In B2B affiliate marketing, the fundamental principles of affiliate marketing are applied to the B2B sector. While the overall operation remains similar, B2B affiliate marketing is distinguished by its own characteristics and specificities, linked to the nature of the publishers involved and the B2B business itself. B2B publishers/affiliates exhibit particularities such as: a limited selection of potential affiliate sites, an audience often highly targeted to specific professional fields, a predominance of professional media, and conversions that are sometimes more difficult to achieve due to the frequent presence of captive advertisers using CPM (cost per mille) advertising.

Beyond B2B companies active in e-commerce, such as Raja or Office Depot, the B2B sector is often characterized by long and complex buying cycles, with a significant portion of transactions taking place offline. Unlike B2C affiliate marketing, it is often difficult, if not impossible, to track the purchase process from the first click on the affiliate website to the completion of the transaction or the signing of a contract. This is why B2B affiliate programs generally compensate affiliate publishers per lead, a form of compensation that tends to be significantly higher than that observed in the B2C sector.

A concrete example of a B2B affiliate program illustrates these concepts: