An affiliate manager is the person responsible for recruiting, onboarding, and scaling a brand’s network of affiliate partners.
According to a global survey of marketers by affiliate marketing platform Awin, affiliate partner relationship management is the leading challenge for brands, followed by brand consistency and fraudulent activities. An affiliate manager not only helps track affiliates but also guides them as they create content for your brand.
This guide covers what an affiliate manager does, and compares the role of an in-house manager to a third-party affiliate management agency.
What is an affiliate manager?
An affiliate manager is the person responsible for owning a brand’s affiliate marketing program from strategy to execution. The role connects your brand with creators, publishers, bloggers, and other affiliate partners who promote your products in exchange for a commission on sales.
While a dedicated affiliate manager focuses on recruiting and relationship building, they also oversee commission rates, data analysis to optimize campaigns, and collaboration with other teams to track how affiliates contribute to business goals.
What does an affiliate manager do?
- Recruit and onboard new affiliates
- Track and optimize performance
- Manage commissions and payouts
- Ensure compliance
Affiliate managers oversee the entire production of an affiliate program, from recruiting partners to monitoring content for legal compliance. Here is what marketing managers do:
Recruit and onboard new affiliates
Affiliate managers identify creators whose audiences match your target audience, then reach out with partnership proposals. They contact potential affiliates via direct messages on a social media platform, an affiliate network, and owned online affiliate programs. They handle the onboarding process and provide the unique product links, discount codes, and brand or campaign guidelines.
Sergio Tache, founder of fragrance brand Dossier, runs a successful affiliate program with a dedicated team that recruits partners. “We have a team of about 10 or 12 people whose only job is to scour TikTok and YouTube and find the influencer that we should be working with,” Sergio says on an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast. “They reach out to them, send out perfumes, strike an agreement, and continue working with them to build trust.”
Today, Sergio says they work with thousands of influencers with both small and large followings.
Track and optimize performance
Affiliate managers monitor which partners and affiliate marketing channels drive traffic and sales. Each affiliate account’s performance data shapes decisions about where to invest, such as determining who gets higher commissions.
Heaven Mayhem founder Pia Mance uses the affiliate platform ShopMy to manage her program and reach out to partners who are performing. “You can see who’s driving the volume, instantly, and you can message them and chat with them right there,” she says on Shopify Masters.
Manage commissions and payouts
Affiliate commission structures vary by program, ranging from fixed percentages of sales to tiered commissions based on performance. Affiliate managers set these structures, adjust them as the program evolves, and make sure payments go out correctly and on time.
Ensure compliance
Affiliates are legally required to disclose paid partnerships, per the Federal Trade Commission. Affiliate managers build disclosure requirements into briefs and onboarding materials, specifying required language like #ad or #sponsored.
To maintain brand reputation, affiliate managers also monitor content for alignment with brand guidelines, key talking points, and accurate claims.
In-house vs. outsourced affiliate management
Brands typically manage affiliates in one of two ways: by hiring affiliate managers or working with affiliate management agencies.
Before selecting an approach, determine the scope of what you need, how quickly you plan to scale, and how much marketing budget you have to allocate. According to Gartner, average marketing budgets were 7.7% of company revenue in 2025.
Here’s an overview of the options:
In-house affiliate management
This is a dedicated role hired to work for your brand, usually within a larger marketing team. Platforms like Shopify Collabs or Awin let in-house affiliate managers recruit affiliates, set commission structures, track performance, and manage payouts. Full-time affiliate manager salaries range from $50,000 for a junior role to over $100,000 for senior-level roles.
On an episode of Shopify Masters, Lauren Kleinman, founder of PR agency Dreamday, says that the right affiliate platform depends on your affiliate revenue. For brands bringing in less than $150,000 in affiliate revenue, her agency recommends Awin. For more, it directs clients to Impact, as it has more complex tracking and attribution capabilities.
Outsourced affiliate management
Affiliate management agencies bring in resources and experts to handle everything from affiliate strategy to recruiting to optimization. The benefits of an agency are that they may have more resources and reporting tools, have an established process, and can help you scale.
Ratings and reviews platform Clutch found that the average affiliate marketing project handled by an agency ranges from $10,000 to $49,000.
Affiliate manager FAQ
What is an affiliate manager?
An affiliate manager runs a brand’s affiliate marketing program. They lead the strategy, recruit and onboard partners, track performance, manage commissions, and ensure affiliates follow brand and legal guidelines. At small brands, a founder or marketer likely handles this role. At larger companies, it might be a dedicated position or agency relationship.
What does an affiliate manager do?
Key responsibilities include recruiting affiliates, onboarding new partners with creative assets and links, monitoring performance metrics, optimizing commission structures, negotiating deals with top performers, processing payouts, and working with the larger marketing team to ensure the affiliate program is driving results for larger business goals.
What is the best platform for affiliate marketing?
The best platform depends on your needs. You may need access to a network of affiliate marketers, or you may already have them and just need software to help manage affiliates. Shopify Collabs is built for Shopify merchants and handles recruitment, commission tracking, gift fulfillment, and creator payouts in one place.
