Design affiliate programs that generate 20-50% of customer acquisition with 30-50% lower CAC through strategic partner recruitment.
What This Skill Does
Challenge: Building an affiliate program requires choosing commission models, platform selection, recruiting quality partners, and preventing fraud—all while maintaining profitability.
Solution: The Affiliate Marketing skill provides program structure templates, platform comparison guides, KOL/KOC partnership strategies, fraud detection patterns, and case studies (Dropbox 3900% growth, PayPal 100M users).
Activation
Implicit: Activates automatically for Growth Specialist and Campaign Manager agents when discussing partner/affiliate strategies.
Explicit: Activate by name when needed: “Activate affiliate-marketing skill”
Capabilities
1. Commission Model Selection
Choose structure based on business stage and customer lifetime value.
Commission Models:
| Model | Best For | Rate | Cookie Window |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recurring | SaaS subscription plans | 20-30% | 90 days |
| One-Time | High-ticket products | $50-200 | 60 days |
| Tiered | Scaling programs | 20→40% | 90 days |
| Hybrid | Top-tier partners | Base + % | 120 days |
Structure guide: references/program-structure.md
2. Platform Selection Framework
Compare affiliate platforms by features, pricing, and integration complexity.
Platform Comparison:
| Platform | Best For | Pricing | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| FirstPromoter | Early-stage SaaS | $49/month | 1 hour |
| Rewardful | Stripe-first SaaS | $29/month | 30 minutes |
| PartnerStack | Enterprise scale | $500+/month | 1 week |
| Impact.com | Major partners | Custom | 2 weeks |
Selection guide: references/platform-selection.md
3. KOL/KOC Partnership Strategy
Identify, vet, and recruit Key Opinion Leaders and Key Opinion Consumers.
Recruitment Process:
- Identify niche influencers (10k-100k followers for micro-influencers)
- Vet content quality and audience engagement (>3% engagement rate)
- Personalized outreach (use templates from
references/outreach-templates.md) - Negotiate compensation (affiliate % vs flat fee vs hybrid)
- Onboard with content kit and tracking links
Partnership guide: references/kol-koc-partnerships.md
Prerequisites
- Product/service with proven conversion funnel
- Customer LTV data to calculate commissions
- Affiliate agreement template (legal review recommended)
Configuration
Program design checklist:
- Commission structure defined
- Cookie window set (60-120 days typical for SaaS)
- Payment terms established (Net 30/60/90)
- Fraud prevention rules configured
- Affiliate onboarding kit ready
- Tracking and attribution setup verified
Best Practices
1. Two-Sided Rewards Work Best Both referrer AND referee receive incentives. Increases participation 68%.
2. 90-Day Cookies For B2B SaaS B2B sales cycles are longer. Short cookies lose conversions due to long consideration windows.
3. Commission Holds Prevent Fraud Hold payments 60-90 days to match refund windows. Prevents fraudulent signups.
Common Use Cases
Use Case 1: Launch SaaS Affiliate Program
Scenario: Early-stage SaaS wants partner channel to complement paid ads.
Workflow:
- Calculate max affordable commission (30% of MRR typical)
- Choose platform (FirstPromoter recommended for <$500k ARR)
- Create affiliate onboarding kit (brand assets, messaging guide, demo videos)
- Recruit 10-20 initial affiliates (existing customers, micro-influencers)
- Launch with 90-day cookie, Net 60 payment
- Monitor EPC (Earnings Per Click) - target $5-50 for SaaS
Success Metrics: 5-9% participation rate, 5-10% referral rate.
Use Case 2: Scale Existing Program
Scenario: Program has 50 affiliates, want to increase quality and reduce fraud.
Workflow:
- Analyze affiliate performance (top 20% generates 80% of revenue)
- Implement tiered commissions (base 20%, 30% at 10+ referrals, 40% at 50+)
- Add vetting process for new affiliates (application review)
- Deploy fraud detection (90-day holds, manual review of bulk signups)
- Create retention program (monthly check-ins, content support for top 10%)
Outcome: Improved EPC, reduced fraud, higher affiliate retention.
Troubleshooting
Issue: Low affiliate participation (<3%) Solution: Increase commission to 25-30% OR improve affiliate resources (better content kit, landing pages).
Issue: High fraud rate Solution: Implement 90-day hold periods, require affiliate vetting, add terms of service banning brand bidding and incentivized traffic.
Issue: Affiliates inactive after onboarding Solution: Monthly check-ins, provide pre-made content, feature top performers to motivate others.
Related Skills
- Referral Program Building - Customer-driven referrals
- Campaign Management - Launch coordination
- Analytics - Performance tracking and attribution
Related Commands
/campaign/create- Affiliate launch campaign/plan- Implementation planning/analyze:report- Performance analysis