How to find new affiliates
for your affiliate program?

The main ingredient in the success of your affiliate campaign is to have an active and relevant affiliate base.

All advertisers who claim a conversion rate commensurate with their goals do so by establishing connections with high traffic niche publishers in order to build high value-added partnerships.

This allows them to build brand awareness and at the same time, most importantly, to sell their products and services.

And unless you have a whole team of marketers to find affiliates, publisher sourcing is a key strategy. If you persist in building your own affiliate networks, be ready for real economies of scale.

However, before you start recruiting your affiliates, make sure your affiliate program is attractive enough to convince them. (Read: A Successful Affiliate Program).

To help you in this task, here are a few tips that will allow you to more confidently understand this affiliate recruitment phase.

1. Dedicated acquisition landing page

Create a landing page dedicated to promoting your affiliate program. Often placed in the footer of the site, it presents your brand, the benefits for those affiliates who diffuse your campaign, and the terms of your affiliate program. (E.g.: “Become an Affiliate” “Affiliate Program”).

A landing page guides your affiliates to sign-up. Don’t let them leave this page without registration on your affiliate program. (Use clear call-to-action button)

2. Identify publishers

The goal is to identify all the sites likely to diffuse your offers of services and products. They can take several forms (content, coupon codes, shopping engines, cashback, etc.).

Source popular sites or those specializing in your target customer activity areas for example, or use social networks, blogs, etc.

And then approach them directly. (Be patient!)

3. Use your current publisher list

Perhaps you have already making one-shot deals with affiliates like bloggers, influencers on product reviews. And if you know more about the success of these operations, do not hesitate to reach out to them and reward them on your sales. (In order to create recurring content and visibility on these content websites).

4. Use your customer relationship

Use your customer relationship to find out which online information sources they like. This may allow you to identify affiliates you have not considered.

Take it one step further and ask your customers to recommend you!

5. Share your program

Highlight your affiliate program on sites that specialize in the areas you are targeting and on your social media accounts.

6. Emailers

Contact emailers who will based on your target criteria, send to their bases of qualified prospects. Or there is a cost per lead instead.

7. Research competitors’affiliates

Do not hesitate to look at the backlinks of your competitors which will allow you to identify the partners with whom they work. Why not solicit them? Be sure that your future publishers will be relevant (affiliate’s reputation) and can contribute to your sales goals.

Some tools can help you like: SEMRUsh

8. Use Google products

Use Google’s organic search, for example, by typing “Samsung galaxy review” or “robot vacuum review” you will find many shopping guides, shopping engines, cashback offers, bloggers, media sites, etc… So many affiliates available: contact them!

Create Google alerts on specific keywords for your business that will help you identify potential affiliates.

Another, but more expensive way, is to create a Google Ads campaign to promote your affiliate program. By determining an overall target acquisition cost, you can afford to invest more heavily on certain channels, bringing in qualified traffic.

Why not use Facebook Ads advanced targeting to promote your affiliate program too?

9. Publish your program

Advertise and publish your affiliate program on affiliate program directories or affiliate forums, or more broadly in online advertising where publishers are always looking for new revenue sources.

10. Referrals

You can also invite your affiliates to recommend your program, by giving them bonuses for referrals.

One last tip, there are other more informal sources to be exploited, such as events, trade shows, and conferences. These promote networking in your business area and will help you build lasting partnerships.