How to Find High Quality Affiliates for your SaaS

Start with Revshare

Create your affiliate program on Revshare to get automatic directory listing, search visibility, customizable signup pages, and embeddable widgets. This passive recruitment works 24/7 as affiliates discover your program organically.

Direct Outreach

Target content creators, review sites, newsletter owners, social media influencers, and LinkedIn professionals who reach your audience. Personalize every message: reference specific articles or videos, explain why your product fits their audience, and never use generic templates.

Website Optimization

• Add "Affiliate Program" link to footer navigation
• Create dedicated landing page with commission rates, cookie duration, payment terms, testimonials, and promotional materials
• Show affiliate invitation banner to logged-in users (happy customers make best affiliates)
• Add affiliate CTAs to blog posts, case studies, and comparison guides

Convert Customers to Affiliates

Invite customers after onboarding, usage milestones, subscription renewal, or when NPS is 9-10. Prioritize:

• Power users with advanced features, large teams, or deep integration
• Influential users with social following, blogs, newsletters, or consulting roles
• Long-term customers (6+ months) and vocal advocates already recommending you

Online Communities

Join Reddit subreddits, Facebook Groups, LinkedIn Groups, Discord/Slack communities, and Quora. Provide value first, build credibility, then mention your program naturally. Most communities ban obvious self-promotion.

Strategic Partnerships

Partner with complementary tools, agencies, consultants, coaches, and educators. Start with mutual affiliate agreements, upgrade to cross-promotion (content, webinars, case studies), and offer custom terms for high-value partners. Use tiered commissions: partners referring $50K LTV enterprise customers deserve better terms than $50/month subscriptions.

Content Strategy

Create comparison guides ranking for "Best [category] software", publish guest posts on industry blogs, build an affiliate resource hub with banners, copy templates, and email templates, and showcase success stories with real earnings numbers ("Jane earned $12K last month" beats vague claims).

Events & Networking

Attend marketing, SaaS, or industry conferences (quality over size). Participate in virtual events for global reach. Sponsor events for logo placement, speaking opportunities, and attendee list access. Critical: Follow up within 48 hours—most connections die from lack of follow-up, not rejection.

Paid Channels

Use paid ads only after proving program economics. Target marketers/creators on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube with messages like "Earn $X per referral" or "Join 500+ affiliates earning recurring commissions". Sponsor newsletters and blogs in affiliate marketing space. Post on job boards (Contra, Upwork) as "partnership opportunity". Retarget visitors who viewed your program page with success stories and limited-time incentives.

Stay Organized

Research 20-50 prospects matching your customer profile. Track audience size, content topics, contact info, and priority ranking. Personalize every message—never use templates. Use a spreadsheet or CRM to record contact dates, message summaries, response status, and next follow-up dates. Most partnerships die from forgetting to follow up. Listen to feedback and optimize: if affiliates want recurring commissions or marketing materials, adjust your offer. Schedule weekly blocks for research, outreach, and follow-ups.