Affiliate Program Audit 101: How to Set Your Brand Up for Scalable Press and Profit

The Core Components of an Effective Affiliate Program Audit

Before you pitch your brand to any affiliate, you should take stock of these aspects of your affiliate program. Of course, LaRue is here to help and guide you through not only the best practices, but the most effective ones.

Partner Platform Presence

Step one of your affiliate program audit: take a look at the network, partners and sub-affiliates you’re working with. Are you partnering with brand-aligned affiliates and networks that support your goals? For example, is your current affiliate network (i.e. Impact, AWIN, CJ) granting you the ability to strategically and dynamically commission with your top partners (i.e. Rakuten, LTK, Skimlinks)?

Are your attribution questions being answered from your current reports? Aside from signing up with the biggest platform and highly-trafficked affiliate partners, we recommend casting a wide net of niche partnerships specific to your vertical to build trust and brand affinity.

Your affiliate strategy should not be siloed from your PR efforts – it is essential to ensure top media publications and creators are supported as an affiliate and their specific link and asset needs are met. (Not sure how to do this? We’re pros—and will take care of it for you.)

Commission Structure

Don’t forget to review your commission structure. Consider whether or not your rates are competitive in your category. You want your rates to fall within what's appropriate for maintaining your company's margins, are attractive to potential affiliates, and compete with similar brands to further incentivize potential partners to join and promote your brand. If you’re unsure about your offer, look into benchmarking it against similar brands. This will give you an idea of where you stand in the competitive landscape, and help guide any restructuring decisions.

There are a variety of commission types to consider as well. If you’re not getting the desired results within your existing strategy, it’s time to re-evaluate the commission structure and make strategic changes to your existing strategy. Pay-per-click, pay-per-lead, tiered commissions, new versus returning dynamic commissioning, SKU commissioning, and flat rate deals are all examples of popular affiliate commission types. The right commission structure for your brand will depend on a variety of factors, including the price of the product(s) or services you offer, current market conditions, seasonality, trends in customer loyalty.

SKU Coverage and Product Feed Health

Next up in your affiliate program audit: make sure your product availability is up-to-date. Are your bestsellers listed and linkable? These are the products with the highest earning potential for you and possible affiliate partners. Additionally, verify whether or not your product catalog is up to date across platforms. This will ensure broken links or out-of-stock products aren’t impeding performance.

There’s nothing worse for a potential customer than clicking a link only to get an error code or discover a product is no longer available — that’s hard to come back from. It’s essential to ensure everything is properly set up within the program to facilitate a smooth, simple shopping experience from first click to final purchase.

Attribution and Tracking Reliability

No affiliate program audit is complete without being able to accurately assess performance. Look into whether clicks are being tracked accurately, and check for the possibility of tech glitches or delayed updates that could cause you to miss out on sales. Narrow down a few key performance indicators (KPIs) to focus on for the time being, and see how they trend over a set period of time. Link these KPIs to specific goals for your affiliate marketing efforts, and adjust your strategy accordingly.

We recommend evaluating affiliate performance against a key set of industry and vertical benchmarks to ensure the program is healthy and providing value to the overall business and marketing mix. (We’ve been in the weeds of many programs over the years—we’ll help you identify strategic adjustments that will support you and your brand in the long run.)

How Affiliate Readiness Supports Scalable Press and Visibility

When you’re affiliate-ready (and have a strong backend setup to show for it), you’ll have much greater headline potential and more success landing affiliate partnerships. Journalists, editors, affiliate managers, and influencers are under pressure to generate revenue. If a brand isn’t obviously affiliate-ready, it will likely be passed over in favor of other, better options.

Many top-tier media outlets (think The Strategist, People, Forbes, BuzzFeed) require affiliate links for product roundups or gift guides. Spots in these pieces are competitive, and if your brand’s affiliate program isn’t set up for success, another one will readily take your place. Good affiliate hygiene means faster placement approvals, more linkable products, and higher conversion rates. Affiliate maintenance through regular audits is critical for editorial consideration, especially in saturated markets.

Common Mistakes Brands Make—And How to Avoid Them

Stay one step ahead of potential obstacles to your affiliate program's success by avoiding common mistakes. Don’t let these issues derail your press strategy:

• Platform Blind Spots: Brands will often list only on one big platform (e.g. Amazon), and miss out on important publishers. Highlighting where your brand and products are sold increases your pool of potential affiliate partners, and broadens your audience reach.
• Low Commissions: Offering lower-than-average commissions that don’t incentivize coverage is another mistake brands frequently make. Performing monthly competitor audits ensure your rates are both fair to your brand and enticing to publishers amongst the competition. Keep in mind, you are competing with high converting shopping engines, such as Amazon–-editors are constantly evaluating the commission rates being offered compared to the average conversion rate from the sites.
• Outdated Links: Letting product links expire or not updating feeds regularly can be a serious stumbling block in affiliate marketing. Regular audits of your links and product catalog can prevent any difficulties when interacting with your program’s links for both affiliate partners and consumers.
• Failing to Evolve: One of the biggest mistakes any brand can make is assuming affiliate setup is “one and done” instead of a living system. When it comes to affiliate success, flexibility and readiness to evolve are the difference between sinking or swimming. Brands must stay on top of constant changes in affiliate trends and strategies in order to remain relevant.

How LaRue PR Integrates Affiliate Strategy Into PR Campaigns

At LaRue PR, we have a comprehensive, reliable process for making sure clients are media-ready. We kick off our onboarding process by conducting an affiliate audit for any pre-existing programs or identifying the best leading affiliate program to launch on for your brand.

We also advise on implementing a strategic commission structure based on our industry expertise and findings among your competitors, and an editorial coverage strategy highlighting our relationships with top-tier media and ways commissions can be leveraged for coverage.

Our team constantly collaborates with affiliate managers, not just PR reps. Affiliate optimization is baked into our campaign planning—especially for gift guides, product roundups, and influencer partnerships. We’re committed to getting you the features and mentions that matter most for your brand, and setting you up for long-term affiliate success.

When to Run an Affiliate Program Audit

Scheduling regular affiliate program audits is always a good idea. Timing these checks around important brand developments or calendar events can optimize success. Consider conducting audits:

• Before a major product launch
• Ahead of peak seasons (Q4, gifting, Memorial Day, etc.)
• When migrating affiliate platforms or refreshing product offerings
• Every six months as part of an ongoing digital health check

When you’re focused on the everyday ins and outs of running a business, it can be easy to set marketing strategies like affiliate programs on the backburner—especially when it seems like they can run themselves. At the end of the day, it’s important to recognize there’s more to affiliate marketing than meets the eye. The average affiliate strategy deserves a lot more attention than it gets.

Affiliate shouldn’t be the afterthought—it’s the foundation. A solid affiliate program audit ensures your brand is not just visible, but is evolving profitably. And with LaRue PR’s strategic eye on both storytelling and systems, you’ll be set up for scalable, sustained growth.