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How to make publishers want to promote your brand

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A publisher gets many proposals and only promotes the brands that answer their questions before they even ask. This guide takes those questions one by one: what the publisher is looking for, what you can give them, and the Affilae tool that helps you do it.

Requirements: your program is listed on the Marketplace, or ready to be, and your first promotional tools are uploaded (see step 5, Your promotional tools).

Your launch in 5 steps

1Your program page 2The right publishers 3Reaching out 4Make them want it 5Your promo tools

What a publisher asks before promoting you

Blogger, content creator, deals site or newsletter: every publisher puts their audience’s trust on the line when they recommend a brand. Before saying yes, they ask themselves five questions, often without writing them to you.

The publisher’s 5 questions

1Will my audience like it?They look at your brand, your products and the offer reserved for their audience. 2How much will I earn?They look at the commission shown on your listing and what your best partners earn. 3Does it convert?They look at your conversion rate and your EPC. 4Can I trust you?They look at your validation rate, your payment time and how responsive you are. 5Is it easy to set up?They check whether links, a promo code and visuals are ready to publish.

The five questions a publisher asks before promoting a brand. Click a question to read the answer.

A brand worth talking about

What they are looking for: a topic their audience will enjoy, and that they can cover without starting from scratch. A publisher does not recite your catalog: they tell a story.

What you can give them:

Your story: why the brand exists, who makes the products, what sets you apart.
Your products as content angles: three ready-to-use topic ideas, built around a season, a use case and a before/after (example below).
High-quality visuals, in real settings and not only on a white background, uploaded in Medias then Ads: the publisher finds them in their account, ready to embed with their tracked link.
Your customer reviews: an average rating and two or three genuine testimonials, which reassure their audience better than any sales pitch.

Three ready-to-use topics

Example for Home & Garden, a home decor and garden brand

A season

Getting your balcony ready for spring

Planters, outdoor cushions, string lights: the March shopping list.

A use case

Hosting outdoors all summer

Table, chairs and outdoor tableware for dinner on the patio.

A before/after

A city courtyard transformed in one weekend

The before photos, the products used, the result.

Three content angles to suggest: the publisher picks the one that speaks to their audience.

An offer made for their audience

What they are looking for: a perk only they can offer. Their audience follows them for good advice: an exclusive offer proves they negotiated on its behalf.

What you can give them:

A dedicated promo code, ideally in their name (for example LEAGARDEN). In Medias then Vouchers, you assign it to that specific partner: an order placed with this code is credited to them, even without a click on their link. Setup, conversion tag included: How to create and track vouchers.
An exclusive or a preview: a collection they reveal before anyone else, a gift box reserved for their readers.
Your products to try: people recommend best what they have held in their hands. Send them directly, outside the platform if needed.
A visual just for them: when you create an item in Ads, the Choose partner field lets you reserve it for that publisher.

Clear earnings that reward the best

What they are looking for: to understand in a few seconds what they can earn, and how much more they will earn if they sell well.

On your listing, they quickly spot the commission on offer, for example “Up to 12%”. It only counts your public groups and rules, at the highest level: no custom rates, no commission increases, no private groups. That figure is your shop window: keep it reachable, because a publisher who finds a level out of reach feels misled.

What you can give them:

One group per publisher profile (creators, deals sites, comparison sites), each with its own rates. A public group appears under its name on your listing: choose clear names. A private group stays hidden, for negotiated terms. See Create a publisher group.
Levels and recurring commissions, so their earnings rise with their results: see tip 2 of 5 tips to make your affiliate program a success.

To reward a specific partner without touching the others:

A rate of their own: customized remuneration applies a rate specific to them, different from their group’s rate. See How to customize a publisher’s remuneration?
An increase over a period, scheduled in Customize your remuneration: the publisher sees it coming under Planned commission changes. See Customize your remuneration: increases and decreases.
A bonus added by hand from the Conversions page: the + button (Add conversions) opens Add a commission, where you pick the Commission type Bonus. See Adding a commission by hand: conversion, bonus or fixed fees.

Proof that it converts, and that you can be trusted

What they are looking for: proof that your site turns their clicks into sales, and that their commissions will be validated, then paid. On this, they do not take your word for it: they read the numbers.

Your Marketplace listing shows five indicators that you do not write: Affilae calculates them from your actual activity, and you cannot edit them.

INDICATOR	WHAT IT SHOWS	THE PUBLISHER’S QUESTION
Conversion rate	The share of clicks that become conversions, over the last month.	Does your site sell?
EPC	Your commissions divided by your clicks, since the program opened.	What is a click worth with you?
Validation rate	The share of your conversions that were not refused, over the last month.	Will my sales be counted?
Average payments	The average time between a payment request and its payment, over the last six months.	When will I get paid?
First reply	How responsive you are in Messaging.	Will you be there if I have a question?

What you can do:

Test your tracking before publishers arrive: a sale that is not recorded is a lost commission for them. See Testing click and conversion tracking.
Validate your conversions and make your payments on a regular schedule, stated in your Affiliate terms. Only refuse a sale for a real reason (return, cancellation, fraud). See Paying your affiliates: where to start.
Reply fast, even just to say you will get back to them: the New messages notification tells you when a publisher writes to you (see Managing your program notifications).

Ready to publish

What they are looking for: to publish the same day, without chasing you for a link or an image.

What you can give them: an activation kit, sent to every new partner as soon as you accept them. Prepare it once, then adapt it to each publisher.

The activation kit for a new partner

To send as soon as you accept their application

A welcome messageWhat you expect from them, what they earn, what comes next.Messaging

A tracked link to the right pagesThe category or product page that matches their content. They can then create their own links.Create a link

A dedicated promo codeIn their name, reserved for their audience.Medias > Vouchers

Three visuals in the right formatsA banner for a website, a square or vertical format for social media.Medias > Ads

Your product feed, if your catalog suits itThey get product links that are already tracked.Medias > Products Feeds

The calendar of your key datesSales, launches, holidays: what they can prepare ahead of time.Attached to your message

A contact personA first name and a direct address, for example partners@example.com.In your message

The seven items to send to every new partner, and where to prepare them in Affilae.

Each item is covered in detail in step 5: Your promotional tools.

A relationship that lasts

What they are looking for: a brand that does not forget them once the partnership is accepted, and that keeps giving them reasons to publish.

What you can give them:

News for everyone at once. In the sidebar, click Messaging, then New message, and choose your program. Filter with Group, Status (for example Approved) or Active, then tick the box that selects them all: the same message goes to each of them.
A targeted follow-up: setting Active to No isolates the partners who generated 10 clicks or fewer in the last 30 days.
An alert for every new item: when you create an ad, tick Notify partners by email? so they receive an email. Creating a commission increase offers the same option.
A monthly check-in with your best partners: what worked, what is coming, what they need.
Recognition: specific feedback on their content, and featuring their posts on your own social media.

Challenges (a boosted commission over a key period) are covered in tip 4 of 5 tips to make your affiliate program a success.

Best practices: what makes the difference

Tip: send the activation kit on the very day you accept a publisher. That is when their desire to promote you is at its peak.

Talk about what they gain before talking about yourself: their audience, their income, their time.
Reread your listing as a publisher would, from the Program communication block of your Configuration page: does it answer the five questions without them having to write to you?
Share honest numbers: average order value, best sellers, peak seasons.
Keep each code exclusive: once it shows up on a coupon site, it loses its value for the publisher you gave it to.

Use cases: three brands, three approaches

Home & Garden, home decor and garden. In February, the brand sends a gardening blogger its three topic ideas, a dedicated code and its outdoor product feed. It schedules a commission increase for April: the blogger sees it under Planned commission changes and times her posts around it.

A cosmetics brand. An Instagram creator asks for a flat fee for her launch video. The brand sends her its products and pays the fee by hand (Commission type Fixed fees). It also assigns her a code in her name: her stories have no link, but sales made with that code are credited to her.

An online subscription service. A niche newsletter publisher wonders whether the offer converts. The brand points them to the indicators on its listing and reserves a free month for their readers, with a dedicated code. It also turns on recurring commissions: the publisher earns on later purchases from the customers they bring.

5Next stepYour promotional tools

Frequently asked
questions

Not necessarily. A publisher compares what they will really earn: your commission, but also your conversion rate and your validation rate. A high rate on a site that converts poorly earns them less than an average rate on a site that sells well. We recommend matching the rates of your industry, then rewarding your best partners one by one.

Three levers exist: customized remuneration, from their page in My affiliates; a commission increase over a period, from Customize your remuneration; and a bonus added by hand from Conversions, with the Commission type Bonus.

There is no flat-fee commission rule, but you can pay an amount by hand: on the Conversions page, the + button (Add conversions) opens Add a commission, with the Commission type Fixed fees. We recommend adding a commission on sales and a dedicated code, so they also earn over time.

Open Messaging, then New message, and choose your program. Filter with Group, Status or Active if needed, then tick the box that selects all the partners shown: the same message goes to each of them.

Because the Up to commission only counts your public groups and rules, at the highest level. Commission increases, custom rates and private groups are not included. The partner concerned sees their increase in their own account, and an upcoming one under Planned commission changes.

Yes. In Vouchers, each code is assigned to one or more specific partners, never to a group. We recommend one code per publisher, in their name, published nowhere else. An order placed with the code is credited to them even without a click on their link, as long as your conversion tag sends the code.