Impact Affiliate Tutorial: How Product Brands Land More Press With Affiliate Links

Bridget and Lydia

2 days ago

3 min read

Ever wonder why some brands show up in every gift guide and "best of" list while yours doesn't? Some of the time, it comes down to one thing: affiliate links. This Impact affiliate tutorial walks you through exactly how to set it up so you can land more of that coverage.

Why publications love affiliate links

Here's the behind-the-scenes of what's really going on. Many digital publications make money from affiliate links when they feature products. When a reader clicks and buys, the outlet earns a commission. So most of those gift guides you see like "10 best gifts for your grandma" are affiliate links where both the publication and brand are compensated. Win Win!

So when an editor is choosing between two great products for a roundup, the one with an affiliate program often has the edge. It's not pay-to-play. Your product still has to be good. But being set up makes you way easier to say yes to.

This is especially big for listicles, gift guides and product roundups.

Lydia walks through the whole thing step by step here:

How affiliates actually work with publications

An affiliate is anyone who earns a commission for sending you a sale. That could be a magazine, a creator or a coupon site.

You'll also hear two terms a lot:

PPC (pay per click): you pay when someone clicks.
PPA (pay per action): you pay only when someone actually buys.

For most product brands just starting out, paying per sale is the lower-risk way to go. The video covers when each one makes sense.

How to get started with Impact

Impact is one of the biggest affiliate platforms that publications use. Here's the process Lydia covers:

Sign up for Impact. Here's our link to get started.
Set up your brand account. Your products, your brand info and how you want to track sales.
Learn the reporting. Know where to see clicks, sales and which partners are driving results.
Choose your commission rates. Magazine partners often expect a commission that makes featuring you worth their while.
Create your contracts. Impact has templates you can use, or you can customize your own.

How to find (and vet) affiliate partners

Once you're set up, you can find new partners right inside Impact: magazines, creators and coupon sites. You can also apply to the programs publications run.

One big warning: scams exist. Before you approve anyone, check their profile and website. If something feels off (no real site, weird url, no real audience, weird traffic), skip it.

Don't forget to tell editors/writers

This is the step most brands miss. Being on Impact doesn't help if editors don't know.

When you pitch editors, writers, add a line letting them know you have an affiliate program on Impact. It's a small detail that can make a big difference in getting picked for a roundup.

And every one of those features does double duty, helping you rank on Google and show up in AI search too. [Here's how]

👉 Grab your Personalized PR Plan: visibilityonpurpose.com/pr-plan

🎥 Watch the full video breakdown on YouTube: youtube.com/@visibilityonpurpose

This post was written by Bridget Sicsko & Lydia Bagarozza, co-founders of Visibility on Purpose, a PR strategy studio helping CPG and product-based brands get featured in top media without agency retainers.

Together we've supported 300+ brands in landing features in Forbes, USA Today, Women's Health, mindbodygreen, FOX, and top podcasts.

Ready to get your brand featured? Grab your Personalized PR Plan here → visibilityonpurpose.com/pr-plan

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