Article

Every day, new affiliate programs emerge in the market—some launched by major holdings, others by well-known industry players, and some by completely unknown brands. However, many of them make a big entrance only to disappear within six months.

How can you successfully launch an affiliate program today and attract quality traffic? Alanbase team guides clients from concept to launch, and they know better than anyone who truly needs an affiliate program and what it takes to build and scale it successfully.

What you will find in this guide:

• Affiliate program vs. in-house marketing: which one to choose?
• Where to find your first partners.
• How to structure partner payouts.
• Essential steps to launching an affiliate program.
• How to build the right team.
• Strategies for scaling your program.

How do you know if you need an affiliate program?

When launching a product, you need customers. In 2025, there are only two ways to acquire them at the start: either through an in-house traffic acquisition team or by working with affiliates (an affiliate program). Let’s break down both options.

In-house marketing

As of today, the minimum budget for setting up an in-house media buying team starts at $130,000, covering:

• Hiring a team lead
• Hiring at least three media buyers
• A test budget
• Infrastructure (ad accounts, proxies, etc.)
• Transaction fees for deposits and payouts

And that’s just for the first attempt—you may have to repeat the process multiple times before finding a solid team or even a competent team lead with relevant experience. Add to that the unpredictable timelines for discovering profitable traffic sources. Even large companies with substantial budgets for in-house teams often struggle to break even within the first six months or more.

You might recall stories of teams launching in-house operations with almost no budget, but let’s be realistic—case studies are useful for understanding general strategies, but replicating them under identical conditions is nearly impossible. Many of these success stories are either exaggerated for self-promotion or outdated and no longer relevant in today’s market.

The takeaway? Launching an in-house team with a limited budget is a high-risk, all-or-nothing gamble for your product.

In addition, there are also some exceptions. For instance, media buying experts who already have a trusted team of buyers in place will find it much easier to build a successful in-house operation.

Affiliate Program

The starting budget for setting up an affiliate program is at least $70,000, assuming you use a ready-made platform to build it.

Once you decide to launch an affiliate program, there are two possible scenarios:

1. You or your brand are already known in the market and have built trust.
2. You’re a new, unknown brand without history or recommendations.

In the first case, attracting affiliates is much easier. If an affiliate is interested in your offer, they’ll first Google your brand and ask around to see if anyone has worked with you before. If your brand or product has market recognition and credibility, affiliates are more likely to take your offer seriously.

In the second case, you’ll need to invest 6 to 12 months in building brand awareness and reputation. Why? Because there are far fewer high-quality affiliates than affiliate programs, and if you’re a no-name brand, no one will risk working with you. Even though affiliate marketing is evolving into a legitimate industry, scams still exist. Affiliates put their own money on the line when running traffic to your offers, so they need at least some level of trust.

From an affiliate’s perspective, if you’re willing to spend a year investing in brand awareness, it signals that you’re playing the long game and won’t disappear overnight.

If you want to make real money with your affiliate program, your Head of Affiliates needs to be a true professional. Your Head of Affiliates should:

• Be an excellent communicator and negotiator
• Have hands-on experience with media buying to understand affiliates’ challenges and speak their language
• Be skilled in sales
• Have deep industry knowledge to avoid risky deals and costly mistakes in the early stages
• Bring their own network of trusted affiliates.

The right team is one of the most critical factors for a successful affiliate program. Investing in top talent will save you from expensive missteps and wasted time.

Steps to build an affiliate program

1. Weigh the Pros and Cons and Decide if You’re Ready to Build an Affiliate Program

2. Choose the Right Platform (Custom-Built vs. Ready-Made Solution)

Custom-Built Platform

Developing your own platform is always an option, but let’s be honest—only industry giants like PIN-UP and 1XBet can truly afford it. Maintaining and scaling a proprietary platform is expensive, and finding the right expertise is even harder than hiring a top-tier Head of Affiliates.

Ready-Made Solution

That’s why more advertisers are shifting towards ready-made solutions, as industry demands grow and modifying a custom-built system is both time-consuming and expensive. For example, major players like BetBoom, EGB, 4Rabet, and Glory Partners rely on Alanbase for their affiliate programs.

If you decide to go with a pre-built solution, make sure it includes:

• User-Friendly Interface – Both affiliates and admins should be able to navigate it effortlessly. If an affiliate struggles to find an offer or generate a tracking link within the first few days, they might lose interest in your program.
• Flexible Payout Module – Affiliates should see their balances displayed in real time, including separate CPA, RevShare, and total balances, while admins should be able to request invoices instantly.
• Custom Metrics – The ability to display key performance indicators (KPIs) simplifies campaign optimization and communication with affiliates.
• Cohort Analysis – Essential for iGaming in 2025, this feature allows affiliates and admins to track traffic behavior over time (even a year later).
• Live User Reviews – Feedback from current platform users provides credibility and insights into real-world performance.

Want to see how a high-quality affiliate platform works? Book a demo call with an Alanbase manager.

Where do you search for the first partners?

To attract your first partners, follow these four key steps:

1. Hire an experienced Head of Affiliates & affiliate managers with existing connections.Bringing in inexperienced employees to save costs is a losing strategy. This is why headhunting top talent from competitors is so common.
2. List your offer on all major industry boards & media resources. Many affiliates are eager to test new offers, especially large teams with testing budgets. However, if you’re an unknown brand, you’ll need to sweeten the deal (e.g., offering better conditions, investing in media exposure, or introducing an innovative offer).
3. Use cold outreach. Leverage industry chats and affiliate networks to actively search for partners.
4. Attend industry conferences. This is the most expensive but highly effective method. Face-to-face networking builds trust faster than any online communication.

What kind of commissions will be used?

With Alanbase, you can enable any payout model: CPA, RevShare, Qualification, or Hybrid.

However, new brands lack trust at the start, meaning most affiliates won’t accept a RevShare-only deal. Without proof of conversion rates, affiliates won’t risk running traffic to an untested program.

This is why a significant launch budget is required—you’ll need to pay affiliates upfront (via CPA or Hybrid) before seeing a return on investment.

You can launch RevShare from day one if:

а) You’re a well-known brand expanding into a new product.

b) You have a strong reputation. For example, Nexus Partners launched with Alanbase, and since the owners were well-known in the industry, they immediately gained a high level of trust.

As your brand grows, you can gradually transition to more favorable commission structures. To make this shift easier, create attractive conditions for affiliates to keep them engaged long-term.

When setting your initial conditions, always leave a 5-10% margin that you can later use to improve terms as you scale and increase traffic volumes.

How do you integrate with affiliate marketing software?

One of the most complex tasks in affiliate program migration is transferring data. If any numbers are lost along the way, your reporting will be incomplete, affiliates may not receive full payouts, and your hard-earned reputation could take a hit.

The Alanbase team makes it fast and simple to launch your affiliate program. With our flexible postback system, Alanbase ensures a smooth and accurate transition from the very start. Whether you’re dealing with raw or structured data, Alanbase makes sure everything is transferred seamlessly so that your affiliate dashboard is fully operational in just one day.

But that’s not all – Alanbase supports operators throughout the entire process. You can always reach out to the Alanbase team for assistance with any questions or issues, ensuring you’re never alone in your affiliate journey.

Plus, launching with Alanbase is cost-efficient. Alanbase doesn’t charge any setup fees, and our services are designed to fit within your budget, making it an ideal choice for businesses looking to grow without breaking the bank.

Ready to get started? Book a demo and see how easy and affordable it is to launch your affiliate program with Alanbase!