Welcome to Affiliate PR. Or PR 3.0. Or Just Tuesday Now.
Vol: 204 - PR people: here's what you need to do!
HelloZ
May was a blur and here we are at the end of June. How is this even real life?
I know that a lot of my public relations friends and industry colleagues are having a hard time navigating the waters of the blending of affiliate marketing and traditional PR. This is normal! And expected! Pair that with influencers and content creators as the NEW new media, and it’s a sink or swim situation.
This should not be news for you, dear reader, as I’ve said it time and time again (not to mention in my many counseling sessions with agencies): You must engage with and pitch content creators as if they are mainstream media because 1. they are now and 2. they can drive more brand awareness, brand equity, and sales than a media publication.
Here’s a spicy little stat for your morning scroll:
Influencers with 50K+ followers are now driving more Amazon sales per product than some tier-2 publisher sites.
And guess what? They’re not just recommending stuff — they’re running their own affiliate empires.
We’re talking curated Amazon Storefronts, Linktree armies, ShopMy product drops, and promo code pyramids so deep they make old-school MLMs blush.
Wait. When did this happen?
It snuck up on us.
One minute we were pitching editors for Mother’s Day roundups.
The next, we’re building influencer affiliate portals, offering them customized tracking links, performance bonuses, and co-branded landing pages…
The kicker? Many of them don’t even think of themselves as “affiliates.”
They’re just vibing and cruising along with the rest of ‘em. Recommending their favorite collagen powder or linen pants. But they’re also earning 4–5 figures a month in affiliate commissions. (From Amazon. From your brand. From that brand you launched last year and forgot to turn off codes for.) AHEM - you need an affiliate marketing manager. Wink, wink.
So what does this mean for affiliate managers?
A few things:
Your influencer team is now your top affiliate and PR hit dream team.
They just don’t realize it yet. Educate them. Incentivize them. Track them.PR, performance, and partnerships are now a love triangle.
You can’t silo this anymore. Your PR team is pitching Amazon links. Your affiliate team is seeding TikTok. Everyone’s asking, “Who gets credit?”Old-school affiliate publishers? Still important.
But don’t ignore the micro-mavens. Especially not the ones with “Amazon finds” reels pulling 2M+ views.
TL;DR?
Your next best-performing affiliate might be someone you gifted a sample box to last quarter.
Treat your creators like distribution channels.
Treat your affiliate strategy like a brand strategy.
And for the love of all things UTM-tagged, track everything.
Let’s learn more about this - and what you can do as a publicist - after the jump!
But first…
NewZ + ShowZ
Nick Cannon (“The Masked Singer”) will replace Will Arnett as the host of “Lego Masters” starting with season six.
Coming to Adult Swim is “Keeping Up With the Joneses,” from creators Hugh Davidson, Rachel Ramras, and Larry Dorf. The half-hour adult animated comedy focuses on a family as they try to “keep up” with their staggeringly wealthy Dallas neighbors – including the one next door, Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys.
New A&E series “Lie Detector: Truth or Deception,” following people suspected of serious crimes who voluntarily submit to taking a polygraph test, launches Thursday, July 10 at 9p.
Nat Geo has renewed “Tucci in Italy” for season two. The docuseries debuted on May 18.
Season two of Hulu’s “Such Brave Girls” debuts Monday, July 7. The comedy follows a family trying to escape the reality of their cramped, debt-ridden home.
The New PR Reality: Earned Media Has a Commission Code
Publicists, gather ‘round.
Something weird (and wildly powerful) is happening in the media universe:
- Your favorite influencer just became an affiliate publisher.
- Your media contacts? They’re measuring you in clicks.
- And your product? It’s being pitched by people who got it in a PR box — but now want a rev share.
Welcome to Affiliate PR. Or PR 3.0. Or Just Tuesday Now.
Let’s break this down:
Once upon a time, we pitched editors for love. For coverage. For “brand awareness.”
Now? We're competing with a 27-year-old in sweatpants who has a ShopMy page and 85K followers and sells out SKUs in 3 slides.
Your PR wins used to be measured in:
- Print placements
- High DA backlinks
- Screenshotting your brand in a Buzzfeed listicle
Now you’re being asked:
“Did it have an affiliate link?”
“Why didn’t they use our Amazon storefront?”
“Can we track it in ShareASale/AWIN/Rakuten/Impact?”
It’s not just about press anymore. It’s about press with performance. We know this. Now I’m going to teach you some MORE.
So What Does This Mean for Publicists?
Affiliate marketing and PR used to live on opposite sides of the brand strategy room.
Now? They're roommates. Brands expect earned media to drive not just awareness—but sales. And the best-performing placements might not come from Vogue, but from a TikToker with a tracked Amazon link and a 48-hour story shelf life.
Let’s be clear: PR isn’t dead. It’s just different.
And your influence as a publicist? Still huge. But it now requires new muscles: