Affiliate Marketing Management vs. Affiliate PR

Vol: 201 - What’s the Difference and Why Should You Care?

HelloZ

Hi friendZ! One of the most asked questions as of late has been “what’s the difference between Affiliate PR and PR and Affiliate Marketing?” They’re hearing the term “Affiliate PR” being thrown around and since it’s new term to our lives, it’s a fair ask. I’m going to break it down for you and I’m going to make this a free for all. Literally. I thought long and hard about that one because being a paid subsrciber brings you valuable information that most don’t get BUTTTTT given the hot topic and how big I am on education, it’s going to be readily available for all. So pass it around like a doobie in the 70s!

If you’ve ever:

• Wondered why your affiliate links are floating around like lost puppies

• Confused “affiliate marketing” with “sending PR samples and praying for a miracle”

• Or you’re a brand who knows you should be “doing affiliate” but doesn’t know what “doing” actually means...

You’re in the right place.

Today, we’re diving into the delicious details of:

• What affiliate marketing management actually is

• How it compares to this buzzier new thing called affiliate PR

• What makes them different (and what makes them BFFs)

Let’s break it all down—without the jargon or yawns.

LFG!

---

First, What Even Is Affiliate Marketing Management?

Affiliate marketing management = the actual running of your affiliate program.

It’s the behind-the-scenes system where:

• Brands give people (creators, bloggers, reviewers, that cool mom on TikTok) unique links or discount codes.

• The affiliate marketer is working with lower and middle funnel partners to drive traffic to your dot com. Your Klarna, your Karma, your Shopmy, your Capital One Shopping, and so on.

• When someone clicks and buys → that affiliate earns a commission.

• The brand tracks everything like a digital detective and pays out commissions accordingly.

But here’s the kicker: someone has to manage that whole ecosystem. That means:

• Recruiting affiliates (the right ones, not just your aunt’s dog blog).

• Approving and onboarding them.

• Sending them creative assets, product info, and brand updates.

• Answering questions like “Do you offer 90-day cookies?” or “Can I promote this in my email list?”

• Optimizing top performers and removing spammy weirdos.

• Reviewing opportunities they have for Q1, 2, 3, and 4 for either budget or CPAi increases.

• Tracking clicks, conversions, commission rates, and return on ad spend (ROAS, baby).

Affiliate marketing management is part brand strategy, part influencer wrangling, part partner recruiting, part spreadsheet wizardry.

It lives in platforms like Impact.com, Refersion, ShareASale (Ahem AWIN), Rakuten, CJ, Shopify Collabs, or even DIY setups on Shopify + UTM links.

---

Cool Cool, So What’s Affiliate PR Then?

Think of Affiliate PR as the glow-up of old-school public relations—with a performance twist. In classic PR:

• You pitch your product to media

• Cross fingers for coverage

• Hope someone says, “We saw you in Vogue!”

In Affiliate PR:

• You still pitch media and creators

• But you include affiliate links or discount codes right in the pitch

• So when your story hits BuzzFeed, InStyle, or Refinery29, and readers click to buy...That press coverage generates actual trackable sales.

You’re not just getting attention—you’re getting revenue with receipts.

Affiliate PR means:

• Giving press contacts a tracked link they can earn commission from

• Pitching with commerce in mind (“Hey editor, here’s a summer must-have AND a way to monetize your roundup”)

• Combining editorial storytelling with affiliate strategy

It’s PR that knows its conversion rate.
It’s exposure and performance.
It’s like dressing up for the red carpet... but also bringing your own merch table.

And you know what? It’s actually if PR an affiliate had a baby. You cannot do PR without affiliate and you cannot do affiliate without PR.

BUT there’s so much more to PR that affiliate can’t touch (experiential events and grassroots efforts for example) and a lot to affiliate that PR can’t touch (see above re: spreadsheet wizardry). And so, it’s this Venn diagram where, in order to be a TRUE PR AND AFFILIATE MARKETING PROFESSIONAL, you have to be good and knowledgeable about both. And WE PEOPLE are unicorns. Plain and simple. And believe me, I’m being very humble when I say that.

Where They Overlap…and Where They Don’t

Here’s a little cheat sheet I made in the notes app because heaven forbid Substack lets us create a table. Any questions on the below?

The Secret Sauce? They Work Better Together.

And an even bigger not so secret: They work better when they WORK together. If I’m managing someone’s PR and affiliate program, it’s gold. I’m in charge of both and I’m able to pivot as needed. Most times, however, a PR team brought me on to work WITH THEM and it’s also gold. Because working together is working better. PERIOD.

You can run an affiliate program with zero PR, but you’ll be doing it the hard way.
You can pitch PR without affiliate links, but you’ll be leaving money on the table.

When you combine both:

• Your affiliate team feeds links and assets to your PR team

• Your PR team lands coverage that uses trackable links

• Your affiliates become story angles, and your stories become sales drivers

• Everyone wins—and you can prove it in a spreadsheet

Cue the confetti. 🎉 (I had to copy and paste this from Safari. Another miss from Substack!)

Psssst….

Got questions about how to merge these two into a super-powered brand strategy Want a pitch template that includes affiliate links without sounding like a salesman from 2009? Need to convince your boss that yes, PR can have a conversion rate?

Email me! I’ve got templates, tips, and probably a pun or two. I’d love to work together.

Until next time—track boldly, pitch smartly, and never underestimate the power of a well-placed UTM.

Thoughts?!