How to create an affiliate program for your digital product

What you need before launching affiliates?

A product that is selling, low refund history, commission decided, and materials ready.

• Product ready: it is already on sale with a minimum of five sales. An affiliate who does not see a track record of your offer does not trust it.
• Low refunds: a controlled refund rate signals the product delivers. High refunds mean buyer's remorse or unfulfilled promises.
• Commission: decide how much you pay and under what terms, such as last sale, first sale, percentage, or fixed amount.
• Materials: a short video of the offer (30 seconds), social graphics (Instagram, Facebook), email copy, ad copy, and a document with rules.

Whoever starts with everything ready activates affiliates and starts selling in days. Whoever pulls materials together as affiliates ask drags it out for weeks.

How do I set commission and attribution rules?

Commission is percentage or fixed amount. Attribution is last click or first click. Pick one of each and make it clear.

• Percentage: the amount depends on what you set. Percentage is better than fixed because it grows with your product price. If you raise your course price, the affiliate earns more. Hypothetical example: a percentage between 20% and 50% covers the affiliate's risk, but you want to find your break-even point.
• Fixed amount: say, $10 per sale. Less common, but works if your ticket is high. Problem: it does not keep pace with inflation or price increases.
• Last click: commission goes to the last affiliate the buyer clicked through. Fairer because it rewards who closed the sale. If a buyer clicks through three affiliates, only the last one gets paid.
• First click: commission goes to who brought the visitor. Less used because it rewards acquisition, not conversion. Problem: an affiliate brings the click and the buyer buys, but another affiliate gets the commission.
• Cookie duration: 30 days is standard. Tracking is valid for 30 days after the initial click. Some use 7 days for impulse buys, 60 for high-ticket courses.

Recommendation: percentage plus last click plus 30-day cookie. Fairest, clearest, less arguing later. The affiliate sees you pay those who actually sell. If your partner is also a product owner, adjust the logic for how to split revenue in co-production.

How do I approve affiliates manually or automatically?

Manual cuts fraud risk and weeds out bad partners. Automatic brings in more affiliates at once.

• Manual: you review who wants to be an affiliate, check them out, and approve. It takes time, but you know who you work with. Good for starting out.
• Automatic: everyone who applies gets approved. Fast, but lets in people who will not sell and people who want to commit fraud.
• Hybrid: first approvals manual, then switch to automatic. Once you trust the pattern, make the change.

Start manual if you have fewer than 50 affiliates. If you grow past that, you can switch. In the meantime, read how to find affiliates for your product to locate partners ready to promote your program.

What materials should I give affiliates?

Everything an affiliate needs so they have no excuse not to sell.

• Unique link: tracking that does not fail. Affiliate copies and shares.
• Video: 30 seconds of the product pitch. Ready to post on TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram.
• Graphics: 3 to 5 images of 1200x628 pixels, the standard for social media, showing the product benefit.
• Copy: ready-to-use email, WhatsApp, and social ad text. Copy and paste ready.
• Document: commission terms, target audience, product history (sales count, refund rate), and payment details.

Ready materials increase your odds that an affiliate starts selling on day one by 5x.

How do I create an affiliate contract?

It does not have to be formal, but it must make the rules clear and be signed.

• Simple: write an email describing commission, term length, tracking method, payout dates, and what is prohibited. Affiliate confirms receipt or agrees in writing.
• Formal: if you will have many affiliates, work with a lawyer on a template. It protects you.
• Minimum points: commission, payout date, payment method, ban on misleading buyers, when you can deactivate an affiliate, and how long the partnership lasts.

A clear contract prevents conflict later. An affiliate who misled a buyer? Your contract gives you the right to pause them.

How do I stop practices that cause chargebacks?

Education, selection, and monitoring.

• Education: make it clear in the contract that affiliates cannot mislead buyers, use high-pressure tactics, or promise what your product does not deliver.
• Selection: manual approval from the start reduces fraud risk.
• Monitoring: if chargebacks spike from one source, investigate. It could be an affiliate using bad tactics or buyer's remorse, but you need to know.

Track which affiliate each sale and each chargeback came from, in your account or your spreadsheet. If an affiliate brought 10 sales and 5 turned into chargebacks, that is a red flag.

How long before the first sale?

From zero to first affiliate sale: one week to one month.

• With an established affiliate: one week. They can promote using materials they already have, their email list, or their audience.
• With a new affiliate: one month. They need time to understand the product, prepare materials, and test it.
• With paid ads: 48 hours. Launch the campaign and see results right away.

If an affiliate has not sold in two weeks, most will not sell. Offer help once, then move forward.

When to pause or deactivate an affiliate?

When sales drop, when chargebacks rise, or when an affiliate breaks the contract. Pause is temporary, deactivation is permanent. Knowing the difference saves you time.

• Pause temporarily: when you suspect bad tactics but want to confirm. The affiliate stops promoting while you investigate. If investigation confirms fraud, deactivate permanently.
• Deactivate permanently: when an affiliate misled a buyer, used aggressive tactics, or has recurring and abnormal chargebacks. Contracts usually give you the right to pause without notice.
• Performance drop: if sales fall sharply with no clear reason, a conversation is worth it. The affiliate might have less time, changed their audience, or the product no longer fits. One talk often solves it.

An affiliate who generates chargebacks, fraud, or misleading practices costs more than they earn. Hypothetical example: if an affiliate brought 10 sales and generated 5 chargebacks, the chargeback rate is 50%, and you have the right to pause.

Where does Mundpay fit in affiliate setup?

Everywhere: setup, tracking, automatic commission, and payouts. On Mundpay you set commission, approve affiliates, generate links, see each affiliate's sales, and each affiliate gets paid on their terms based on commission earned. No manual transfers, no confusion. See the step-by-step in how to configure affiliates on Mundpay. If your affiliates will sell overseas, set up the international checkout before launching the program, and start with how international affiliates work.

Sources reviewed

• Mundpay: How to configure affiliates
• Mundpay: Split payment for co-production