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Affiliate is getting a lot more attention in DTC right now, and for good reason. In this episode, Yash Chavan, Founder and CEO of SATHI & SARAL, breaks down why the channel looks so attractive on paper, where it falls apart in practice, and what brands can do to make it perform like a real growth engine.

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We get into:

Why affiliate is attractive to operators and finance teams
How last-click attribution distorts performance data
What affiliate fraud actually looks like inside a real program
How to think about multi-touch attribution by product category
Why gamification matters if you want creators to stay active
How affiliate fits alongside Meta, TikTok, and retargeting

What to steal:

Run a fraud scan on your current affiliate program and check for leaked codes
Build commission tiers and milestone bonuses to keep strong creators engaged
Choose an attribution model based on how your product actually gets bought

If you’re a DTC marketer, founder, or growth lead trying to lower CAC, improve measurement, and build a more durable acquisition program, this episode is essential listening.

Timestamps

00:00 Affiliate marketing explained

02:00 Why affiliate is hard to scale

04:00 The problem with last-click attribution

06:00 Affiliate fraud examples and risks

09:00 Influencers shifting to affiliate models

11:00 Why reels + links change everything

13:00 How modern affiliate tracking works

16:00 Multi-touch attribution strategies

19:00 Retargeting affiliate traffic

21:00 Gamifying affiliate programs

24:00 How to start and scale affiliates

27:00 Program hygiene and key metrics

30:00 Where affiliate fits in your funnel

33:00 The future of affiliate marketing

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Bonus: How DTC Brands Scale Affiliate Marketing Without Fraud or Bad Attribution

DTC Podcast