Katie Spurkeland, Director of Product Marketing at Partnerize, argues in a February 2024 analysis that the affiliate industry’s reliance on last-click attribution creates a strategic liability. As consumer journeys fragment, brands struggle to distinguish between partners who capture a transaction at the finish line and those who influence the original purchase decision.
The analysis identifies a visibility gap that allows for "cannibalization." This occurs when brands pay commissions on sales that likely would have occurred without affiliate intervention. To counter this, Spurkeland advocates for compensation engines that reward incrementality rather than just the final click.
Rewarding High-Value Discovery
The problem stems from a legacy measurement mindset that treats all conversions as equal. According to the Partnerize analysis, a sophisticated partnership strategy requires moving away from passive tracking. Advertisers should utilize split commissioning and performance infrastructure to reward "new-to-file" discovery.
Identifying where influence happens in the "dark spaces" of the buyer journey—the moments before a link is clicked—allows marketers to assign value more accurately. This approach neutralizes the risk of paying for intercepted demand. For example, brands can avoid paying for traffic when a customer already at the checkout searches for a coupon code.
Item-Level Margin Commissioning
Rethinking incrementality also involves protecting brand profitability. Spurkeland notes that general commission rates often ignore the underlying margins of different products. Partnerize recommends implementing category and item-level margin commissioning. This ensures that payouts align with the actual gross margins of the goods sold.
Advanced testing methodologies can also prove ROI to the C-suite. Geographic and time-based rules allow brands to run controlled experiments. By comparing performance in specific regions or periods, marketers create a defensible evidence layer.
Aligning Payouts with Economic Impact
Redefining incrementality ensures that brands prioritize their most valuable partners. A blunt last-click model risks underfunding content creators and influencers who introduce brands to new audiences. By aligning payouts with verified incremental value, brands favor partners who provide the highest economic impact.
Moving from guesswork to a defensible ROI model is now a requirement. Brands that fail to adapt their compensation models risk overspending on low-value traffic and losing competitive standing among high-influence partners.
Affilitizer Editorial Team
This article was created with AI assistance and editorially reviewed.
