How to Find Affiliates to Sell Your Products and Promote Your Brand

You’ve launched your affiliate program—now comes the hard part: finding the right affiliate marketers to join.

You might be wondering: Where do I find affiliates to sell my products? Who should I reach out to? How do I know if they’re a good fit for my brand?

The truth is, recruiting affiliates takes more than just posting a signup link and waiting. Without a clear plan and the right tools, you’ll end up wasting time chasing the wrong people, or worse, missing out on high-potential partners altogether.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the different types of affiliates who could become your partners, the preparations you should make before starting your search, and practical tactics to help you find them, no matter what industry you’re in (beauty, fashion, sports, or else).

Let’s take a quick look at our 11 strategies on how to find affiliates:

1. Turn Your Satisfied Customers Into Affiliates
2. Research the Affiliates Working With Rival Brands
3. Use Keywords to Look for Niche Bloggers and Websites
4. Utilize Social Media and Partner With Influencers
5. Join An Affiliate Network or Affiliate Marketplace
6. Take Part in Online Groups or Forums
7. Attend Industry Events
8. Implement Multi-Level Marketing to Find Affiliates
9. Team Up With Experts in Related Fields
10. Utilize Your Own Website to Show Your Affiliate Program
11. Run Paid Ads

To make finding affiliates easier, having affiliate marketing software in place is a smart move. The right solution enables you to create a branded registration page, manage communication with partners, approve new affiliates quicker, and even tap into a built-in marketplace where affiliates can discover your program.

With UpPromote, the top-trusted Shopify affiliate solution for growth, featuring a 4.9/5 rating and over 2,500+ reviews, you get all of that. Whether you’re onboarding your first few affiliates or managing hundreds, the app gives you the control and flexibility to grow your program without the chaos of manual work.

Who Could Be Your Affiliate Marketing Partners?

If you’re new to affiliate marketing, you might think all affiliates are pretty much the same, mainly influencers and bloggers who help you sell through their followers. However, affiliate types can vary significantly.

They could be:

• Your existing customers: People who already use and love your products.
• Content creators: Bloggers, vloggers, and podcasters fall into this category. They create original content like how-to guides, gift lists, product reviews, and comparison shopping guides.
• Influencers: These are social media public figures. They use their large following to showcase products and services.
• Coupon/deal sites: Websites focusing on sharing deals and coupons.
• Cashback sites: These platforms give customers a percentage or a fixed amount of money back after they make a purchase.
• PPC publishers: Experienced marketers who run paid traffic (Google Ads, Facebook Ads, etc.) to drive clicks and sales.
• Review and comparison sites: These are perfect for buyers who are deep in research mode. They often compare multiple brands to help shoppers make informed purchase decisions.

Before jumping into recruitment, you need to understand what kinds of affiliates exist. Each affiliate type brings different strengths—some help build brand awareness, while others drive immediate sales.

So, take a step back and think about your original goals for creating an affiliate program. Are you aiming to drive more sales? Build brand visibility? Increase free trial signups? These goals will help shape the kind of partners you should be looking for.

Next, let’s cover what to prepare before you start your search.

What You Need to Do Before Finding Affiliates

Strong partnerships don’t happen by accident. They start with preparation.

Before reaching out to potential affiliates, make sure you’ve covered the basics: identify who would be the best partners for your brand, define the rewards you’ll offer, and create a clear, accessible sign-up page.

Laying this groundwork will make your campaign smoother and far more successful in the long run.

Define Your Ideal Affiliates

Getting the right affiliate marketers to promote your products is essential for a successful program. But first, you need a clear understanding of who would best fit your brand.

Here’s what to think about when outlining the traits of your ideal affiliate:

• Target audience match: Identify who your customers are—their age, location, and interests. The best affiliates are those who already speak to the people you want to reach.
• Niche relevance: Work with affiliates who know your industry well. Their experience makes it easier for them to promote your products in a way that feels natural.
• Strong online presence: Seek out individuals who are highly active in online communities or have a large following on social media. But don’t just focus on follower counts. Prioritize those with a high engagement rate (likes, comments, shares, etc.).
• Compelling content creation: Good affiliates know how to make engaging posts, images, and videos. Look at their past work to see if their style fits your brand.

That’s exactly what Kess Berlin does. The beauty brand takes a strategic and selective approach to recruiting influencers: carefully screening applicants to ensure alignment with their values of effortless beauty, empowerment, and authenticity.

Taking the time to paint a clear picture of your ideal affiliate will help you attract partners who genuinely resonate with your brand and drive real results.

Provide A Competitive Affiliate Commission Rate

No matter the type of affiliate, they all have one thing in common—they work with brands to earn commissions on the sales they bring in. Most affiliates are drawn to programs that give them great offers and outstanding perks.

To attract affiliates, offering a competitive commission rate is key. Make sure your incentives are as good as—or even better than—your competitors’ while still being realistic for your budget.

You can check out your rivals’ affiliate programs to get inspiration and see what’s working for them. It also helps to look at the average commission rates in your niche before deciding on yours. Here are some common commission rates in different industries that you might find helpful:

There are several ways to structure your commission. To stand out from competitors, try setting up a tiered commission system with the help of powerful ecommerce affiliate software.

Take Tréskin as an example.

Through UpPromote, the brand sets a 4-level commission structure like this:

This means the more sales affiliates bring in, the more money they make. With such an appealing commission model, Tréskin has caught the eye of many top beauty influencers and bloggers who contributed to an impressive result: generating $120,000 in affiliate revenue in just 3 months.

Design an Affiliate Signup Page

When reaching out to a potential affiliate, you need a destination link that provides program details and a signup form. That’s where an affiliate registration page comes in.

On this page, you should:

• Highlight what makes your affiliate program appealing, such as high commission rates, transparent payments, generous bonuses, and dedicated support.
• Include a simple, easy-to-complete registration form so affiliates can quickly fill out their personal information.

Take a look at how Devoted Pet Foods, an online store for premium natural pet food, makes its affiliate program stand out. On its landing page, the brand clearly lays out key perks—great commission rates, a fair cookie period, hassle-free payments, and more—to attract potential affiliates.

Want to build a great-looking yet functional registration page like Devoted Pet Foods? Check out UpPromote’s affiliate signup form templates to customize one that fits your needs.

UpPromote provides you with 3 options to choose from:

1. The Basic Template

2. The Comfort Template

3. The Trendy Template

How and Where to Find Affiliates to Sell Your Products: 11 Effective Ways

Are you looking for affiliates but don’t know where to start? Your search ends here!

From tapping into affiliate marketing networks to leveraging various social media channels, here are 11 simple ways to find affiliate marketers for your product who’ll help you hit your targets.

Turn Your Satisfied Customers Into Affiliates

Need to find affiliate marketing partners for your products? Leveraging your existing customer base is a great place to start.

If someone has already purchased from you and had a great experience, they’re far more likely to promote your brand with genuine enthusiasm. They know your product. They trust your brand. And that authenticity is something no paid ad can replicate.

In fact, 92% of consumers trust referrals from people they know, making word-of-mouth one of the most powerful forms of marketing.

Your happy customers can help spread the word by:

• Sharing your product on their social media accounts
• Recommending it directly in conversations with their friends and families
• Leaving honest, experience-based reviews in online communities

Now imagine just one satisfied customer doing this with a few friends, and then those friends doing the same. The ripple effect can grow quickly and organically. Powerful, right?

But here’s the problem—many business owners overlook this powerful channel. They focus on finding influencers or running ads, while their most authentic promoters are right in front of them.

That’s where a refer-a-friend program comes in. It encourages customers to share their stories and invite others, while giving them something meaningful in return.

It’s a strategy even major brands like Estée Lauder use—inviting customers to spread the word about their favorite products and enjoy exclusive rewards for doing so.

Want to follow Estée Lauder’s approach?

🌟Build a refer-a-friend program with UpPromote

Just a few clicks, and your referral program is live! Show your offers on your website, invite happy customers to join, and give them a reason to come back (and bring their friends with them).

With Uppromote, you have 2 easy ways to share your referral program with customers:

• Landing page: Add a signup form to any page on your store so customers can quickly join and get their referral links immediately.

• Widget:A floating button on your website makes signing up effortless. When clicked, it opens a pop-up where customers can join and instantly receive their unique referral link.

Research the Affiliates Working With Rival Brands

Every industry is different, with unique customers, products, and sales patterns. That’s why finding the right affiliates is so important for any brand’s success—including your competitors! By looking at who they partner with, you can get valuable insights into the best affiliates for your business.

So, which types of affiliates do your rivals favor?

To find your competitors’ affiliates, try these methods:

• Use tools like SimilarWeb or Ahrefs to check which websites send traffic to your competitors—this can help you spot their affiliate partners.
• Check your rivals’ social media to see if they’ve shared or mentioned influencers. These influencers are likely their affiliates.
• Search for hashtags related to their brand name on Google or social media to find publishers talking about them.
• Track brand mentions with tools like BuzzSumo or Mention to see who’s recommending their products.

Once you’ve gathered this info, summarize your key insights:

• Which types of affiliates do your competitors rely on the most?
• What makes these affiliates valuable—high engagement, strong reputation, or something else?
• How do they promote your competitors’ products?

By putting all this together, you’ll create a clear picture of the best types of affiliates to target. You can even refine your program – offering better commissions, easier payment options, or more useful promotional materials—to attract experienced affiliates who are already active in your industry and know how to sell similar products.

Use Keywords to Look for Niche Bloggers and Websites

Wonder “How to find affiliates to sell my product”? Collaborating with niche blogs and websites with content related to your niche is a great way to promote your brand. These bloggers and websites usually target a specific group of people that are likely to overlap with your brand’s target audience.

The simplest way to explore affiliate niche sites or bloggers is using Goolge search. Typing keywords related to your products into Google. Then, look for niche sites or bloggers that would be interested in partnering with you.

If you’re running a beauty brand, how do you get affiliates for your product by using this method? You can search for keywords like these:

• Basic keyword search: Combine specific terms related to your niche with words like “blog,” “blogger,” or “review.” Examples include “beauty blogger” and “beauty review site.”
• Curated lists: Look for compilations of top bloggers in your niche using terms like “top beauty blogs 2024” and “best beauty bloggers.”
• Advanced search operators: Use Google’s advanced search features to refine your results. For instance, use intitle:”beauty blog” to find pages with “beauty blog” in the title.

From here, you can find a list of potential affiliate marketing partners. Gather their information, such as contact details and social media channels. Next, reach out directly to the blog or website owners and ask for collaboration.

Protip: To get the contact information of your favorite bloggers, pay attention to the contact section or link that they show publicly on their websites.

Utilize Social Media and Partner With Influencers

Social media is a goldmine for finding potential affiliates. Identify which channels your target audience uses the most to start your recruitment plan. If your products are visually appealing, platforms like Instagram and Pinterest might be ideal. For detailed reviews and tutorials, YouTube is a greater choice.

Finding influencers via social media 

Use the search functions on these platforms to find perfect-fit influencers and affiliates. Look for keywords, hashtags, and phrases related to your brand.

For example, if you’re in the fitness niche, search for the keyword “fitness” on Instagram. It will show you numerous accounts with the term “fitness” in their bio, username, or nameplate.

You can also use hashtags to find influencers, like #FitnessBlogger, #WorkoutTips, or #HealthyLiving. To target a particular area, search for location-specific hashtags like #California or #Montana to get better results.

After that, start by engaging with their content. Leave thoughtful comments, like their posts, and share their content if relevant. This helps build a relationship and makes your outreach more genuine when you contact them directly.

Find influencers via Google search

Everybody uses search engines like Google to look for things, and you also take advantage of it to look for the right influencers for your business.

How to find new affiliates with this tool? Before you dive into hashtag and keyword research, you should have an idea of which hashtags and keywords fit with your brand, to begin with. Come up with a list of adjectives that describe your brand and your customer base.

For example, if you’re running a women’s boho clothing brand focusing on both classic and contemporary trends while also employing environmentally friendly materials, here’s the keyword list:

• Bohemian, hippie, whimsical
• Free-spirited, carefree
• 90-inspired, vintage, contemporary
• Fabric-lined, embroidered, feminine
• Environmentally friendly, eco-friendly, green, sustainable
• Trend-leading, innovative

Then, you can utilize some of these adjectives as hashtags or keywords when looking for influencers on social media or SERPs. Searching for ‘boho fashion influencers’ will bring back plenty of excellent results.

If you don’t think the search results are up to par. You can use Google search operators to narrow your search and increase the probability of finding the desired results.

For example, search this query on Google‌: site:instagram.com sustainable fashion.

Then, Google will filter Instagram profiles that are dedicated to sustainable fashion.

However, if you want to limit your search to influencers with a specific number of social media followers, you can search this query: site:instagram.com ‘k followers’ sustainable fashion.

Google will screen Instagram profiles with more than 1000 followers in this way.

You can change ‘k followers’ to ‘100k followers’ when looking for those who have more than 100.000 followers.

Next, you can reach out to your ideal influencers through direct messages or their emails. Personalize your message. Mention special things you liked about their content. Explain why you think they would be a great fit for your affiliate program. Highlight the benefits they would receive by partnering with your brand.

Even if you want to work with different types of influencers across multiple social media platforms, from TikTok and Facebook to Instagram, that’s perfectly fine. Don’t worry about managing these collabs. UpPromote’s influencer marketing solution will handle all your tasks. We help you classify, manage, communicate, and pay your partners in one place.

Join An Affiliate Network or Affiliate Marketplace

Participating in an affiliate network or marketplace is a good choice for finding affiliate partners to sell your products.

Affiliate networks are platforms where merchants and affiliates meet, collaborate, and manage their marketing relationships. By joining, you instantly tap into a pool of potential partners who are actively looking for offers to promote.

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

​However, joining an affiliate network can increase your expenses. Affiliate networks often charge fees for their services. The fees may be recurring, one-time setup, or commissions on sales made through affiliates. Consider your budget carefully and research to find the network that best suits your brand.

Another effective way to recruit affiliate partners is through a marketplace. This option will not break the bank if it’s available in your affiliate marketing tracking tool.

Look at FlasKap, a lifestyle hydration brand offering innovative drinkware accessories—they’ve nailed this strategy!

​FlasKap used a combination of tactics to recruit affiliates, including leveraging the UpPromote Marketplace, where thousands of affiliates are actively searching for new opportunities.

They listed their offer on the Marketplace to boost visibility and make it easy for potential partners to discover and apply.

This approach contributed to FlasKap’s success in building a network of around 200 affiliates, including influencers, product reviewers, and coupon sites. These partners now play a key role in expanding brand awareness and reaching new audiences for their niche product.

Want to achieve the same success?

🌟List your program on UpPromote Marketplace today and start attracting affiliates who are already looking for offers like yours.

Take Part in Online Groups or Forums

Online communities can be other promising places to join when you are wondering how to find affiliates. Here’s what to think about before you start:

Which groups or forums focus on your niche or affiliate marketing? Are these communities active, with engaged members who regularly share information? Explore relevant Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, Reddit, or Quora to find affiliate marketers familiar with your industry.

For example, Organic Harvest, an organic makeup brand, engages in Quora discussions to enhance its online presence. The brand identifies niche-related influencers, such as beauty bloggers, to promote their products.

Don’t forget to do research beforehand. Each forum or community has its own terms and conditions for participating.

Be an active participant in discussions. Build trust and relationships before introducing your affiliate programs. Share insights, answer questions, and offer helpful advice. This enhances your credibility in the niche-specific forums when reaching out to potential affiliates.

Attend Industry Events

Networking at industry events can also help you find affiliates to promote your products. These events provide opportunities to meet influencers, bloggers, and other potential partners face-to-face. Then, keep in touch, strengthen the relationship, and invite them to promote your brand with outstanding benefits.

Building strong ties with brand advocates and influencers through events is part of Holbrook Pickleball’s smart affiliate marketing plan.

Besides choosing UpPromote as the main tool to build and manage their ambassador campaigns, they attend pickleball events nationwide. By meeting many ambassadors in person, the brand creates a sense of community and loyalty with its affiliate team.

And the result? The brand got 173 new ambassadors to join the program.

Implement Multi-Level Marketing to Find Affiliates

Multi-level marketing (MLM) can be a great strategy for expanding your affiliate network. This method encourages your existing ambassadors to invite others as their downlines for higher commissions.

In other words, you grow your affiliate team members and enhance your chance of selling more products. At the same time, you can keep your existing affiliates engaged and motivated by doubling their income resources.

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

Let’s look at the example below to better understand how MLM works. Imagine John becomes an affiliate and invites Victor. Victor then invites Michelle. Next, Michelle recruits David.

If David (Original affiliate) brings a referral order with the total amount of $1000 and the commission percentage set 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 (Michelle, who invites David) recieves 5%.
• Commission level 2 (Victor, who invites Michelle) receives 4%.
• Commission level 3 (John, who invites Victor) receives 2%.

You can choose between 2 ways to set the network commission. It can be program commission (commission of the affiliate who directly brought the order) or total sale of the order with the percentage set by the merchant.

Here’s the thing you can consider:

Choose the most suitable commission structure for your goal. It can optimize the commission amount paid to affiliates. Or it can encourage them to recruit more team members.

With UpPromote’s robust Multi-level Marketing system, you can set separate MLM rules for each program. Then, encourage your affiliates by adding an incentive through the Recruitment Bonus option. This bonus is credited as a new referral when the newly recruited affiliate is approved.

Team Up With Experts in Related Fields

Industry experts have built trust and credibility in specific fields. They also have a strong fan base, believing in their sharing and recommendations. So inviting them to be your ambassadors is a wonderful way to reach a broader audience.

How to get affiliate marketers by collaborating with industry professionals? Don’t just think about your niche. Go even further into the relevant areas, which can easily complement or promote each other. For instance:

• Health supplements and fitness trainers
• Photography equipment and professional photographers
• Gardening tools and horticulturists/ landscape designers
• Cookware brands and celebrity chefs

Remember to reach out to these experts with a clear proposal for collaboration. Explain how partnering with you can benefit them and their audience. Highlight mutual interests and the value they can gain from the partnership.

You can offer exclusive deals or higher commissions to make the partnership more attractive. This could include special bonuses or unique promotional opportunities whenever possible.

Here are a few ways other professionals can promote your brand:

• Collaborate with your brand to organize events or giveaways
• Use their social media platforms to share stories and posts about your products
• Write a blog post or product review on their site
• Produce video tutorials or guides mentioning your company

Utilize Your Own Website to Show Your Affiliate Program

After creating an affiliate landing page, don’t forget to make it easily accessible. This helps potential publishers quickly find details about your ambassador campaign when they visit your store.

Pure Himalayan Shilajit provides a great example of how to showcase an affiliate program effectively.

To improve navigation, the brand also includes a link to its program in the footer.

We have some tips for you to promote your affiliate landing page:

• Share it via social media channels
• Put out ads
• Optimize it for search engines
• List your program on the top list of articles on Google. Search for queries like “[your niche] + affiliate program” to find top sites that can endorse it. For example, if you own a supplement store, type “supplement affiliate programs.” You will see many results, but prioritize the top 10 on the SERPs.

Run Paid Ads

How to find affiliates for your website? Paid advertising is another great tactic. It will help your brand get affiliates to sell your products more quickly.

If you want to place ads online, you can consider the following types:

• Google ads: Turning to search engines like Google to find information is our habit, not except for affiliates. They will type relevant keywords on Google to look for promising affiliate programs. You need to research and bid for such terms, like “best affiliate program for [Niche/Sub Niche].

• Social media ads (Facebook, Instagram): You can target users based on their interests, behaviors, and demographics. You can flexibly use different ad formats, such as carousel ads, video ads, image ads, or collection ads, to find new affiliates.
• Other ads: You can run other advertising types to get in front of potential affiliate marketers. Based on your target audience and marketing plan, you will choose the most suitable channel, such as email ads, LinkedIn ads, or YouTube ads.

Protips to Find the Right Affiliate Marketing Marketers

Finding the right folks to be affiliates for your brand is essential. You want people who truly understand what your brand is and can talk about it in a way that impresses your audience. Of course, you also hope to build long-term relationships with them to promote your products.

Here are some additional tips to help you find affiliate marketing partners:

Clear Communication and Expectations

It’s crucial to have clear conversations with affiliate marketers for better understanding.

Talk about your goals. Discuss your expectations with these collaborations. When you team up with your partners, what do you want to achieve, like more sales or greater brand awareness?

Highlight all the benefits of your affiliate programs, like commission structure, rewards, discounts, or promotional resources.

Using UpPromote lets you easily connect and communicate with your publishers. Select between our 2 options to keep in touch with them:

• In-app chat: Discuss with your partners and send direct messages without leaving the app.

• Email: Adjust our email templates to reach far more affiliates much faster. Send bulk emails to keep all of them informed.

Show Appreciation and Recognition Through Rewards

Attractive incentives motivate affiliates. They are like rewards for an affiliate’s hard work when hitting or exceeding a set target.

You award them a bonus to increase their satisfaction. In turn, affiliates will drive more sales and invite more new promoters for your brand.

With UpPromote, rewarding your affiliates is easy! Our Bonus feature lets you set up special rewards in just a few clicks. Simply choose your bonus, set the rules, and show your partners how much you appreciate their dedication.

Last words

81% of brands use affiliate programs (Rakuten) to boost brand awareness and drive sales, not except for your competitors. Don’t just launch an affiliate marketing program and wait for potential partners to join. You need to look for new and creative ways to find affiliate marketing partners proactively.

If you are looking for the answers to the question: “How to find affiliates for my product?”, We hope that this article will help you learn how to find the best-fit affiliates for your brand. By defining your ideal affiliates, creating an appealing program, and leveraging multiple channels to find and recruit affiliates, you can foster a strong network of partners to help you sell your products.

UpPromote is always by your side to help you build and manage the affiliate team with no hassle. Best of luck with your recruitment efforts