Affiliate Roundup: AI + Affiliate Marketing Cuts Costs, MMMs Drive $30B Spend, Deals Beat Coupons, & More

This week in FMTC’s Affiliate Roundup: Combining AI with affiliate marketing can cut costs and build trust. Media mix models (MMM) influence $30B in ad spend, spurring standards to reduce bias. “Deal” promotions beat coupons on Prime Day and kept sales higher after.

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• Combining AI with affiliate marketing can boost monetization by lowering acquisition costs and increasing trust.

• CJ has unveiled a groundbreaking TikTok Shop integration that enables affiliates to earn commissions and track performance across TikTok and external media channels—including blogs, newsletters, and websites.

• Media mix models (MMMs) now influence $30 billion in global ad spend, driving efforts to create open-source standards and address bias concerns.

• At Cannes—and beyond—“creative commerce” is redefining transactional storytelling, with brands like IKEA, Mercado Livre, Indian Railways, and Ziploc deploying inventive, culturally resonant coupon campaigns that fuse brand narrative with conversion.

• TikTok has launched TikTok Go, an invite-only program paying creators commissions for promoting travel and local experiences.

• Products with “deal” promotions outperformed those with only coupons during Prime Day—and continued to generate stronger sales even after the event—while combining both types offered no extra advantage. 

• In the U.S., major consumer publications increasingly expect brands to join affiliate networks and offer commissions, making it a de facto cost of securing product coverage.