Qonto: +30% leads via an incremental acquisition engine

As the European benchmark in business financial management, Qonto supports freelancers, entrepreneurs, and SMEs with a 360° solution designed to simplify financial workflows. Within an already structured acquisition landscape, the brand sought to transform affiliation into a truly incremental lever, capable of unlocking new growth drivers across Europe.

The challenge: Objectives and constraints

The mission was to evolve affiliation into a strategic growth engine alongside mature SEA and SEO channels:

• Driving incremental acquisition: Complementing existing channels with fresh, non-duplicative leads.
• Broadening the affiliate network: Recruiting new partners beyond the brand’s historical network.
• Structuring a granular European mix: Building a diverse partner ecosystem tailored to various European markets.
• Developing the “Long Tail”: Creating a sustainable base of niche partners to complement major players.
• Traffic diversification: Multiplying traffic sources while maintaining precise performance monitoring.

The means: Levers tested

To achieve European affiliate acquisition at scale, Qonto deployed a multi-pronged approach:

• Comparison sites: Capturing high-intent searches during the final decision phase.
• Cashback: Boosting conversion rates and testing the incrementality of this specific lever.
• Media & specialized blogs: Strengthening brand consideration, providing reassurance, and growing organic reach.
• Performance micro-influence: Humanizing the offer and building trust through authentic creator voices.
• Ad amplification: Using paid ads to push the highest-performing partner content.
• Web Push notifications: A/B testing creatives and audiences to drive re-engagement.

The strategy: Tactical activations

The program’s success relied on moving beyond a “simple” affiliate program to a comprehensive acquisition strategy:

• Focus on incrementality: Ensuring the channel adds unique value rather than just duplicating existing conversions.
• Open partner mix: Gradually expanding to a diverse range of partners capable of addressing every stage of the conversion funnel.
• Full-funnel coverage: Combining intent, consideration, and recommendation levers to capture a wider audience.
• Agile scaling: Running continuous tests to identify top-performing setups and doubling down on the most promising results.
• Operational excellence: Leveraging Affilae’s support to structure the long tail, recruit high-quality partners, and accelerate execution.