Reaching out to publishers: guide and message templates

To recruit a publisher, you message them from Affilae or by email, and they then apply to your program. This guide shows you which tool to use in each situation, and gives you three message templates to adapt: the first message, the follow-up and the partnership offer.

Where to contact a publisher

The right tool depends on where you found the publisher, and on their relationship with your program.

There’s no “offer a partnership” button: you message the publisher or invite them, and they apply from your program page. Their application then shows up in My affiliates, with the Pending status if you approve affiliates manually (the default setting).

Good to know: if a publisher suggested by Match AI has no manager on Affilae, Contact opens their website. Email them instead, with your program page link, which you’ll find in your program’s Configuration, Program communication block. The link works even if your program isn’t listed yet.

Two app constraints that change how you write

What gets a publisher to reply

Six rules that apply to every template in this guide. They’re best practices from the field, not app constraints.

Template 1: the first message

Use the short version in Match AI and the Marketplace, and the email version outside Affilae. Replace each [placeholder], then read your message out loud. The character count shown includes the placeholders as written: once your own words are in, trust the app’s counter.

Template 2: the follow-up

No reply after 5 to 7 days? Send one follow-up, in the same conversation, with a new angle: a key moment (spring, Mother’s Day, Black Friday), something new or a limited-time offer. Never blame them for the silence: your first message may simply have slipped through.

Template 3: the partnership offer

The publisher replied and wants to know more: make them a concrete offer, with numbers and dates. You’re now writing in Messaging, with no length limit, and you can attach a file there, such as your brand presentation.

Each line of this template is an option: keep the ones that fit your goal and your budget. You can offer a rate just for them, an increase for a key moment, a dedicated discount code, a bonus or visuals, set up once their application is accepted. A custom rate doesn’t show in the “Up to” commission on your program page: your message is what announces it.

Don’t promise any payment timeline: only announce what you control, such as how often you approve sales. To fine-tune your offer, see step 4.

The right pace

Here’s the schedule we recommend. It’s not an Affilae rule, just a pace that keeps you on the publisher’s radar without annoying them.

The last message stays short and leaves the door open:

Adapting to each type of publisher

The six rules still apply, but each type of publisher looks for something different: keep the template’s structure and adapt the sentence that carries your offer.

More on each family of publishers: The different affiliate types.

After the yes

The publisher has applied: four steps get the partnership off to a good start.

1. Accept their application. In My affiliates, click the pencil next to the Pending status, choose Approve, select the Affiliate group, then confirm with Accept. Choose the group carefully: moving a partner to another group later erases their custom rates.
2. Give them their tools. Create their dedicated discount code, send them a tracked link to the right page with Create a link, and check that your visuals are online. Details in step 5.
3. Track their first results. The Reporting icon on their row opens their stats, and the Is active? column tells you whether they’ve generated more than 10 clicks in the last 30 days.
4. Stay reachable. Answer their questions quickly in Messaging, and give them a heads-up before your key moments.

The publisher isn’t on Affilae? Send them the invitation, or create their profile yourself with Create an affiliate profile: the partnership is then Approved right away, and the publisher gets an email to complete their profile. See Quickly add an affiliate to your program.

Good outreach habits

• Write less, but better. We recommend ten personalized messages over a hundred identical ones.
• Save Mass contact for a consistent group: same category, same profile type, and a message that holds true for each of them.
• Keep track of who you’ve contacted. In the Marketplace, filtering on Not contacted keeps you from writing twice to the same publisher.
• Reply the same day when a publisher writes back: their interest fades fast.

Three outreach examples

Home & Garden and a gardening blog. In Match AI, the partnerships manager spots a blog about balcony vegetable gardens, and sends the short version of template 1, mentioning its article on raised planters. Six days later, she follows up with her summer collection and a 15% off code valid for two weeks. The blogger replies, gets template 3 and applies.

An organic skincare brand and content creators. In Marketplace > Publishers discovery, the brand filters on its category and its country, then picks eight creators whose tone is close to its own. It sends them the casual version with Mass contact, without mentioning a specific post since the message is shared. It then follows up one by one with those who didn’t reply.

An online invoicing tool and a comparison site. The brand finds a software comparison site on Google that isn’t on Affilae, and writes to it from its own mailbox with the email version of template 1. The site would rather be paid per signup: the brand offers a per-lead commission, then invites it with Invite an affiliate by email. The site clicks Apply, and its application shows up in My affiliates.

Related articles

• 10 tips to find affiliates
• Quickly add an affiliate to your program
• Match AI: find the best partners for your brand
• Understanding partnership statuses
• How to create and track vouchers