just as crucial—to help you automate processes and manage it all in one powerful dashboard.

This is where Social Snowball can help. From automatic affiliate enrollment and single-use discount codes to built-in email flows and fraud prevention, Social Snowball gives you everything you need to launch, manage, and optimize your affiliate marketing efforts, all in one place.

Frequently asked questions about affiliate marketing programs

How to prevent affiliate coupon code leaks? 

To prevent affiliate coupon code leaks:

• Generate unique, hard-to-crack codes.
• Limit redemptions with short expiry periods.
• Control distribution. 
• Monitor redemption patterns.
• Use tools that block coupon extensions.

One way to do this is using Safelinks, which generates single-use codes for each shopper who clicks an affiliate link, preventing codes from being reused. This automates fraud protection, ensuring that entrepreneurs can focus on their ecommerce growth.

Should I use influencers or my past customers as affiliates?

You should use both influencers and past customers as affiliates since each of them brings unique benefits. Influencers help build brand awareness and expand your reach, while past customers drive conversions through personal recommendations.

With Social Snowball, you can create separate affiliate campaigns for each group. This allows you to set different commission rates—higher for influencers due to their reach—and offer targeted incentives. 

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