Published: September 13, 2026
Every week we talk to brands about getting started and growing within PR, affiliate marketing and GEO visibility. Through Great Scott’s work in the e-commerce landscape, we’ve pulled together a few stories worth sharing.
What is affiliate marketing and will it help your brand?
The official description: A marketing arrangement in which affiliates receive a commission for each visit, sign-up, or sale they generate for a merchant. Think of it as old-school back-scratching. You recommend a cute boutique to someone and the owner comps you a sweater, but now on a digital platform. It’s the blue link you click on in a “These are the best gifts for Mom” listicle to buy a product, and the ecosystem of digital businesses to trace the referral, settle payouts, and track consumers.
Our roots are in traditional public relations at Great Scott, and we look at affiliate marketing as a top-of-funnel strategy that goes hand-in-hand with press coverage. We get coverage on our clients’ launches, collaborations and newsworthy milestones. But most publications have now become shoppable platforms with dedicated e-commerce channels and teams. And those publications want a commission, or referral payment, every time their stories, ‘Best of’ lists and Gift Guides lead to a sign-up or sale for a brand. And we love to give it to them!
We look to affiliate partners like loyalty publishers, cart abandonment, and TM+ bidding to help convert readers. The channel, because it’s on a commission basis and has less education around it, is often underutilized by traditional marketing teams.
Do brands need affiliate marketing?
Yes, at the very bare minimum, a brand needs an affiliate platform for any direct-to-consumer press coverage. And now, LLMs overwhelmingly pull from “affiliate” articles and listicles. This means that an affiliate link lives in the shopping button. We require that all Great Scott clients have an affiliate marketing platform set up for their direct-to-consumer site or through a retailer like Walmart, Amazon, Target, Sephora, Ulta. The majority of retailers have robust affiliate programs running and the brand doesn’t have to do anything on the back end.
How does affiliate marketing help your brand?
It opens up the door for direct-to-consumer brands to gain media coverage. And it allows you to tap into a publisher’s built-in audience with only a commission structure and no upfront cost. According to Capital One Shopping, 64% of online shoppers search for coupons or discount codes before making a purchase. This means more chances to convert a sale with even the smallest of discounts. You can also push consumers to sign up for email or sms for a discount, or promote a sale page.
It’s low financial risk because it’s commission-based and you can choose to only work with partners that offer free onboarding.
Affiliate Marketing also covers the full funnel, with different affiliate types hitting different parts of the journey. Review sites for research, coupon sites for last-click conversion, influencers for discovery. There are endless partner opportunities!
What role do affiliate networks play?
It’s a central place for partnerships, publishers, communication, payouts, reports, and analytics. It’s essentially how a publisher and brand communicate and track their sales together. The platforms have proprietary technology to help prevent and mitigate fraud and simplify the setup process. Affiliate networks are the backbone of the affiliate industry and are built to support brand sizes from startup to enterprise. All brands have to have one, and no, an influencer affiliate network does not count!
What types of affiliates can a brand partner with?
There are several different types of affiliates. Editorial publications, review and compare sites, cashback, cart abandonment, shopping websites, bloggers, TM+ bidding, and influencers, coupon and deal sites/extensions.
Great Scott is a public relations and affiliate marketing agency, so we build both into every client program, from press coverage to the commission structure behind it.
Have more questions? Send them to cat@callusgreatscott.com and we’ll include them in our next blog!