Hey,
Fred here. With another issue of my weekly newsletter.
So, I just got back from Affiliate Summit West 2026.
After conversations with some of the largest affiliate media buyers in the space, a few things have become very clear.
Here are 4 insights on how smart brands approach affiliate partnerships.
1. Affiliate Marketing Is Now a Performance Channel (Not a Content Channel)
The biggest misconception I saw shattered: affiliate marketing is no longer about bloggers and coupon sites.
What I witnessed was a room full of serious media buyers deep in performance conversations about CPAs, funnels, creatives, and scaling systems.
Modern affiliates are performance partners who expect strong offers, fast approvals, and proper support.
If you still think "affiliate = bloggers + discount codes," you're already outdated.
Media buyers don't negotiate or wait; they simply move to the next brand with better economics. Your brand reputation is simply irrelevant to them if your offer doesn’t incentivize them.
2. Big Affiliates Don't Chase New Verticals. They Double Down on What Works
Large affiliate media buyers operate within specific verticals where they already have proven creatives, tested funnels, and buying confidence.
They're not excited about running offers outside their core niches.
What they actually want:
Strong offers inside verticals they already dominate
Competitive payouts with clear proof of scale potential
Alignment, not experimentation on their side
Don't ask affiliates to learn a new niche.
Bring them better offers in niches they already run. That's how real volume gets unlocked.
3. The Best Offers Are LTV-Based
The strongest affiliate offers today pay based on customer Lifetime Value, allowing affiliates to earn higher CPAs even if brands break even on the first purchase.
Top media buyers prefer working with brands that understand their full-funnel economics and are confident in their long-term monetization.
Usually, they send traffic that enters your funnels and gets monetized later via email, SMS, retargeting, and marketplaces, but they're not paid for that downstream revenue. So, obviously, they want compensation commensurate with the true value of their traffic.
The opportunity is huge.
If you know your numbers, have proven LTV, and are comfortable with upfront risk, affiliate media buyers are among the fastest-scaling channels available.
Brands clinging to low-risk, low-CPA offers will struggle to attract serious partners.
4. The Industry Is Bigger and More Sophisticated Than Most Brands Realize
There are many affiliates doing hundreds of conversions per day, with massive amounts of money flowing through the ecosystem.
The space is full of constant experimentation and iteration on proven concepts.
Despite its size, there's still a widespread lack of understanding around how affiliate media buyers operate and what they need from brands.
This prevents companies from unlocking a major growth lever.
What matters is speed, decisiveness, and clear economics.
The brands winning in this space move fast and treat affiliates like the serious performance partners they are.
The affiliate industry has fundamentally changed, yet most brands still operate under outdated assumptions.
The brands that will win are the ones that:
Respect affiliates' existing strengths and verticals
Structure offers around long-term value, not short-term fear
Treat affiliate media buyers like the serious performance partners they are
Move fast and understand their numbers cold
If you get this right, affiliate marketing can become one of your fastest-growing channels.
If you don't, you'll keep wondering why "affiliate doesn't work" for you
(while your competitors scale effortlessly!)
Okay, that’s it for today.
If you want to see how to scale a DTC brand with affiliate revenue, book a free strategy call here, and let’s talk.
Talk soon,
Fred