Affiliate marketing is an Internet-based marketing practice where an online company rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer reached by the affiliate’s marketing efforts. Affiliate marketing tends to be used more seldom by most online marketers, who prefer to use more traditional forms of online marketing like organize search engine optimization, paid search advertising, email marketing, and display advertising

Companies need to create an affiliate marketing team to ensure that it has a unified message and buying strategy to control the cost and use of its name. It can be a highly effective way to attract users while having a fixed cost. It also can allow you to address a longtail strategy with smaller niche vendors.

Affiliate marketing is a modern variation of the practice of paying a finder's fee for the introduction of new clients to a business. Compensation may be made based on a certain value for each visit (pay per click), registrant (pay per lead), or a commission for each customer or sale (pay per sale), or any combination.

The affiliate marketing function:

• Develops, fosters, and manages multiple, large direct affiliate relationships
• Provides ‘hands-on’ direction to partners with key information and insight to grow sales
• Directs appropriate promotions, incentives, creative for affiliate programs
• Develops and prioritizes product requirements according to goals
• Analyzes results for areas of opportunities and successes
• Manages weekly and monthly reporting and tracking of performance metrics