Commission Factory Blog

Affiliate Success: Exetel's Multi-Channel Launch Strategy

isabella.cavallaro@commissionfactory.com (Isabella Cavallaro) — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 23:25:04 GMT

Key takeaways

Multi-channel affiliate marketing delivered first-to-market launch, 3 months ahead of competitors
Spotlight content: +180.8% on TechRadar, +89.3% on Tom's Guide
Display CTR: 2.1% (3x the 0.7% industry standard)
Affiliate integrations converted high-intent audiences into qualified leads
PC Gamer syndication: organic pickup, zero additional cost

The challenge

Exetel launched the One Plan: a simple, honest NBN offer. However, the telco market moves fast, competitors were circling; and Exetel had three months (July – September 2025) to own the conversation before the window closed.

The brief: launch faster and cut through the noise.

The need: an affiliate marketing strategy that reached high-intent audiences exactly when they were ready to act.

Strategy & placements

A coordinated ecosystem was built across every customer touchpoint: discovery → consideration → action.

Spotlight content on TechRadar and Tom's Guide positioned Exetel's story as expert narrative, not ads. PC Gamer picked it up organically.
Display placements kept Exetel top-of-mind across premium tech and lifestyle sites.
Email (Solus EDM + newsletter integrations) reached audiences primed to engage.
Affiliate marketing through Future's network turned high-intent audiences into qualified leads via precision-targeted placements.

The key: connect ready-to-act audiences with your offer at the exact moment they're ready to move.

The results

TechRadar: +180.8% above benchmark
Tom's Guide: +89.3% above benchmark
Display CTR: 2.1% (3x the 0.7% standard)
PC Gamer: organic syndication, zero cost

Exetel's affiliate program expanded significantly post-launch.

“We're able to tap into a high-quality, high-intent audience that is relevant to our brands. We continue to enjoy a great working relationship with Commission Factory and their affiliates.”

— Sarah Endres, Senior Marketing Manager, Superloop

What this means for your affiliate marketing strategy

Intent beats reach. Right audiences at the right moment matter more than budget size.
Multi-channel coordination multiplies results. When content, display, email, and affiliate placements align, they amplify each other.
Premium partnerships drive premium conversion. High-authority publishers attract high-intent audiences that convert to 3x+ benchmarks.
Speed wins. First-mover advantage is real. Smart strategy + fast execution + trusted partners = market leadership.

Want results like these?

Commission Factory works with brands across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region to build affiliate programs that deliver measurable, trackable growth.

Get in touch at commissionfactory.com/contact-us

How to benchmark your 2025–2026 Australian financial year (FY2026) affiliate marketing performance with Nexus Pro?

Gaye Padir — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 03:45:38 GMT

The 2025–2026 Australian financial year (FY2026 or FY25-26) has officially ended. If you manage an affiliate program, now is a good time to review your FY2026 performance and benchmark your results against similar brands.

With Benchmarking Insights in Nexus Pro, Commission Factory advertisers and agencies can compare their affiliate program performance against similar brands on the Commission Factory platform. This helps you understand where your program performed well, how it compares to your vertical, and where to focus your planning for FY2027.

What is Nexus Pro?

Nexus Pro is the advanced version of Nexus, Commission Factory’s built-in AI assistant. Nexus helps you ask questions about the platform, strategy, and affiliate marketing. Nexus Pro goes further by connecting those questions to account data, Dynamic Reporting datasets, and Benchmarking Insights.

Today, Nexus Pro includes two core capabilities: Dynamic Reporting and Benchmarking Insights.

Dynamic Reporting helps advertisers, agencies, and affiliates analyse performance data in plain language. Benchmarking Insights helps advertisers and agencies compare affiliate program performance against similar brands on the Commission Factory platform.

For FY2026 reviews, Benchmarking Insights is the key Nexus Pro capability. It helps you compare your affiliate program across metrics such as ROAS, AOV, conversion rate, commission rate, active affiliates, and new customer acquisition, giving you clearer context for FY2027 planning.

What does the end of FY2026 mean for your affiliate program?

The end of FY2026 is a useful time to benchmark your affiliate program and set a baseline for the year ahead.

Reviewing your own results shows what happened in your program. Benchmarking gives you more context by showing how your performance compares with similar brands in your vertical.

This can help you assess your FY2026 results, measure performance against the market, and support better planning for FY2027.

What can you benchmark with Nexus Pro?

Nexus Pro’s Benchmarking Insights feature lets you compare your affiliate program across six key performance metrics.

Metric	Description
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)	Shows the revenue generated for every dollar spent through your affiliate program.
AOV (Average Order Value)	Shows your average order value from affiliate-driven transactions.
Conversion Rate	Shows how effectively affiliate traffic converts into sales.
Commission Rate	Shows how your commission settings compare with similar brands.
Active Affiliates	Shows how many affiliates actively drove performance during the selected period.
New Customer Acquisition	Shows how your affiliate program contributed to acquiring new customers.

For each metric, Nexus Pro returns:

Your result
The vertical benchmark
The percentage difference
A short explanation of what the comparison means

This gives you a consistent way to assess your affiliate marketing performance against similar brands on the Commission Factory platform.

How do you run an FY2026 benchmark report?

You can generate an FY2026 benchmark report in three steps.

Copy the benchmark prompt below.
Paste it into Nexus Pro.
Review your benchmark report.

Use this prompt to run your FY2026 benchmark report:

How did my affiliate program perform during FY26 compared to similar brands in my vertical?

Benchmark my results against the vertical across:
ROAS, AOV, Conversion Rate, Commission Rate, Active Affiliates, and New Customer Acquisition.

For each metric provide:
- My result
- Vertical benchmark
- Difference (%)
- What it means

Then provide:
1. Strongest metric based on business impact
2. Weakest metric based on business impact
3. One-sentence overall summary

Do not omit metrics, provide recommendations, or speculate on causes. Only return the six metrics listed above. If the number of comparable brands in my vertical is small, note this before presenting results. Keep the response concise and focused on benchmarking.

Nexus Pro will generate a benchmark report covering all six metrics. It'll also identify your strongest and weakest areas based on business impact and provide a short overall summary.

What if your vertical has only a few comparable brands?

If your vertical has only a few comparable brands, the Benchmarking Insights feature may give you a limited comparison group.

In that case, use the benchmark as directional context rather than a complete performance view. You can also compare your FY2026 results against your own previous-year performance to understand how your program has changed over time.

If your program recently launched and you don’t have previous-year data, use your first available reporting period as a baseline. For example, compare your first 30, 60, or 90 days with later performance periods as more data becomes available.

Once you’ve reviewed your benchmark, keep exploring your results with Nexus Pro. Our Benchmarking Sheets include 10 ready-to-use prompts for advertisers and agencies to help you dig deeper into your performance, compare trends, and uncover additional insights.

Download the Advertiser Sheet

Download the Agency Sheet

Is benchmarking different from standard affiliate reporting?

Yes, standard affiliate reporting shows your program’s own performance over a selected period. Benchmarking compares your results with similar brands on the Commission Factory platform. This helps you understand whether your performance is strong, weak, or in line with your vertical.

Both views are useful. Your own reporting shows movement over time. Benchmarking shows how your program compares with the market.

Can agencies benchmark client programs?

Yes, agencies can use the same Benchmarking Insights feature to benchmark client programs.

The process is the same. Adjust the prompt to ask how your client’s affiliate program performed against similar brands in their vertical.

This can support end-of-financial-year reviews, client reporting, planning sessions, and account prioritisation across multiple programs.

Redman Agency uses Nexus Pro as part of its affiliate audit process. Laura Redman, Co-Founder of Redman Agency, shared:

“We use Nexus Pro as part of our affiliate audit process to quickly identify opportunities, gaps, and areas requiring attention within a program. It provides valuable insights across partner mix, commission structures and recruitment opportunities, helping us benchmark performance and uncover optimisation opportunities.”

This is where Nexus Pro becomes practical. It gives agencies a faster way to move from reporting what happened to identifying what needs attention next.

What should you do with the results?

Use your benchmark results to decide what to improve first, then benchmark again to measure the impact of your changes.

Start by reviewing your strongest and weakest metrics. Then compare those results with your program’s performance over time. This helps you understand where your program stands today and whether performance is moving in the right direction.

Benchmarking is most useful when you review it regularly. As new data becomes available, you can track how your performance changes and measure the impact of your decisions throughout FY2027.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs):

1. Can I benchmark a custom date range in Nexus Pro?

Yes, you can ask Nexus Pro to benchmark a selected period, such as FY2026, a quarter, or another reporting window available in your account.

2. Does Nexus Pro compare my program with all advertisers?

No, Nexus Pro's Benchmarking Insights feature only compares your performance with similar brands within your vertical on the Commission Factory platform.

3. What should I do after reviewing benchmark results?

After reviewing your benchmark results, use them to prioritise where to focus your affiliate program next.

Your benchmark report highlights how your program compares with similar brands across six key metrics. Use those insights to identify your biggest opportunities for growth, then build a plan to improve performance throughout FY27.

If you don’t have the time, resources, or in-house expertise to turn those insights into action, our team can help. Explore our service plans to see how we can help you recruit more affiliates, optimise your program, and drive long-term growth.

Explore our Service Plans

4. Can agencies use Benchmarking Insights for client reviews?

Yes, agencies can use the Benchmarking Insights feature to prepare client performance reviews, compare client programs with similar brands, and support planning conversations.

5. Why should I benchmark affiliate performance after FY2026?

Benchmarking after FY2026 helps you create a clear performance baseline for FY2027. It shows how your affiliate program compares with similar brands and helps you focus your planning on the metrics that matter most.

Commission Factory is not only the Asia-Pacific region's largest affiliate platform, working with more than 900 of the world's biggest brands, it is also a performance marketing platform that allows affiliates, partners, and content creators to earn money and online businesses to increase sales.

Get started with Commission Factory and see how brands and partners grow their affiliate marketing strategies.

Best Performance Marketing Network Asia Pacific: Your Growth Partner

Ashleigh Dwyer — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:11:08 GMT

Key takeaways

Commission Factory has led APAC affiliate marketing for 15 years, since launching in 2011.
The network now supports more than 2,500 advertisers and more than 75,000 affiliate partners across the region.
A "one platform, one team" approach connects local expertise with shared technology, so your program gets consistent support wherever you operate.
The AI-powered assistants Nexus and Nexus Pro give you real-time insights and reporting, so you stay ahead of industry trends.
Commission Factory is investing further in its platform, people, and partnerships to support your next 15 years of growth.

Fifteen years in APAC affiliate marketing is more than a milestone. It's proof that a network can earn trust, build resilience, and keep moving as the market changes. Commission Factory has done exactly that since 2011, and this milestone is about more than looking back. It's about the one platform, one team approach that will carry your program forward.

How did Commission Factory build a network for APAC?

Commission Factory launched with a clear purpose: give brands and partners in performance marketing a network built for the region.

In 2011, affiliate marketing in APAC was still developing. Brands needed local support, reliable tracking, and access to quality partners who understood the market. Publishers needed a platform that helped them connect with advertisers and grow sustainable revenue.

Commission Factory helped close that gap. From the start, the focus was on relationships, performance, and practical support. That local understanding became one of the network's strongest advantages, helping advertisers and partners succeed across different markets, categories, and stages of growth.

What started as a regional network has grown into a platform trusted by brands, agencies, and partners across APAC.

How has Commission Factory adapted as the industry changed?

Longevity in this industry isn't something you inherit. You earn it, every year, by staying relevant.

A lot has changed since 2011. Commission Factory has worked through shifts in technology, tracking, regulation, consumer expectations, and partner models. It has supported advertisers as affiliate marketing moved from a single acquisition channel to a broader partner marketing strategy.

Every shift has meant adapting the technology, the partner relationships, and the way the network thinks about performance. That commitment is built into the platform itself. Nexus and Nexus Pro, Commission Factory's AI-powered assistants, give you instant access to affiliate marketing insights, dynamic reporting, and the latest industry trends, so you're always ahead of the curve.

Commission Factory by the numbers

Fifteen years of growth adds up. Here's where the network stands today:

More than 2,500 advertisers
More than 75,000 affiliate partners
More than 26 million sales generated for advertisers
More than 250 million in revenue generated for affiliates

What does "one platform, one team" mean for your program?

Commission Factory is built around a simple idea: one platform, one team.

For you, that means a more connected experience: access to local expertise, backed by global knowledge, shared technology, and stronger collaboration across teams.

Partner marketing works best when people, data, and technology line up. A single platform creates consistency. A connected team turns that consistency into better outcomes.

This approach gives your brand the support it needs to grow without losing the local insight that makes each market unique. It also gives your partners clearer opportunities to connect with advertisers and build stronger commercial relationships.

What's next for APAC affiliate marketing?

Fifteen years in, Commission Factory isn't slowing down.

The future of partner marketing will be shaped by smarter technology, stronger partnerships, better data, and a greater focus on measurable growth. You'll keep looking for channels that deliver performance with transparency. Your partners will keep finding new ways to influence, convert, and retain customers.

Commission Factory is ready for that future and will keep investing in its platform, its people, and its partnerships to help you navigate change with confidence.

Check out the latest product releases and join Commission Factory at Think Tank APAC to connect with brands and partners and start shaping your next 15 years in the industry.

Frequently asked questions

How long has Commission Factory been operating in APAC?

Commission Factory launched in 2011, so it has been operating in the region for 15 years.

What does "one platform, one team" mean?

It's Commission Factory's approach to connecting advertisers and partners through a single platform and one aligned team, so you get local expertise backed by shared technology and global knowledge.

What are Nexus and Nexus Pro?

Nexus and Nexus Pro are Commission Factory's AI-powered assistants. They give you instant access to affiliate marketing insights, dynamic reporting, and the latest industry trends.

How many advertisers and affiliates does Commission Factory support?

Commission Factory supports more than 2,500 advertisers and more than 75,000 affiliate partners across APAC.

Ready to build your next 15 years?

Whether you're launching your first affiliate program or scaling one that's already running, there's no better time to do it on the platform that's been leading APAC performance marketing since 2011.

Get started with Commission Factory today.

Nexus Pro: AI-Powered Affiliate Benchmarking | Commission Factory

Gaye Padir — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 01:05:51 GMT

Nexus Pro is Commission Factory’s built-in AI assistant, providing advanced, data-driven insights from your account data and Commission Factory reporting datasets. Nexus Pro's Benchmarking Insights feature allows advertisers and agencies to benchmark their affiliate program performance and see where they stand in the market.

Most affiliate programs provide access to metrics such as revenue, transactions, conversion rate, AOV (Average Order Value), and commission rate. The challenge isn’t getting the data. The challenge is understanding what it means.

Is a 3% conversion rate strong or weak? Is your commission rate competitive? Is your AOV above or below that of similar brands?

That’s where Nexus Pro comes in.

Today, Nexus Pro includes two core capabilities: Dynamic Reporting and Benchmarking Insights.

The Benchmarking Insights feature is where the context lives. With this feature, you can compare your ROI (Return on Investment), AOV, conversion rate, and commission rate with those of similar brands on the Commission Factory platform.

That means you're not just tracking your numbers. You're understanding what they mean relative to the market.

What is Nexus Pro, and how is it different from Nexus?

Nexus Pro is the advanced version of Nexus, Commission Factory’s built-in AI assistant. Nexus helps you ask questions about the platform, strategy, and affiliate marketing.

For example, you can ask, “How do I use coupons in the affiliate space?” or “What should I focus on in my first 30 days as a new advertiser?”

Nexus Pro goes further by connecting those questions to account data, Dynamic Reporting datasets, and Benchmarking Insights.

For example, you can ask, “How did my program perform in Q1 2026 against similar brands in my vertical?” or “What are some best practices for growing affiliate performance across multiple client programs?”

The simplest way to think about it is this: Nexus helps you understand what to do. Nexus Pro helps you understand what your affiliate marketing data is telling you.

Nexus is available to everyone on all technology plans on the Commission Factory platform. Nexus Pro is available to advertisers, agencies and affiliates on Grow and Elevate technology plans. Affiliates can access Nexus Pro’s Dynamic Reporting feature, but Benchmarking Insights isn't available to affiliates.

Capability	Nexus	Nexus Pro
Platform guidance	Yes	Yes
Affiliate marketing strategy support	Yes	Yes
Dynamic Reporting	No	Available for advertisers, agencies and affiliates on Grow and Elevate technology plans
Benchmarking Insights	No	Available for advertisers and agencies on Grow and Elevate technology plans

How does Nexus Pro help benchmark affiliate program performance?

Nexus Pro helps benchmark your affiliate program performance through Benchmarking Insights.

This feature allows you to compare your program against similar brands using Commission Factory platform data across key metrics like ROI, AOV, conversion rate, and commission rate.

With Benchmarking Insights, you can see where your affiliate program is strong, where there are gaps, and where your next review should focus.

Here are some questions you can ask in Nexus Pro:

How does my ROI compare to similar brands in my vertical?
What is the average conversion rate for programs like mine?
Am I above or below the network average for AOV?
How does my commission rate compare to similar advertisers?
Where am I underperforming compared to similar brands?
How does my performance change when compared by device or region?

Why does benchmarking matter for affiliate program performance?

Benchmarking matters because affiliate performance data only becomes useful when you have context. A 3% conversion rate might be strong in one vertical and below average in another. A commission rate that attracted affiliates two years ago may no longer be competitive today.

Without benchmarks, it can be hard to tell whether a change in revenue, AOV, or commission rate is due to a specific program issue or part of a broader industry trend.

That’s why benchmarking is an essential part of affiliate program management, and Nexus Pro's Benchmarking Insights feature can answer bigger business questions such as:

Are we performing as well as we think we are?
Where should we focus our efforts to drive the greatest impact?
Which opportunities are our competitors capitalising on?
Are our investment and commission strategies aligned with the market?
What should we prioritise before our next planning or budget cycle?

What metrics can I benchmark using Nexus Pro?

With the Benchmarking Insights feature, you can benchmark the metrics that shape your affiliate program decisions, including ROI, AOV, conversion rate, commission rate, click-to-conversion efficiency, and performance by device or region.

These metrics can show whether a performance shift is market-wide or specific to your affiliate program. Knowing the difference is useful during EOFY reviews, quarterly planning, budget conversations, and major retail moments like Black Friday.

Metric	What it helps you understand
ROI (Return on Investment)	Whether your program is returning value compared to similar brands
AOV (Average Order Value)	Whether the basket size is competitive in your vertical
Conversion rate	Whether traffic converts in line with similar programs
Commission rate	Whether your rates remain competitive against similar advertisers
Click-to-conversion rate	Whether partner traffic is converting efficiently
Device or region	Whether performance changes by audience behaviour or location

What questions should I ask Nexus Pro first?

First, use simple, natural language and ask one question at a time. Strong Nexus Pro prompts include a specific metric, a timeframe where relevant, and a clear comparison point, such as your vertical, the network average, or a prior period.

When you need more detail, ask a follow-up question and repeat the process.

Goal	Example question
Compare market position	How does my ROI compare to similar brands in my vertical?
Review conversion performance	What is the average conversion rate for programs like mine?
Check basket size	Am I above or below the network average for AOV?
Review the commission competitiveness	How does my commission rate compare to similar advertisers?
Understand trends	How does my program’s performance trend compare to similar brands over the last 90 days?
Find strengths and gaps	Where am I underperforming and where am I overperforming compared to similar brands?

How are agencies using Nexus Pro?

Many agencies use Nexus Pro to support their affiliate program reviews, client audits, and performance conversations with more context from the Commission Factory platform. Benchmarking Insights can help agencies identify gaps, compare program health, and prioritise optimisation opportunities across various programs.

Redman Agency uses Nexus Pro as part of its affiliate audit process. Laura Redman, Co-Founder of Redman Agency, shared:

This is where Nexus Pro becomes practical. It gives agencies a faster way to move from reporting what happened to identifying what needs attention next.

What's the main takeaway?

Nexus Pro’s Benchmarking Insights helps advertisers and agencies on the Commission Factory platform benchmark affiliate program performance faster by combining real account data with platform-level insights across ROI, AOV, conversion rate, commission rate, and market position.

It gives you context that internal data alone can’t provide. That deeper context helps you see whether a performance change is market-wide, specific to your program, or worth a deeper review. It also makes EOFY reviews, quarterly planning, major retail moments, and budget conversations more confident and accurate.

For a full breakdown of what is available on your plan, visit the Help Centre.

Read: Understanding Nexus and Nexus Pro

FAQs:

1. Who can use Nexus Pro?

Nexus Pro is available to advertisers, agencies and affiliates on Commission Factory’s Grow and Elevate technology plans. Affiliates can access Nexus Pro’s Dynamic Reporting feature, but the Benchmarking Insights feature is available only to advertisers and agencies.

2. What is the difference between Nexus and Nexus Pro?

Nexus provides platform guidance, strategy support, and plain-language answers to affiliate marketing questions. Nexus Pro adds Dynamic Reporting, Benchmarking Insights, and additional performance-analysis features using account and Commission Factory platform data.

3. What can Nexus Pro benchmark?

Nexus Pro’s Benchmarking Insights feature can help compare metrics, including ROI, AOV, conversion rate, commission rate, click-to-conversion rate, and performance trends against similar brands on the Commission Factory platform.

4. How does Nexus Pro generate benchmarking insights?

Nexus Pro uses available Commission Factory platform data to compare affiliate marketing program performance with similar brands. Commission Factory works with more than 800+ Advertisers and 50,000+ affiliates in a variety of sectors across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Malaysia, providing the scale needed to generate meaningful benchmark comparisons.

5. Can affiliates use Nexus Pro?

Yes, affiliates can use Nexus Pro. However, affiliates only have access to Nexus Pro’s Dynamic Reporting feature to analyse campaign and performance data. The Benchmarking Insights feature isn’t available to affiliates.

6. What questions should I ask Nexus Pro first?

Here are ten essential questions you should ask Nexus Pro:

How does my ROI compare to similar brands?
What is the average conversion rate for programs like mine?
Am I above or below the network average for AOV?
How does my commission rate compare to similar advertisers?
How does my program's performance trend compare to similar brands over the last 90 days?
Are my click-to-conversion rates in line with similar programs?
How does my program performance compare to last quarter and the vertical average?
Which metrics am I underperforming and where am I overperforming the market on?
Where am I underperforming and where am I overperforming compared to similar brands?
How does my performance change when compared by region?

The Lifecycle of an Affiliate Program (and how to keep growing through every stage)

Ashleigh Dwyer — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 05:56:06 GMT

Most affiliate programs don't fail because of bad tactics. They stall because the strategy that worked in year one is still the strategy being used in year three.

The affiliate channel isn't a set-and-forget machine. It's a living program one that needs to evolve as your business goals change, your partner mix matures, and new opportunities emerge. Understanding where your program sits right now, and what it needs next, is what separates programs that plateau from ones that keep compounding.

Here's how to think about the full lifecycle of an affiliate program, from building the foundations through to sustaining long-term, scalable growth.

Why Affiliate Programs Need a Lifecycle Approach

It's tempting to measure affiliate success in a straight line: launch, recruit partners, drive revenue, scale.

But that's not how strong programs actually develop. At different points in time, the right priorities look completely different. What drives growth in the first six months isn't what drives it in year three. A program that worked well for acquisition may need to pivot toward audience diversification. A program relying on two or three high-performing publishers may look healthy on the surface but underneath, it's fragile.

When a publisher shifts focus, changes strategy, or exits the market, programs built around a balanced partner mix absorb that change. Ones that haven't can feel it immediately. That's the risk of skipping the lifecycle approach: strong short-term numbers that mask long-term vulnerability

A lifecycle framework helps you ask the right questions at each stage not just "is this working?" but "is this still the right strategy for where the business is heading?"

Stage 1: Establish - Building The Right Foundations

The most common mistake in the first six months of an affiliate program is rushing straight into growth before the fundamentals are solid.

The establish stage is about getting live, building confidence in the channel, and generating meaningful data you can learn from. The goal isn't perfection. It's momentum and structure.

Set Your Objectives First
Before recruiting a single publisher, be clear on what you're actually trying to achieve. Customer acquisition? Incremental revenue? Brand awareness in a new market? Your objective shapes everything the commission structure, the publisher types you prioritise, and how you measure success.

Without that clarity, it's hard to know whether the program is performing well or just generating activity.

Build Your Publisher Mix Deliberately
Visibility matters at this stage. Start identifying relevant publishers, building relationships, and getting your brand known across the network. Don't just focus on the biggest names. A healthy mix from the beginning cashback, content, comparison, niche creates a much stronger foundation for later stages.

Establish Routines Early
Benchmarking and reporting habits set the tone for how the program runs. Understand how similar programs perform, start testing campaigns and offers, and build consistent review cadences. The data you collect now becomes the basis for every optimisation decision later.

Stage 2: Grow - Optimising What's Working and Refining The Mix

Once foundations are in place, the focus shifts from launching to growing more intentionally.

By this stage, there's usually enough performance data to understand what's driving results and where budget is working hardest. That's the starting point for the grow stage.

Optimise and Scale What's Already Working
Test offers, placements, and promotional strategies. Use performance insights to double down on what's already converting. The question to ask at this point: are you building a program that can scale sustainably, or one that's becoming too reliant on a small number of partners?

Refine The Partner Mix
Growth is as much about who you work with as how hard you work them. Bring in new publisher types to diversify your reach. Deepen relationships with top performers. Start identifying underperforming partnerships and making active decisions about where to focus energy.

Connect Affiliate to Broader Business Strategy
This is the shift from reactive to proactive. Rather than responding to weekly performance swings, affiliate activity starts informing planning decisions. Performance insights help identify growth opportunities and align the channel with broader business goals.

Stage 3: Expand - Unlocking The Next Layer of Growth

A program in the expand stage has solid foundations, stable performance, and a partner mix that's working. The question now is: where does the next wave of growth come from?

This is where the conversation changes. Relying on the same partner types that built the program can start to limit it.

Explore New Partner Categories
This is the stage to move beyond the core mix. Tech partners like Upsell or Insider. Cost-per-click models like Linkby. Influencer collaborations. New regions and audiences. The question to keep asking: where else could this program grow if we approached it differently?

Re-engage and Optimise Existing Relationships
It's not just about adding more partners it's about improving the value of the ones you already have. Quarterly planning sessions, revisiting benchmarks, and introducing tiered commission structures can become powerful tools at this stage.

Commission Factory's platform supports commission tiers by product category or customer type a straightforward way to start influencing both performance and ROAS more intentionally.

Invest in Advanced Capabilities
The strongest programs at this stage start building ahead of where they currently are. That might mean upgrading attribution, launching with creator or mass media publishers, or developing longer-term partnership strategies. The mindset shift is away from short-term wins and toward sustainable growth that continues evolving with the business.

Stage 4: Sustain - Operating For The Long Term

When a program reaches maturity, the focus changes again. It's no longer about accelerating growth it's about sustaining performance while making sure the program keeps evolving.

Become More Disciplined in How You Operate
Mature programs focus on measurable outcomes: reviewing publisher alignment, auditing underperforming activity, and making sure affiliate is supporting the full customer journey not just driving last-click conversions.

Keep Looking For New Ways to Stay Competitive
Markets shift. Customer behaviour changes. New partner opportunities emerge. Programs that stop looking forward start sliding backward. That might mean exploring retail media, testing B2B affiliate opportunities, or scaling through better tech integrations and attribution capabilities.

Build Structured Routines Around Long-term Health
Annual planning, regular benchmarking, ongoing training, and strategic reviews aren't optional at this stage they're what separates programs that quietly plateau from ones that keep compounding. Mature programs aren't static. They refine, evolve, and reinvent as the business grows.

What Lifecycle Evolution Looks Like in Practice

Two real examples illustrate how this plays out.

A telco brand built its affiliate program on cashback, coupon, and comparison partners exactly the right approach for driving scalable acquisition early on. It worked well. But over time, the business goal shifted. The priority became customer quality, trust, and long-term value rather than pure conversion volume.

That shift meant the lifecycle effectively reset. The program expanded into review sites, education-led campaigns, high-impact placements, and B2B partnerships all designed to build trust earlier in the customer journey. The strategy evolved from conversion-only to trust plus conversion.

A fashion brand followed a similar arc. Strong foundations built on cashback, coupon, and buy-now-pay-later partners. Solid performance. Then the goal changed the focus shifted to audience expansion and reaching new customers outside the existing transactional mix. The program evolved into shopping content, commission testing, and supplier-funded retail media campaigns. Not just scale. New audiences through new partnerships.

In both cases, the program was working. But working well isn't the same as set up for what comes next.

Four Principles That Apply at Every Stage

Regardless of where your program sits right now, these four things hold across the full lifecycle:

Avoid the set-and-forget mindset. Affiliate is one of the strongest performance channels when it's actively managed and continuously evolved. Programs that drift tend to plateau.

Don't concentrate risk in a small number of publishers. Diversification creates resilience. When partner priorities shift and they do a balanced program absorbs that change. A concentrated one feels it.

Let data guide your decisions. The strongest programs use performance insights to shape strategy, not just report on results after the fact. Build that habit early.

Always build for sustainable growth. Short-term wins matter. But the programs that outperform over years are the ones built with balance and long-term thinking from the beginning.

Where Does Your Program Sit Right Now?

The lifecycle isn't a ladder you climb once. Programs revisit stages as business goals change, markets shift, and new opportunities open up. Revisiting the establish stage after a strategic pivot isn't a step backward it's a sign of a healthy, evolving program.

The question isn't whether your program will change. It's whether you're the one directing that change.

Commission Factory is not only the Asia-Pacific region's largest affiliate platform, working with more than 900 of the world's biggest brands, it is also a performance marketing platform that allows affiliates, partners and content creators to earn money and online businesses to increase sales.

Connect with the Commission Factory team to learn more about how we help brands and partners build and grow their affiliate marketing strategies.

How a Leading Health & Beauty Retailer drove a 35% surge in Average Order Value (AOV)

mia.shukri@commissionfactory.com (Mia Shukri) — Tue, 19 May 2026 23:44:59 GMT

35% lift in average order value. No discounting. Here's how it happened.

The Results

The Challenge

A leading Health & Beauty retailer partnered with Commission Factory through the Grow Package to understand whether cashback mechanics could influence customer spend behaviour. Specifically, the brand wanted to test whether customers could be encouraged to increase basket sizes to access higher cashback tiers.

The CF Team were tasked around 3 key objectives:

Determine if tiered cashback can shift consumer spend upward.
Evaluate whether increased cashback rates drive meaningful AOV uplift.
Run testing outside peak periods to isolate the impact of cashback from seasonal or promotional noise.

A critical commercial requirement was to maintain performance efficiency, with ROAS required to remain above 14%.

The Solution

To understand how cashback could influence spend behaviour, the campaign was structured to directly test basket elasticity through a meaningful, value-driven tiering model.

The initial cashback tiers showed limited impact, prompting a strategic tier optimisation to introduce clearer incentive steps that would encourage customers to stretch their baskets.

Refined Cashback Structure (ShopBack):

$75 and under: 2.5%

$76–$149.99: 7%

$150+: 10%

This structure created deliberate value breaks, contrasting with a previous test where smaller variances failed to shift spend, highlighting the importance of material differentiation between tiers.

To ensure clean attribution:

The campaign ran during BAU trading conditions, with no overlapping peak sales or major on-site promotions
Activity was limited to a 9-day window, balancing visibility with control
Platinum placement on ShopBack ensured consistent exposure without materially inflating traffic volumes

The Results

The tiered cashback model delivered a significant increase in customer spend, lifting the average order value to $78.04, a rise of $20.29 and +35% compared to the previous period.

Average Order Value:

- Baseline (ShopBack Jan - Sep): $61.46
- Campaign period: $78.04
- +27% vs ShopBack baseline
- +35% vs previous period

This uplift was not reflected across the wider program, indicating that the change was directly driven by the cashback test rather than external factors such as on-site promotions or broader consumer shifts.

This confirms that the cashback strategy primarily impacted basket size, prompting customers to increase spend specifically to access higher cashback tiers.

Supporting Performance Metrics

While secondary metrics were not the primary success indicators, they provide additional context:

Revenue: +12%
Clicks: +26%

Final ROAS: $13.50, exceeding the efficiency benchmark and secondary campaign goal

What Worked

Meaningful tier gaps successfully encouraged customers to stretch their baskets.
Controlled BAU testing environment ensured clean attribution and reliable insights.
Optimised tier structure proved more effective than prior “commission by basket” models with minimal variance.

Want results like these?

Commission Factory works with brands across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region to build affiliate programs that deliver measurable, trackable growth.

Get in touch at commissionfactory.com/contact-us

IAB Australia State of the Nation Report 2026: Key Takeaways

Ashleigh Dwyer — Tue, 12 May 2026 22:40:22 GMT

The IAB Australia Affiliate and Partnership Marketing Working Group has released its 2026 State of the Nation Report. Based on responses from 66 advertisers and agencies and 57 publishers, here's what matters.

A More Experienced Market

73% of advertiser and agency respondents now have four or more years of personal experience in affiliate marketing up from 56% in the previous survey. Publisher experience has grown too, with 74% at the same level.

The channel is maturing. Strategy is replacing guesswork, and programs built properly over the last few years are starting to compound.

Investment and Revenue are Both Up

42% of advertisers increased spend over the past year. 45% plan to increase it again next year. 54% are now spending $50,000 or more per month on average a figure that's trended upward consistently.

Publishers are seeing the same momentum. 66% reported increased revenue from the channel, and 72% grew the number of advertisers they work with.

The main barriers holding investment back? Higher fees, rising costs, and budget constraints all of which erode affiliate's core CPA advantage. Structuring your program for efficiency is what keeps it competitive in internal budget conversations.

Satisfaction is at a Record High

95% of advertisers are satisfied with affiliate's ability to deliver ROI. That's up from 87% in 2025.

Revenue, volume of sales, new customer acquisition, and ROI remain the top success metrics. Worth noting: visibility in AI-driven discovery was added to the survey for the first time this year, and 45% of advertisers already rate it as an important success metric ranking above brand awareness and customer lifetime value.

AI is the Biggest Challenge and the Biggest Unknown

Google search algorithm updates and AI's impact on search and clicks are the top two challenges for publishers. AI-driven search experiences compress the research journey and reduce the direct clicks affiliate revenue depends on.

For advertisers, this creates a measurement problem. Last-click attribution is used in 95% of programs but becomes less reliable when AI influences consumer decisions before a trackable click ever happens.

63% of all respondents want more information and training on AI's impact on the channel. It's the highest-ranked training need in the report. The brands building measurement approaches now beyond last click will be better positioned as AI reshapes more of the consumer journey.

What Publishers Need From Advertisers

Publishers rated two features as most important when working with advertisers: competitiveness of the default commission rate and communication both rated 8/10 or above by 67% of publishers.

Pay fairly. Pay on time. Communicate consistently. Programs that get these basics right attract better partners and keep them.

The Bigger Picture

63% of respondents expect affiliate to become more important in helping them achieve their business goals. The industry's own view on what needs to happen to unlock that growth: move beyond last-click measurement, integrate affiliate earlier in campaign planning alongside brand and performance media, and build stronger trust and governance across the ecosystem.

The channel has the confidence. The work now is positioning it to act on that.

Click here to download the full report.

Commission Factory is not only the Asia-Pacific region's largest affiliate platform, working with more than 900 of the world's biggest brands, it is also a performance marketing platform that allows affiliates, partners and content creators to earn money and online businesses to increase sales.

Connect with the Commission Factory team to learn more about how we help brands and partners build and grow their affiliate marketing strategies.

How Oz Hair & Beauty drove an over 2,200% surge in new customer transactions

Gaye Padir — Mon, 04 May 2026 02:33:20 GMT

One 24-hour cashback campaign. Over 400 new customers. Here's how it happened.

The Results

Download the full customer story

Want a shareable summary? The PDF slide deck covers the campaign, strategy, and results in one place, making it ideal for sharing with your team.

About Oz Hair & Beauty

Family-owned since 1986, Oz Hair & Beauty is one of Australia's leading online health and beauty retailers. The brand stocks a wide range of professional hair care, skincare, and beauty products.

Oz Hair & Beauty runs its affiliate program on Commission Factory's Elevate Technology Plan, working with a dedicated Account Manager to manage strategy, commissions, and key publisher partnerships.

The Challenge

The health and beauty vertical is competitive in Australia. Oz Hair & Beauty wanted to grow its customer base by getting in front of high-intent shoppers at the right moment, with the right offer.

That meant finding a publisher partner with reach, a cost structure that stayed performance-based, and a campaign model that could move quickly.

The Solution

Commission Factory recommended a 24-hour flash cashback campaign, co-funded with ShopBack, one of Australia's largest cashback platforms.

The Results in Context

By combining the right publisher, a compelling offer, and end-to-end campaign management, Oz Hair & Beauty achieved results across every key metric:

Want results like these?

Commission Factory works with brands across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region to build affiliate programs that deliver measurable, trackable growth.

Get in touch at commissionfactory.com/contact-us

How Large Language Models Are Reshaping Product Discovery: What Affiliate Programs Can Do Now

mia.shukri@commissionfactory.com (Mia Shukri) — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 22:30:00 GMT

Large Language Models (LLMs) are changing how consumers search, compare and decide what to buy. From AI-powered search tools to conversational recommendations, AI-driven product discovery is now a core part of the customer journey – whether you’re prepared for it or not.

This shift is happening quickly. While there’s no single playbook yet, there are clear steps brands can take now to improve LLM visibility through affiliate marketing and ensure their products surface accurately and consistently in AI search environments.

Why AI-powered discovery is changing affiliate marketing

LLMs don’t just scan websites. They learn from trusted content, publisher coverage and structured product information across the internet.

This means affiliate programs play a growing role in AI discovery. Editorial content, reviews, comparison articles and accurate product data all influence how AI tools (including LLMs like ChatGPT) interpret relevance and authority.

Affiliate marketing isn’t being replaced by AI, but it’s being reshaped by it.

“LLMs don’t replace the affiliate channel, they reshape how discovery works.”

Brands that proactively optimise their affiliate programs for AI-driven discovery are better positioned to appear in product recommendations, summaries and purchase guidance generated by LLMs.

The challenge: understanding how LLMs interpret content

AI in marketing is often discussed in abstract terms, but many teams are left wondering what to actually change.

That’s where practical optimisation matters.

To help marketers navigate this shift, our experts have created a free eBook focused on practical actions brands can take today.

The toolkit breaks down:

How LLMs interpret affiliate and publisher content
Which types of publishers influence AI-powered discovery most
How structured assets and high-quality product data improve visibility

No hype. No jargon. The focus is on simple, meaningful optimisations that make affiliate programs more LLM-friendly.

Who this guide is for?

Marketers adapting to AI-powered discovery trends
Ecommerce and digital teams focused on long-term visibility
Brands working with affiliate partners, publishers and content creators

AI search and LLM-driven recommendations are already influencing buying decisions.

Download your free copy here

Claim the tools and guidance needed to strengthen your presence in AI-powered discovery, without rebuilding your entire affiliate strategy, for free with our eBook.

Start optimising your affiliate program for AI today.

Benchmarking and Reporting Questions to Ask in Nexus Pro

Gaye Padir — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 03:33:22 GMT

As part of our Summer Release, we introduced Nexus Pro, bringing together Benchmarking Insights and Dynamic Reports in one interface.

Nexus Pro is built to answer practical performance questions. It helps advertisers understand their market position, assists agencies in identifying client shifts, and enables affiliates to track earning trends.

Below are practical questions you can ask in Nexus Pro, organised by role.

Find your questions:

Advertisers | Agencies | Affiliates

How to Ask Better Questions?

For best results:

Use simple and natural language
Ask one question at a time
Ask a follow-up question to get more information
Include the metric and timeframe

10 Essential Benchmarking Questions for Advertisers

How does my ROI compare to similar brands?
What is the average conversion rate for programs like mine?
Am I above or below the network average for AOV?
How does my commission rate compare to similar advertisers?
How does my program's performance trend compare to similar brands over the last 90 days?
Are my click-to-conversion rates in line with similar programs?
How does my program performance compare to last quarter and the vertical average?
Which metrics am I underperforming and where am I overperforming the market on?
Where am I underperforming and where am I overperforming compared to similar brands?
How does my performance change when compared by region?

10 Essential Benchmarking Questions for Agencies

How does this client's ROI compare to similar brands in their vertical?
How does this client's AOV compare to similar brands?
Are commission rates for this client competitive within their vertical?
How does this client's performance compare to the market over the last 30 days?
Which metrics explain the gap between this client and the benchmark?
Has this client's relative position improved or declined over time?
How does this client's conversion rate compare to similar brands in their vertical?
Is this recent performance change market-wide or specific to this client?
How does this client's ROI trend compare to the vertical average over the past quarter?
Where is this client outperforming or underperforming the benchmark across key metrics?

10 Essential Reporting Questions for Affiliates

Show me my sales for Q4 2025, including commissions earned
How does my performance this year compare to last year?
How many clicks, sales, and commissions did I generate last year?
Show trends in my commission earnings over the past 6 months.
Highlight any significant drops or spikes in earnings last year.
Which months delivered my highest and lowest last year?
How has my conversion rate changed over the past 6 months?
How do my earnings trends differ between the first and the second half of the year?
How did my average monthly earnings change across last year?
How has my commission per sale changed over the past 6 months?