5 affiliate marketing terms every PR pro should know

Joni Sweet is a seasoned writer, editor, and content strategist with 15+ years of media experience. In this newsletter, Joni reveals insider tips to help PR professionals sharpen their pitches, avoid rookie mistakes, land coverage for their clients, and build stronger relationships with writers. Get detailed feedback from her on your next pitch with The Pitch Fix.

Hi friends,

When PR pros book Flash Consulting sessions with me, there are a few topics that come up over and over again: what journalists actually want from pitches, how to make pitches feel timely…and affiliate marketing.

I can usually speak pretty confidently about the editorial side of commerce content after years of writing product roundups and affiliate-driven stories for major publications (not to mention negotiating my own affiliate deals). But sometimes people ask me super specific questions about EPCs, Amazon strategy, conversion rates, or Creator Connections, that I just don’t have the answer to. So I refer them to my pal Sarah Karger.

Sarah understands performance-based PR and affiliate marketing on a deep level—and she teaches it, too. I’ve taken her Intro to Affiliate Marketing for Publicists course myself and learned a ton from it, especially around how affiliate economics shape editorial decisions behind the scenes. She also has a more advanced program that I’m planning to carve out time for next month because this side of the industry is only getting more important.

After chatting with Sarah earlier this week, I’ve decided to pass the mic over to her to break down some of the affiliate marketing terminology every PR pro should understand right now. (And no, this isn’t sponsored!) She has so much great insight to share, and with Amazon Prime Day right around the corner, there couldn’t be a better time to brush up on all things affiliate.

And if affiliate marketing still feels intimidating or confusing, her upcoming free workshop is honestly a really accessible way to start learning more about it without spending a dime. I’ll drop the details on that below, along with info on my upcoming Father’s Day gift guide (so you can put your affiliate marketing skills to the test right away!).

Hey there—Sarah here! Joni was generous enough to let me crash her newsletter this week because I keep having the same conversation with publicists, and it goes something like this:

“I know affiliate is important. There is just so much jargon, and I just don’t know what half the words mean.”

Guys, this is a fair point. This was not part of mass comms. And if you’re like me and in your late 30s (OK, OK—you got me, I turn 40 on Friday), nobody taught you this stuff in your PR training. [Note from Joni: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SARAH!]

But here’s the thing, editors now speak commerce like it’s a second language. So when you send a pitch without knowing what CPA means or why EPC matters, you’re not just missing an opportunity, you’re missing context that can really amplify your pitch.

So I’m breaking down the top affiliate terms performance PR pros need to know to understand the affiliate ecosystem.

This is what a brand pays a publisher every time someone clicks their link and buys something. It’s either a flat dollar amount (”$5 per sale”) or more commonly in the physical product world, a percentage of the sale (such as “10% of the order total”).

Performance PR translation: Being affiliate ready is essential in 2026. And your brand’s CPA is the first thing a commerce editor wants to know when making final selections for product recommendations. If they have one space left in their story and two identical types of products—one paying 4% CPA and the other paying 10% CPA—which one do you think gets the placement? (Hint: It’s not the one where they’ll earn less!)

When you’re pitching, know your client’s CPA—and if it’s low, have a plan. Can they increase it for a limited window? These insights are levers, all other things being equal!