A systematic list of technical, commercial, and operational items that must be completed and verified before an affiliate program opens to publishers. Core checklist categories: Technical verification: affiliate tracking pixel or S2S postback firing correctly on all transaction types; test transactions completing and recording accurately in network dashboard; mobile tracking functional; cross-domain tracking verified (if checkout on separate subdomain); duplicate transaction filtering enabled; deep link functionality confirmed for product-specific links. Commercial structure: commission rate finalized and competitive; cookie window set appropriately for product consideration cycle; publisher agreement covers promotional restrictions, disclosure requirements, and fraud policy; payment schedule and threshold configured. Publisher resources: creative asset library complete (product images, banner ads, brand guidelines); publisher onboarding email sequence drafted and automated; content guidance document prepared; affiliate manager contact and response SLA established. Recruitment preparation: program listing optimized in network directory; proactive publisher outreach target list prepared; Day 1 outreach emails drafted. Consequences of skipping: tracking failures discovered post-launch damage publisher trust permanently; uncompetitive commission rates discovered post-launch require disruptive mid-program changes; missing publisher resources result in low activation rates that undermine early program performance.
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