What an affiliate agency does day to day
An agency does three things: set up the tech, recruit publishers and steer the programme. The tech is one-off work — tracking, feeds, terms and payouts. Recruitment and steering are continuous and decide whether your programme grows or stalls.
In practice most time goes into publisher relationships: making contact, proposing collaborations, aligning content and replacing weak partners. That work needs language, local knowledge and persistence — exactly the parts that tend to slip internally.
When outsourcing is cheaper than doing it yourself
Count real hours. A serious programme quickly costs half to one FTE per market internally, plus software. As soon as you want several countries, that adds up because each market needs different publishers and languages.
Our model is €299 per country per month plus a 3% performance fee on affiliate revenue. You pay per market you are active in, and the variable part moves with results.
What to look for when choosing
Ask about the approach in the markets you want to open, not about generic numbers. Which publisher types will they approach, in which language, and what do the first ninety days look like?
Check ownership too: the affiliate account, the data and the publisher agreements should stay with your brand. That keeps you free to switch without losing your network.
How to keep the partnership measurable
Agree upfront which numbers land on the table each month: active publishers, revenue per publisher type, new partners, average order value and incremental revenue versus your other channels.
A good agency also shows what did not work. That is the fastest way to learn which publisher types fit your range and margin.