Brand context and program goals
Strategy is where you tell the AI what your program is trying to accomplish. Brand description, product categories, industry, voice/tone notes, program goals, and protected keywords collectively shape which actions appear in your Actions Inbox, how they're framed, and what copy the Creatives feature generates. It's the context layer that makes everything else more relevant.
Why it exists
Without context, the AI treats every affiliate program the same - surfacing actions based solely on data patterns, with no awareness of what you're actually trying to do. Two programs might have identical metrics but completely different priorities: one wants to recruit content partners, the other wants to push its new-to-file customer rate above 30%. The actions that matter are different, and so is the copy that works.
The Strategy page captures that context once and applies it continuously. Every scheduled run that generates your Actions Inbox reads your program goals. Every creative brief you generate loads your brand voice and category context automatically. You set it once; it works in the background from then on.
The six fields
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Brand Description | A short paragraph describing what your brand makes, who it's for, and what makes it different. Used by the AI when framing action recommendations and as default context for creative briefs. Aim for 2-4 sentences - specific enough to be useful, concise enough to be read quickly. |
| Top Product Categories | A comma-separated list of your main product lines or categories (e.g. 'mountain bikes, e-bikes, bike accessories'). Helps the AI understand your catalog focus when recommending affiliates, evaluating coverage gaps, and generating creative copy. |
| Industry | A single selection from 14 industry categories. Used to calibrate benchmark comparisons - conversion rate expectations, commission norms, and typical affiliate partner types vary significantly by industry. |
| Voice / Tone Notes | Any language or style guidance the AI should follow when writing on your behalf. E.g. 'Direct and technical, no lifestyle fluff' or 'Warm and approachable, speak to families'. This field flows directly into every creative brief you generate - affiliates receive copy that sounds like your brand. |
| Program Goals | One goal per line. The AI filters and prioritizes your Actions Inbox through these goals on every run. Specific, measurable goals produce better results than general ones. |
| Protected Keywords | A comma-separated list of brand keywords you prohibit affiliates from bidding on in paid search (e.g. 'YourBrand, YourBrand shoes, YourBrand discount'). When set, OptimizeAffiliate checks these keywords automatically in Google paid search and surfaces a Priority 1 trademark_bidding action if an affiliate tracking URL is found in any ad - naming the network and the ad copy so you can act immediately. |
How Program Goals shape your Actions Inbox
On every run, the recommendations engine scans your affiliate data and generates candidate actions. Before surfacing them in your inbox, it reads your program goals and applies two filters: relevance (does this action connect to one of your goals?) and priority (which actions move the needle most on your stated goals right now?).
A goal like "Recruit 10 new content partners in the outdoor lifestyle space" will push Recruit Partner and Sample Opportunity actions higher in your inbox, while suppressing commission-efficiency actions that don't serve that goal at the moment. A goal like "Reduce concentration risk - no single partner should exceed 25% of revenue" will surface Concentration Risk alerts earlier and with more urgency than they would appear otherwise.
Goals don't hide actions - they reorder and reframe them. You still see the full picture, but the most goal-relevant items rise to the top.
How brand context feeds into Creatives
When you open the Creatives feature and start a new brief, the AI automatically loads your brand description, top product categories, industry, and voice/tone notes as background context. You don't need to re-enter your brand voice on every creative run - it's already there.
The creative form shows a confirmation at the top indicating whether brand strategy was loaded, so you always know which context the AI is working with. If you update your Strategy settings, the next creative you generate picks up the new version automatically.
Trademark keyword monitoring
The Protected Keywords field enables automatic trademark bidding detection. When you list your brand keywords - your brand name, branded product names, and any variations affiliates might use - OptimizeAffiliate checks Google paid search results for those terms and looks for affiliate tracking links in any ads that appear.
If an affiliate tracking URL is detected in a paid ad for one of your protected keywords, a trademark_bidding action is created in your Actions Inbox at the top of Priority 1. The action shows the keyword, the ad headline, and the affiliate network - so you know exactly where to look in your network dashboard to identify and contact the affiliate.
A few things to keep in mind: trademark violations are detected at the network level (Impact, AvantLink, ShareASale, CJ, Rakuten, Awin, Skimlinks, and others). The exact sub-publisher behind the ad can only be identified inside your affiliate network's dashboard by looking up the tracking URL's sub-ID. OptimizeAffiliate intentionally doesn't guess - affiliate networks map sub-IDs to publishers, and only your network login has that mapping.
If an existing trademark_bidding action has been dismissed and the same ad is still running, it won't re-alert until the ad is gone and then returns - this prevents inbox noise while you're already handling a violation. Once the ad disappears and then recurs, a fresh alert fires.
Auto-generate from your store
If you're starting from scratch, click Auto-generate from my store. The app analyzes your Shopify store name and product catalog and drafts a brand description, top product categories, and an industry selection based on what it finds.
Generated fields are marked needs review so you can inspect them before saving. Treat the output as a first draft - it's faster than writing from scratch, but your own words about your brand's voice and goals will always be more accurate. In particular, program goals are never auto-generated: they require your input because they reflect your priorities, not your catalog.
Tips for writing effective program goals
The AI reads each goal as a distinct instruction. Goals that work best share three traits: they name a specific outcome, include a measurable target, and have a time frame implied or stated.
Examples of goals that produce sharp, relevant recommendations:
- Recruit 8-10 new content partners focused on outdoor lifestyle and gear reviews
- Grow new-to-file customer rate from current level to above 30%
- Reduce revenue concentration - no single partner should drive more than 20% of affiliate revenue
- Reactivate dormant partners who drove revenue in Q4 but have gone quiet
- Improve program EPC by raising commissions for high-converting partners and reducing them for low-converting ones
Avoid goals that are too vague to act on ("grow the program", "improve performance") or goals that don't connect to affiliate program management specifically. The AI can only act on what it can measure or influence through your affiliate data.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to fill out the Strategy page before I can use the app?
No - the app works without it. But the AI recommendations in your Actions Inbox and the copy generated by Creatives both improve meaningfully when the AI knows your goals and your brand voice. It takes about five minutes to fill out and the difference in output quality is noticeable. Think of it as a one-time setup that pays off every day after.
What should I write in Program Goals?
Write what you actually want your affiliate program to accomplish over the next 90 days. Concrete, specific goals produce better results than vague ones. 'Recruit 10 new content partners in the outdoor/lifestyle space' works better than 'grow the program'. 'Increase new-to-file customer rate above 30%' works better than 'get more new customers'. Each goal should go on its own line - the AI reads them one by one and filters its recommendations through all of them.
How does the Auto-generate feature work?
When you click 'Auto-generate from my store', the app pulls your Shopify store name, product catalog, and any existing brand data to draft a brand description and a suggested list of top product categories. It also picks the closest match from the industry list. The generated content is marked as 'needs review' so you can inspect and edit before saving. It's a starting point, not a final answer - your own words will always be more accurate about your brand voice and goals than anything the AI infers from your catalog.
How often should I update Strategy?
Update it when something material changes: a new product line launches, you shift focus to a different customer segment, you start a new promotional push, or your program goals change between quarters. The fields are not meant to be tweaked every week - they represent your stable operating context, not your current campaign. Program Goals are the exception: those are worth revisiting each month or quarter as priorities evolve.
Does Strategy affect AI Visibility scans?
Not directly. AI Visibility scans run against your connected affiliate partners and brand-relevant queries independently of your Strategy settings. However, the AI Recruit Target and AI Star Partner action types - which surface in your Actions Inbox based on AI Visibility results - are filtered and framed using your program goals. If your goals emphasize recruiting content partners, recruit-type actions get higher priority in your inbox.
See it all inside your Shopify admin.
Start with a 14-day free trial. After that it's $49/month, billed through Shopify, with unlimited affiliate network connections.
Start your free trial →