Ask an Affiliate Manager: How to Recruit High-Quality Affiliates and Actually Activate Them

In this Rewardful webinar, Emmet Gibney (CEO, Rewardful) sat down with Dustin Howes, a 15-year veteran of the affiliate industry, host of the Affiliate Nerd Out podcast, and coach to affiliate managers, to share a practical, no-fluff system for finding partners who convert and turning signups into sales.

📺 Watch the full session on YouTube (1 h 3 min)

Meet the Experts

• Emmet Gibney – CEO at Rewardful
• Dustin Howes – Affiliate coach, publisher, former agency/network lead, and host of Affiliate Nerd Out

Why Recruitment Feels So Hard

“Too many brands expect affiliates to just show up, grab a link, and go. Recruitment and activation end up last on the task list—yet they’re the engine of the program.” — Dustin Howes

Three root causes came up again and again:

1. Mis-set expectations. Networks pitch “set it and forget it.” In reality, outbound recruitment wins.
2. No ICP → no IAP. If you don’t deeply know your Ideal Customer Profile, you can’t define your Ideal Affiliate Profile.
3. Underinvested “exploratory” budget. Competitive partners (especially creators) rarely engage without some combination of fee, free product, and commission.

Step 1: Define Your Partner Personas

Just like customer personas, write five partner personas that fit your category and goals. For each, list:

• Who they are: blogger, listicle site, YouTuber, LinkedIn creator, newsletter owner, community admin, media buyer, emailer, coupon/loyalty/extension closer, etc.
• Audience fit: keywords/topics they rank for, platform, niche relevance.
• Motivation: fee vs. free product vs. commission, backlink, co-marketing, traffic support.
• Your pitch: what you can offer (EPCs/conversion rate, exclusive deal, content ideas, tracking, creative).

Pro tip: Quality over quantity. Vanity metrics (total affiliates) don’t matter, revenue concentration is real. Expect a tiny fraction of partners to drive the majority of sales.

Step 2: Where to Find High-Quality Affiliates

Prioritize incremental partners that influence buyers before checkout:

1. SEO content owners (bloggers, reviewers, listicles) already ranking for your target keywords.
2. Media buyers who can scale once messaging is dialed (stay on-brand, review copy closely).
3. Emailers/newsletters with curated, responsive lists.
4. B2B & SaaS: LinkedIn creators and niche reviewers—lower volume, high intent.
5. Communities (Slack/Discord/Facebook/Reddit) via group admins/mods.
6. Lower-funnel closers: coupon, loyalty, and extensions (use with intent and rules).

Tools mentioned in the webinar (use responsibly): Affistash (discovery/keywords & contacts), Upfluence (influencers), PhantomBuster (export competitor followers), Semrush & Similarweb (research), Hunter.io (emails), Ahrefs (authority/links), Waalaxy (LinkedIn outreach), plus an email-copy helper from Matt McWilliams.

Step 3: Craft Outreach That Gets Replies

Skip the mass blast. Aim for targeted, human messages.

Your first message (3 parts):

1. Personal proof you looked: call out a recent post/video, ranking page, or newsletter issue.
2. Value quickly: what your product does and what’s in it for them (commission/EPC, free product, backlink, co-marketing, traffic buys).
3. One question: “Would this fit your audience?” / “Want to try it?” / “Open to a quick test?”

Make it easy to say yes:

• Exploratory budget (even modest) dramatically lifts response rates.
• Always offer a free product/account, especially for creators.
• Share concrete EPC/conversion rate ranges and top-performer stories (case-study style).
• Offer a backlink (SEO value) when pitching content sites.
• Try a triple-touch (DM + email + LinkedIn) over a few days, polite, not spammy.

Watch outs: Over-templated AI emails are obvious (think “dip/dive/delve” & random emojis). Use AI to draft, then humanize.

Step 4: Vetting & Approvals (Fast, but Careful)

Keep the application short (name/company/URL/socials/how they’ll promote). Then scan for:

Green flags

• Content and audience clearly match your niche/ICP
• Real site/socials, quality content, clear CTAs
• Transparent traffic/engagement, specific promotion plan

Red flags

• Irrelevant sites (“cat blog” for a B2B tool) with no plan
• Impossible stats, unclear business model, generic copy/paste answers
• Patterns you’ve seen tied to fraud/brand bidding, approve cautiously and monitor

Step 5: Activation & Retention = Onboarding for Affiliates

Treat activation like product onboarding: the “aha” moment is their first commission.

5-Email Welcome Sequence (first 5 days):

1. Welcome + link: your intro, their unique link, and how to reach you.
2. Assets: logos, banners, deep links, screenshots, demo video, UTM guidance.
3. What works: top content angles, best-converting pages, proven CTAs/titles.
4. Max earnings: promo calendar, exclusive codes, suggested placements, do/don’t list.
5. Open door: office hours/Calendly, remind of perks, invite questions.

Give them a home base: a single resource hub (Notion/portal) with everything above, plus case studies, competitor comparisons, media kit, and your contact/booking link.

Incentives that move needles

• Hybrid deals: small fee + commission for tests (especially creators).
• Volume bonuses/tiers and time-boxed boosts for new promos.
• Traffic support: consider buying ads to a partner’s high-ranking article for your key term.
• Newsletter shout-outs spotlighting partner wins (social proof = activation fuel).
• Promote your program on social, your biggest fans may become great long-tail partners.

Rev-Share vs. CPA: What to Offer?

It depends on LTV, upsells, and sales cycle, so support both:

• Rev-share: great for alignment, many programs cap at 12 months of recurring to balance risk.
• CPA: peg to ~first 2–3 months of revenue (or a tested fixed amount).
• Use hybrids to win competitive recruits and negotiate lower fees.

Handling “Sponsorship-Only” Creators (B2B/SaaS)

• Lead with relationship and value. Offer product access, data they can use, and co-marketing (webinar, case study, newsletter feature).
• Share proof: “Here’s a similar creator’s conversion rate and estimated earnings on our commission plan.”
• When budgets are tight, be patient. Friendship + genuine support often beats a one-off fee.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Treating recruitment as a one-time task (it’s ongoing pipeline work).
• Chasing celebrity macros before you’ve tested a dozen micro/niche partners.
• Over-collecting info on applications (kills signups).
• No clear rules around paid search, brand bidding, coupons, or extensions.
• Onboarding with…nothing. (No assets, no examples, no contact = no activation.)

Key Takeaways

1. Define partner personas before you send a single pitch.
2. Go outbound: bloggers with rankings, niche creators, newsletters, communities.
3. Exploratory budget + free product + commission = more and better replies.
4. Onboard like a PM: a 5-email sequence and a single, stacked resource hub.
5. Measure and tier: focus on the few who drive the most, while steadily testing new recruits.

Ready to Recruit (and Activate) Better?

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🎓 New to partnerships? Dive into our free Affiliate Marketing Course for SaaS.