Affiliate Marketing Without Losing Your People

Every week somebody asks me for a discount code. And I get it. Who doesn’t love a coupon? I love one too. When I genuinely use a product and believe in it, I’m happy to hand my community a code that saves them money.

But I’ve also watched creators burn through years of trust in a few months by pushing everything they were paid to push. Affiliate marketing can be one of the most useful things you do for your audience, or the fastest way to lose them. The difference is whether the content is real and useful first.

What affiliate marketing is

A brand gives you your own link or discount code. When someone buys through it, the brand can see the sale came from you, and you usually earn a commission. Your audience often gets a discount, so everybody wins when the product is a good fit.

It sits next to a few other ways brands work with creators. They all have one thing in common: if you got something of value, your audience deserves to know.

Why saying yes to Eaton Pet and Pasture was easy

I use Eaton Pet and Pasture products on the farm every day. Revitalime goes down in the greenhouse where our Sebastopol geese live, and crushed oyster shell sits in its own feeder for the hens. I was already reaching for both before we ever talked about a partnership. Farmer-owned and made in the USA didn’t hurt either.

So when they asked, it was an easy yes. That is the test I use for every brand: would I be talking about this anyway?

How a code can ruin your reputation

Your audience is not a sales channel. It’s a group of people who decided to trust your judgment. Every recommendation spends a little of that trust, and you only get it back when the recommendation turns out to be good. Here is what spends it fastest:

• Promoting products you have never used, or only opened for the video.
• Turning every post into a pitch, so people learn to scroll past you.
• Saying yes to every brand that asks, including ones your audience has no use for.
• Hiding the relationship, or burying the disclosure in a pile of hashtags.
• Picking partners for the highest commission instead of the best fit.

If I wouldn’t tell my neighbor about it over the fence, I don’t put my code on it.

Jules Morris

My rules for affiliate content

1. Use it first, for real. Give it weeks in your actual routine before you share a code.
2. Lead with the problem. Start where your audience is: the smell, the thin shells, the thing that is bugging them.
3. Make it worth watching anyway. Every affiliate post should teach something or entertain. If it only works as an ad, it isn’t ready.
4. Disclose clearly, in the content itself. The FTC says to put it where people will see it: say it in the video and put it in the caption, not only in your bio. Plain words like “ad” or “Eaton Pet and Pasture partner” work. Use the platform’s paid partnership label too, but don’t rely on it alone.
5. Keep most of your content code-free. Guides, stories and how-tos with nothing to sell are what make the occasional recommendation believable.
6. Be honest about fit. Say who it’s for and who it isn’t for. If something doesn’t work for you, don’t call it great.
7. Choose fewer partners and keep them longer. A brand you have used for years carries more weight than a new one every week.
8. Listen to your people. Watch the questions, the comments and which codes actually get used, and drop what isn’t serving them.

Disclosure: I’m a brand partner with Eaton Pet and Pasture. Code BOMBDIGGITY gets you 20% off at eatonpetandpasture.com. I share it because I use these products every day.

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Frequently asked questions

What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is when a brand gives a creator a personal link or discount code, and the creator usually earns a commission when someone buys through it. The brand can see which sales came from that creator, and the audience often gets a discount. It differs from sponsored content, where a brand pays for a post, and gifted content, where a brand sends free product.

How do you do affiliate marketing without losing your audience's trust?

Use the product first, for real, and lead with the problem your audience has rather than the product. Make every affiliate post worth watching even if nobody buys, keep most content code-free, choose fewer partners and keep them longer, and be honest about who a product is and is not for. Jules's test: would you be talking about this anyway?

How should creators disclose affiliate links and brand partnerships?

Disclose the relationship in the content itself, every time. Following FTC guidance, say it in the video and put it in the caption, not only in your bio, using plain words like ad or naming the brand partnership. Use the platform's paid partnership label too, but do not rely on it alone. Gifted products also need a disclosure.

What mistakes ruin a creator's reputation with affiliate codes?

The fastest ways to spend audience trust are promoting products you have never used, turning every post into a pitch, saying yes to every brand that asks, hiding the relationship or burying the disclosure in hashtags, and picking partners for the highest commission instead of the best fit. Jules's rule is that if she would not tell her neighbor about it over the fence, she does not put her code on it.

How does Jules Morris approach affiliate content with Eaton Pet and Pasture?

Jules already used Eaton Pet and Pasture products every day at Sweet BombDiggity Farms before the partnership, including Revitalime in the greenhouse where the Sebastopol geese live and crushed oyster shell for the hens. Her reels open with a real problem, like a smell or thin eggshells, and show the product as the answer, so the video is useful even if no one buys.