What Is Affiliate Marketing?
In a creator commission campaign, a brand publishes terms and a creator may earn commission when an attributed order satisfies those terms. A click or registered order is not automatically payable: exclusions, order validation, the return window, and approval still matter.
The creator also invests time in applying, reading the brief, making compliant content, publishing the correct link or code, and following the result. Income is variable and not guaranteed.
Read the whole lifecycle: campaign terms, attribution evidence, review, returns, approval, and payout.
Key Terminology
Before diving in, you need to speak the language. Here are the essential terms:
CPA (Cost Per Action): The amount an advertiser pays for each completed action, whether that is a sale, lead, or app install. This is your commission.
CPL (Cost Per Lead): A subset of CPA where the action is specifically a lead form submission. Common in finance, insurance, and B2B.
EPC (Earnings Per Click): Your average earnings for every click on your tracking link. This is the metric that tells you how well an offer converts for YOUR traffic.
Conversion Rate: The percentage of clicks that result in a completed action. A 2% conversion rate means 2 out of every 100 clicks convert.
Compare payout with conversion evidence, exclusions, workload, return window, and EPC where enough data exists. No single metric is sufficient.
Choosing Your First Offer
Do not choose a campaign from the headline commission alone. Check whether the product fits your audience, which products and costs are excluded, what content is required, how long the review and return window lasts, and what evidence is available for conversion and payout.
ThreeStove uses application and campaign-review workflows, but that is not a guarantee that a product will fit your audience or produce income. Make your own suitability and disclosure assessment before publishing.
Evaluate campaign fit, terms, available evidence, advertiser reliability, and workload together rather than chasing the highest payout.
Launching Your First Campaign
Step 1: Apply to a campaign that fits your audience and read the commission basis, exclusions, return window, and disclosure requirements.
Step 2: Use the campaign link or code shown in your account and label your content according to the applicable advertising rules.
Step 3: Publish only content you can stand behind. Keep a record of the campaign and placement labels you used.
Step 4: Follow registered clicks, orders, review states, approved commission, and payout status. Treat small samples carefully and ask for review when order evidence appears inconsistent.
A correct link is only one part of the work; the brief, disclosure, evidence, and payout states matter too.
Joining Campaigns
How applying works, what brands see, and what unlocks the moment you are approved.
Attribution Windows Explained
How long a tracked link counts, what evidence an order needs, and how the attribution window differs from the return window.
Custom Links for Creators
Label every post with its own tracked link and read the results per piece of content.