The Holy Grail of Affiliate: Securing Premium Media Coverage on a Performance Budget
HIGHLIGHTS
For years, affiliate managers have faced a tough choice for scoring top-tier media coverage:
- Pay exorbitant, upfront flat fees for "brand awareness" with no guarantee of performance OR
- Stick to lower-tier coupon sites that drive conversions but offer zero brand equity
We get it: neither option is particularly enticing for hitting your primary goal.
That goal has always been premium content—getting your product featured in top publications like InStyle, the Daily Mail, or Refinery29—while maintaining the safety of a performance budget.
Enter Linkby.
Linkby: Secure Premium Media Coverage on a Performance Basis
Linkby allows brands to secure dedicated features, listicles, and gift guide inclusions based on a Cost-Per-Click (CPC) model. This approach combines the authority of major media with the accountability of performance marketing.
Below, we dig into how Linkby drives value for D2C brands and how you can leverage their network to scale your own program.
The AI Visibility Benefit: Leveraging Publisher Authority
There has been a rise in consumers turning to AI and LLMs for their product recommendations, which is only growing more popular by the day.
As a result, AI Visibility (sometimes referred to as Answer Engine Optimization “AEO” or Generative Engine Optimization “GEO”) has become a top priority in advertiser marketing strategy, and it has become clear that LLMs pull their recommendations directly from content published by the world’s leading publishers that Linkby secures for advertisers.
Linkby facilitates premium coverage from the top authoritative domains, allowing you to piggyback on their search engine ranking and audience trust. During our recent discussion, Sam Dickson from Linkby explained how the benefit from AI Visibility " drives results:
"When someone asks ChatGPT to find the best teeth-whitening strips, the model isn’t inventing those answers. It’s looking for signals from trusted publishers like CNN, USA Today, the Daily Mail, and InStyle to decide which brands to surface.
While the value of these placements is clear for brands, understanding the specific payment model required to secure them is easy to overlook. That said, this model makes all the difference.
The Model: CPC-Only Performance
Unlike many affiliate partners that work on a Cost-Per-Action (CPA) basis, Linkby operates exclusively on a Cost-Per-Click (CPC) model.
The platform enables publishers to select from a pool of global advertisers, create engaging content, and earn revenue by driving traffic back to advertisers’ sites.
However, this model remains performance-controlled. Brands set a budget cap and campaigns pause immediately once that budget is exhausted.
"The client sets the CPC, as well as the budget, that serves as the ceiling. The CPC, in conjunction with the traffic that our publishers drive for the client, dictates how much they spend. As an example, if their budget is $10,000 - That’s the maximum that they could spend, but could end up spending less as you only pay for the exact amount of traffic during the campaign period.
With the crystal-clear cost structure you need to determine if your brand vertical aligns with Linkby's publisher network. Given that Linkby works with a global network of over 300+ premium mastheads, the chances are high that you can find multiple publishers best suited for your brand.
Ideal Advertiser Verticals
Linkby is optimized for consumer-facing brands. If you're managing a B2B program, there are still options available on the platform that are currently being scaled up. The platform excels with brands that have mass consumer appeal, specifically in the Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) space.
According to Dickson, the following categories are their strongest performers:
"Anything that’s consumer-focused is certainly within our wheelhouse. Personal finance, lifestyle verticals like fashion and beauty, tech, health and wellness brands, anything D2C performs really well. We’ve also seen a recent appetite for B2B brands, and we’re currently expanding our B2B publisher offering.
"High-Risk" Category Support
Linkby offers a unique advantage for brands in regulated industries.
Categories often restricted by traditional ad networks—such as sexual wellness, CBD products, and alcohol —can successfully run campaigns through Linkby.
"What appeals to those brands about Linkby, is that traditionally, they're not able to secure coverage from media outlets from traditional avenues. Linkby, however, has allowed these brands to secure premium coverage on a performance basis.
Once you’ve identified that your brand is a fit, let’s wrap things up by covering some quick tips for a successful campaign.
Campaign Requirements and Reach
Linkby functions as a self-serve platform. Brands upload their campaign details, and publishers select the campaigns that fit their editorial calendar.
Brands should provide simple, high-quality assets to ensure success. Complex HTML5 banners are not required. Publishers prefer standard product and lifestyle imagery that they can integrate naturally into their articles.
"The publishers will pick and choose the images that they feel work best for their audience - as they are ultimately the experts."
Global Scale
If your affiliate program operates internationally, Linkby is an excellent partner for expansion. They are fully established in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia, and are currently expanding across Europe to countries like Germany, France, and the Netherlands.
Conclusion: How to Get Started
Linkby acts as a bridge between performance marketing and public relations, helping brands secure high-value content with a controlled budget.
Summary of the Opportunity:
- The Value: High-authority AI Visibility and premium content features (ex: InStyle, Daily Mail).
- The Cost: Performance-based CPC with strict budget caps (and no risky flat fees).
- Recommended Verticals: D2C, Health & Wellness, Beauty, Finance, and regulated categories like Sexual Wellness and Alcohol.
Your Next Step:
Linkby is a self-serve platform where you pitch your campaign, and publishers pick it up.
However, the Everflow team is here to help curate that connection.
When you are ready to use premium content as a scalable revenue channel, reach out to your Everflow Customer Success Manager to request an introduction to the Linkby team.
Ready to launch? Log in to your Everflow dashboard, navigate to the Marketplace, and search for Linkby (PID 346) to start the conversation.
