How to Recruit Affiliates: 13 Effective Ways in 2024

You’ve decided to tap into affiliate marketing and start your own affiliate program. But next, how will you find affiliates to promote your products?

With the rise of affiliate marketing, a huge number of affiliate marketers have joined the industry and showcased their abilities. Selecting the ideal partners among the millions can be a really big challenge.

So, it’s important to have a strategic recruitment plan and leverage affiliate network software to find and invite the right affiliates to sign on.

In this article, we will help you understand what affiliate recruitment is and the best tactics to build a dream team for your program.

Explore our 13 effective ways to recruit affiliates:

1. Create a dedicated affiliate signup page
2. Display your affiliate program in the footer/ header
3. Convert happy customers into affiliate partners
4. Search for content creators on Google and social media
5. Run ads to expand your reach to potential affiliates
6. Network with affiliates through events and conferences
7. Join affiliate networks to find affiliates
8. Implement multi-level marketing to recruit affiliates
9. Take part in affiliate forums
10. Use personalized email outreach
11. Look for affiliates running Google Ads to promote products
12. Find websites promoting other affiliate programs
13. Work with affiliate recruitment agencies

Let’s dive in!

What Is Affiliate Recruitment?

Affiliate recruitment refers to the process of finding and inviting individuals or businesses to join your affiliate program. They team up with your brand to promote your products or services in exchange for a commission on any sales they generate.

The main goal of affiliate recruitment is to build a team of affiliates who will assist you in increasing brand visibility, driving traffic, and boosting sales.

Here are the key stages of this process:

Identify potential affiliates

Affiliate types vary. They could be bloggers, influencers, website owners, email publishers, etc.

Based on your target audience and business goals, define your ideal affiliates who match your brand.

Decide on your offers

Good offers are the sweet spot of your affiliate program, motivating prospective affiliates to sign on.

Think about the competitive commission structure, bonuses, or any exclusive deals to attract them.

Your commission rate should be at least as good as, or even better than, those of other companies to make your program stand out.

Outreach to affiliates

There are various ways to connect with affiliate marketers, such as via emails, social media, or affiliate networks. Choose appropriate methods depending on your preferences and situation.

When reaching out to potential affiliates, you can tailor your message to highlight the benefits of your program and convince them to join.

Onboard affiliates

Once affiliates join your campaign, walk them through the onboarding process.

Make sure they understand your brand’s values and your business objectives. Provide them with product details, brand guidelines, and affiliate assets. Explain how to use the affiliate dashboard, track earnings, and access promotional tools.

How to Recruit Affiliates Effectively in 2024

You might wonder how you can find the right partners to work with among the millions out there.

Don’t worry! Our guide offers 13 strategies for recruiting affiliate marketers who are the best fit for your brand.

1. Create an affiliate sign-up page

Your affiliate signup page serves as an invitation to your affiliate program. List all its benefits if you want to make your program as inviting and intriguing as possible. They help capture the attention of potential affiliates right from the outset.

Openly sharing the benefits of your program is also a perfect way to build credibility. Since affiliates can easily understand what’s in it, they can trust the partnership and minimize any hesitations they may have.

What benefits should you highlight on your landing page? Here are some basic options:

• Competitive commission structure: Emphasize how lucrative your commission rate is. Clarify how long the cookie duration is, such as 10, 15, or 30 days.
• Bonuses and incentives (if any): Mention additional earnings for reaching specific sales milestones or attracting a certain number of customers.
• Transparent payments: Reveal the payment frequency (weekly, monthly, etc.) and payout methods to affiliates.
• Dedicated affiliate training and support: Whether a free training course or a responsive support team, it can be a compelling factor for potential affiliates.

The benefits may go beyond these basics. They can include a creative affiliate asset library, exclusive newsletters, and more.

You can see how Hepper, a company selling premium cat furniture, presents its program benefits to potential affiliates on its landing page. The brand displays key points such as competitive commissions, a good cookie period, a dedicated support team, and more.

Do you want to form an appealing landing page to show potential partners how great your offer is and attract them to join your program?

You can explore and leverage affiliate signup form templates on UpPromote, the top-rated affiliate software with a 4.9/5 rating and over 4,000 reviews on Shopify, to customize your own. There are 3 templates available for you to check out:

1. The Basic Template: Provides standard options for creating a registration form.

2. The Trendy Template: Offer a modern and catchy look with dynamic sections.

3. The Comfort Template: Adds a touch of elegance with diverse layouts

To tailor our templates to fit your needs and your brand’s identity, navigate to Settings > Affiliate admin > Registration page > Click on the Customize button on the ‘Registration page’ section.

From there, select your preferred template from 3 options and adjust it. You can easily highlight the outstanding benefits of your program and add your branding elements (color, logo, etc.) to the landing page.

2. Include your affiliate program page in the footer/header

Leveraging your website to show your affiliate program is a great idea. Place the link right on the footer or header of your site. These positions are the perfect spots to grab visitors’ attention and are easy to navigate.

Browsing other advertisers’ sites, you might see the “Affiliate Program” term in their footers/ headers. Sometimes, it might be “Affiliates,” “Affiliate Sign Up,” “Partnership,” etc.

Visitors can browse your websites in various ways. Some may be your loyal customers; others may be potential affiliate partners.

What if some affiliates know your brand and land on your site to look for collaboration opportunities? But after a few minutes on the site, they find no info. You “hid” it somewhere. As a result, you may lose lots of potential affiliates who actually look for your program.

So, let the affiliate page be prominently displayed in these high-traffic areas. It’ll be easily discoverable for every visitor. They just need to click and discover the program offerings.

Including your affiliate program in the header or footer shows you are open about your partnerships. Adversely, hiding it is a silent message of a lack of confidence and professionalism.

3. Turn your customers into affiliates

Many advertisers scour affiliate networks and communities to recruit affiliates. But they don’t realize that there’s a potential source right in front of them—their existing customers.

So, why should you share a focus on converting your customers into partners?

Here are the main reasons:

• They understand your products and share your target audience’s interests.
• They can increase the reliability of your brand by providing their firsthand experiences through reviews.
• They expand your brand’s reach to potential networks, including online communities, social circles, and personal connections.

How to recruit customers for your team? A refer-a-friend program may be a great idea for your brand.

Customers love being rewarded. Offer exclusive incentives, like special vouchers/ discounts or early access to discounts. By doing this, you can encourage them to advocate for your brand and bring in new customers.

That’s exactly what Obagi has done. The brand asks customers to share their love for its products with friends. Both the referrer and the friend get a special discount on their next purchase.

The offer is displayed on a signup page on Obagi’s website so all customers can quickly see it. If they want the deal, they can register. Then, the customers will get a referral link to promote Obagi’s products.

Want to duplicate Obagi’s strategy to turn delighted customers into affiliate partners?

Check out UpPromote, the all-in-one referral and affiliate marketing software on Shopify, to start your refer-a-friend program for free right away.

UpPromote provides you with 2 options to showcase your offer to customers:

• Landing page
• Widget

Landing page

Our affiliate marketing app lets you embed a signup form on any page of your store, making it easy for customers to sign up. They can quickly join your referral program and get their referral link to promote your products.

Widget

Another option is to try the widget display from UpPromote. It appears as a floating button on your website. When clicked, it opens a popup where customers can register for your referral program and get their unique referral link.

4. Find content creators through social media or Google

There are around 207 million individuals worldwide who identify themselves as content creators. By recruiting them as affiliates, you tap into a ready-made audience that values the creator’s recommendations.

Finding content creators across various platforms allows you to reach different target markets. We’ve divided them into two main streams: social media and Google. Now, explore how you can benefit from them.

Find social media content creators

Based on your niche and goals, consider suitable channels to dive into. Are you looking for Instagram content creators with significant image resources or YouTubers with detailed review videos? Your choice!

Then, leverage the platforms’ search features. Use keywords, hashtags, and phrases related to your niche to start hunting for posts or people.

For instance, let’s say you’re looking for content creators to promote your line of hair-curling irons. If you choose Instagram, use the hashtags #hairstyling, #hairtools, #haircurlingirons, etc. If you focus on YouTube, search for “curling irons review” or “how to curl hair.”

Find content creators through Google

Jumping into Google, use niche-specific keywords, such as “hairstyle blogs,” “best curling irons review,” “hair tutorials,” etc.

Bonus tips:

• Include terms like “review,” “tutorial,” or “comparison” while searching to find creators producing relevant content.
• Consider searching for blog posts mentioning your brand.
• You can use Advanced Google Search for a more targeted approach.

To find the right partners to team up with, you should keep in mind that:

• Examine their channels as you target some people on social media and search engines. Look for those with a loyal following, a consistent publishing schedule, and a good engagement rate.
• Evaluate whether their content style matches your brand’s values.
• Once you identify potential ones, reach out directly via social media or email and ask for collaboration.

5. Run ads to expand your ambassadors’ reach

It’s a good idea to leverage paid ads to reach individuals interested in affiliate programs within your industry. The most popular platforms to run advertising platforms are Google and social media.

Google Ads

These paid ads often target users based on keywords they search for. This approach allows you to reach those actively seeking information about your niche or affiliate programs.

If users type “best pet affiliate programs,” they might see several paid ads from pet product vendors. These sites are looking for affiliate partners, just like The Swiftest did, as shown below.

Google Ads usually appear in text-based form in the search results or in display ads on Google’s Display Network. When users click the links, they are sent directly to the advertiser’s affiliate landing page.

Social media ads

Running social media ads is perfect for reaching many potential affiliates. Your ads will target demographic information, interests, and behaviors, gaining users based on online activities.

Ads on these platforms stand out for their high-visual forms, such as images, videos, etc. You can also display them in different formats, including newsfeeds, stories, and sponsored posts.

Another unique feature of social media ads is that they allow engagement, such as likes, comments, and shares, in addition to direct clicks.

Tips for using social media ads effectively for recruitment:

• Craft compelling ad copy that highlights the benefits of joining your affiliate program, such as commission rates, performance-based bonuses, and exclusive incentives.
• Run A/B tests on different ad variations to improve the effectiveness of your ads.

6. Connect with affiliates through industry events and conferences

Attending industry events and conferences is another way to meet and network with potential affiliates.

Check whether there are any upcoming events related to affiliate marketing or your niche. Look for popular and reliable ones, such as Affiliate Summit West/East, Affiliate Huddle, Affiliate World Dubai, etc., to join. Some are free, while others charge a ticket fee.

For example, if you are an iGaming operator, consider joining iGB Affiliate. This conference lets you connect with top affiliates in the industry.

Or, if you are running a sports affiliate program and searching for affiliate marketers, you can follow Holbrook Pickleball’s smart strategy.

In addition to choosing UpPromote as the main affiliate marketing tool to build and manage their ambassador campaign, they usually participate in pickleball events nationwide. Through these events, the brand has chances to reach many potential affiliates in person and invite them to become partners.

And the result? 173 new members joined Holbrook’s program.

7. Leverage affiliate networks

Joining affiliate networks is a great choice for your affiliate recruitment strategy. They are ideal places where you and affiliates can easily find each other and start the partnerships quickly.

Here’s what to think about when entering affiliate networks:

• You can publish your program on these networks, allowing potential affiliates to discover and join.
• Another way is to browse the affiliate list and select those with a strong online presence and great experience in your niche.

Each network has its own strengths and caters to different types of products and markets. Some popular names are ShareASale, Clickbank, CJ Affiliate, Impact, and UpPromote Marketplace.

Keep in mind that affiliate networks usually charge fees for their services. So, review your budget carefully and do some research to find the network that best suits your brand.

For beauty or cosmetics store owners, it’s worth exploring how TréSkin does it.

TréSkin explores the beauty niche on the UpPromote Marketplace, seeking out top affiliates with experience and large social media followings.

At the same time, the brand shares its offer on the Marketplace so potential affiliates can find it and apply to the program.

After identifying the most suitable affiliates and placing them on the ideal list, TréSkin will contact them about collaborations.

With this tactic, TréSkin has built a high-quality team of affiliates who deliver excellent results for the brand. After just one quarter of running a campaign via UpPromote, they experienced impressive sales growth with more than $120,000 in affiliate revenue.

Looking for the same success as TréSkin?

Discover top affiliates on UpPromote Marketplace today!

8. Implement multi-level marketing to recruit affiliates

Multi-level marketing might be another good strategy to expand your team of affiliates. Using this approach, you invite your already-established ambassadors to invite others to be their downlines for higher commissions.

Simply put, you develop your affiliate team members and increase the possibility of selling more products to the market. Meanwhile, you can keep existing affiliates engaged and motivated because you are doubling their income resources.

The first comes from the commission paid for every customer referral order they make, and the second comes from the network commission based on the purchases brought in by their downline distributors.

To make it clearer how MLM works, let’s look at an example using the feature of UpPromote. Imagine John becomes an affiliate and invites Victor. Victor invites Michelle. Further, Michelle recruits David.

If the original affiliate-David, brings a referral order with the total amount of $1000, and the set commission percentage to the affiliate program is 10%, he will get the commission of 10% x $1000 = $100. Other affiliates who are at higher levels will receive network commission as below:

• Commission level 1 (Michell, who invites David) gets 5%.
• Commission level 2 (Victor, who invites Michelle) gets 4%.
• Commission level 3 (John, who invites Victor) gets 2%.

You can set the network commission in two ways: program commission or the total sale of the order with a percentage set by the merchant.

To enable UpPromote’s Multi-level marketing, navigate to Outreach > Affiliate recruitment > Multi-level marketing > click the program > Activate MLM. You can set up an individual MLM rule for each program.

Our system lets you encourage existing affiliates by adding a recruitment bonus option. When a new downline member is approved, they will receive this bonus as a new referral.

9. Participate in affiliate forums

Affiliate forums are communities where affiliate marketers and businesses gather to discuss industry trends, share experiences, and seek new collaboration opportunities.

By participating in these forums, you can connect directly with potential affiliates, build relationships, and effectively promote your affiliate program.

Look for and join large affiliate forums, such as Warrior Forum, AffiliateFix, WickedFire, or Digital Point Forums. Then, participate in discussions on topics of relevance to your niche in search of affiliates who could be interested in your brand and products.

10. Use personalized email outreach

This method involves leveraging the relationships you’ve already cultivated within your professional network. They could be your partners, consultants, or even existing customers.

It works based on the trust between your connections and potential affiliates.

Here are some tips on how to ask for introductions effectively:

• Craft a thoughtful message. You need to clearly state the purpose of the introduction and how it benefits both parties. Plus, briefly explain your program and highlight what makes it unique and attractive. Importantly, express your appreciation for their assistance.
• Focus on quality over quantity. There’s no need to send a bunch of emails. Make a curated selection to target the most potential.

Let’s see the email sample below, then customize yours later.

11. Search for affiliates using Google ads for product promotion

Another potential source for recruiting affiliates lies in those who advertise themselves on Google. In other words, these people use their own budgets to promote their content on Google and drive traffic.

To better understand how it works, input a query on Google, such as “best web hosting.” You’ll see many publishers use the ad scheme to let their content appear on the SERPs. That’s also what Top10.com or comparingwebhosting.com, comparison websites, did.

An advantage of this affiliate recruitment strategy is that you can align your program with relevant affiliates. They understand your niche, speak your audience’s language, and actively target potential customer bases.

However, since these people use their money for promotion, you need to foster a transparent approach. It involves analyzing their campaigns, landing pages, positive user reviews, etc.

12. Find a site promoting other affiliate programs

We can’t round up our list without mentioning this smart tactic. Why should you connect with websites promoting different successful affiliate programs?

First, these affiliates are likely well-versed in the affiliate marketing industry. Their extensive experience and successful history can benefit your program.

Besides, these websites often have established audiences within your niche. When your program shows up on their sites, it might meet the needs of many affiliates browsing. Ultimately, it can increase the likelihood of successful recruitment.

How to identify suitable sites to collaborate with?

Use relevant keywords to find websites that promote similar affiliate programs. For instance, when searching “supplement affiliate programs”, you’ll find numerous top-list articles.

Analyze their sites and narrow down your list to some with high-quality content, engaged readers, and a genuine focus on your niche.

Then, reach out to them via email addresses or contact forms on their websites.

13. Work with affiliate recruitment agencies

If you already run an affiliate program and wish to scale up your affiliate team, hiring agencies that specialize in affiliate recruitment is a great idea.

By outsourcing the recruitment process, you can save time. Such agencies often have connections to a large pool of potential affiliates. They know how to tailor their recruitment plan to match you with affiliates that best suit your needs.

Some affiliate recruitment specialists for your consideration could be AM Navigator, iAffiliate Management, or All Inclusive Marketing.

But keep in mind that this service is not cheap at all. Let’s think over your affiliate marketing budget and choose those agencies that have reasonable prices.

FAQs

• Why is affiliate recruitment important?

Affiliate recruitment is a wonderful way for brands to reach and tap into new audiences within their niches. As affiliates help promote their products or services, they can get higher sales and revenue.

• How do you attract affiliates?

There are various ways that you can apply to recruit affiliates. Ensure your programs are attractive and the signup process is simple. Plus, think about showcasing affiliate success stories, offering dedicated support and communication, etc.

• How do you recruit high-quality affiliates?

To find the right affiliates, you need first to define your ideal affiliate profile.

Then, reach them through various channels, such as direct outreach, affiliate networks, social media, and conferences.

Thoroughly vet and evaluate each affiliate before approving them.

Wrapping up

Building your dream team of affiliates takes time and dedication. We hope our guide will help you overcome the challenges of recruiting affiliates.

Remember, quality matters. A handful of dedicated affiliates who truly understand your niche is far more valuable than a large group with less passion and commitment.

Now that you’re equipped with fresh insights start seeking potential partners to take your business to new heights. Good luck with your recruitment!