<b>Q: What KPIs should I hold my affiliate manager to?</b>

<b>Q: What KPIs should I hold my affiliate manager to?</b>

Not 'number of affiliates recruited.' That metric rewards a bloated, dead roster. Hold them to activation and revenue quality instead.

The KPIs that drive a healthy program:

— Active partner count (placed a link and drove a sale in the period), not total signups
— Activation rate of new recruits within 60 days
— Revenue from partners outside your top 5, which measures whether the program has depth or one whale
— Net revenue after clawbacks and refunds, so they don't chase junk volume
— Partner retention / reactivation of dormant accounts

A good manager grows the middle of the roster and reduces single-partner dependency. That's the durable program.

Caveat: don't over-index on new recruitment in any single quarter. A manager can hit a recruiting target by lowering the application bar, which dumps cleanup work on you next quarter. Pair every growth metric with a quality metric.

Got a question? Send it in.