You want others to sell your product for you
Partner with bloggers, YouTubers, and newsletter writers in your niche. They have the audience, you have the product.
When to use
There are content creators in your niche with audiences of your ideal customers.
Hypothesis template
If we offer [commission]% recurring affiliate commissions to [niche creators], we'll get [target] signups/month from affiliates because creators monetize through authentic recommendations.
Method
The problem: You can't afford ads and content marketing is slow. But there are people with audiences in your exact niche who need products to recommend.
What ConvertKit did: Offered 30% recurring commissions to bloggers and creators. Affiliates earned real income recommending a product they genuinely used.
The result: Affiliates became ConvertKit's largest growth channel, driving thousands of signups per month through genuine recommendations.
How to do it:
- Set up an affiliate program (Rewardful, FirstPromoter, or custom)
- Offer 20-30% recurring commission — recurring is key for motivation
- Find 20-50 creators in your niche: bloggers, YouTubers, newsletter writers, podcasters
- Reach out personally: "I love your content on X. Would you be interested in partnering?"
- Give them a free Pro account + custom landing page or link
- Provide assets: screenshots, talking points, demo access
- Pay promptly and celebrate top affiliates
Key insight: Recurring commission means affiliates earn more the longer their referrals stay. This aligns incentives — they'll recommend you authentically because their income depends on retention.
Success metrics
- •Affiliate signups
- •Affiliate conversion rate
- •Revenue from affiliates
- •Affiliate retention (do they keep promoting?)
Prerequisites
- An affiliate tracking system
- Meaningful commission structure
- A product worth recommending
- Time to recruit and support affiliates
Common pitfalls
- •Offering too-low commissions (< 20%)
- •Not paying on time
- •Recruiting affiliates who don't use your product
- •Not providing assets and support
Source: ConvertKit. Affiliate program with 30% recurring commission became their #1 growth channel.
Suggested ICE scores
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