This case study highlights how Vivian Agency and UpPromote collaborated to reinvent Click & Grow’s affiliate marketing program.
With over 50 successful programs and $12M+ in revenue generated for their clients, Vivian Agency specializes in building communities by connecting brands with ambassadors and their audiences. Their expertise in affiliate program management and influencer marketing allowed them to create a tailored strategy for Click & Grow.
Before we dive into the story, let’s get to know the Click & Grow brand.
Meet Click & Grow
Click & Grow makes innovative indoor gardening solutions, enabling anyone to grow fresh herbs, vegetables, and flowers at home. Their Smart Gardens use advanced technology to create a self-sustaining environment for plants, and their plant pods are designed to ensure that every plant thrives year-round, regardless of the season.
What sets Click & Grow apart is their focus on sustainability and simplicity. Their products are practically foolproof, and made from durable but recyclable materials that keep eco-design practices in mind with all the parts easily replaceable.
Challenges in running their affiliate marketing program internally
With a vision to expand their presence and grow revenue in the USA, Canada, Europe, the UK, and Asia, Click & Grow adopted affiliate marketing as their strategy. However, the initial efforts to manage their affiliate program fell short.
They relied on a large network platform to find and manage affiliates, but were only able to onboard 60 affiliates. Besides, they also struggled to manage and motivate their affiliate team due to limited resources.
Recognizing the need to scale their affiliate program, Click & Grow partnered with Vivian Agency to turn things around.
Vivian Agency made influencer partnerships the cornerstone of their strategy, helping Click & Grow connect with top influencers who had highly engaged audiences. Some of the most successful content creators they onboarded included:
- Brittany Goldwyn (120k organic monthly traffic, blog)
- Gardening Indoors (547k followers, TikTok + IG)
- Victoria Raechel (635k subscribers, YouTube)
- Let’s Eat Plants (42k+ subscribers, YouTube)
- Sustainably Kind Living (175k organic monthly traffic, blog)
- Stitch the Star Dog (107k followers, IG)
One of the influencers working with Click & Grow, Sustainably Kind Living – a blog with 175k monthly visitors
As a result, Vivian Agency not only improved the quality of affiliates but also steadily increased their numbers over time. The Vivian team helped Click & Grow achieve $20,000 in sales within the first six months and onboarded over 200 partners, ultimately growing to 445 partners by the end of the first year.
To further enhance the program’s scalability, Vivian Agency adopted UpPromote to set up programs for Click & Grow. They found UpPromote to be the perfect fit for Click & Grow’s affiliate program. The app provided streamlined onboarding, management, and reporting systems that helped them scale the program effectively.
Stage 1: A scalable affiliate strategy powered by Vivian Agency and UpPromote
Let’s see how Vivian Agency and UpPromote powered the Click & Grow affiliate program and helped it achieve impressive results.
Unified management across five Shopify stores
With the help of UpPromote, Vivian Agency built a robust and efficient affiliate system tailored to Click & Grow’s needs. The team created five separate affiliate programs for each of Click & Grow’s Shopify stores in the USA, Canada, Europe, the UK, and Asia. These programs were seamlessly synced and managed through a single platform.
UpPromote was very supportive and adaptable in meeting Click & Grow’s needs, helping us to set up 5 separate yet linked interfaces for Click & Grow’s different Shopify stores in 5 different geographic areas.
Vivian Agency
This setup empowered Click & Grow to strategically target customers in different regions, ensuring their products were visible to the right audiences.
At the same time, partners had access to a broader range of products and services to promote, enabling them to diversify their efforts and reach a wider audience.
Click & Grow expanded globally with UpPromote’s unified affiliate management system and real-time performance tracking. Ready to grow your program?
Motivate influencers through performance-based rewards
Vivian Agency used UpPromote to create an affiliate program for Click & Grow with a focus on performance and scalability. The team first segmented influencers based on their performance with commission rates starting at 10%. Those who performed well were rewarded with higher rates, moving up to 15% and even 20% for the best-performing partners.
UpPromote’s advanced tracking and reporting tools provided real-time insights into influencer performance. The team could quickly identify the most effective partners and adjust commission rates accordingly, ensuring rewards aligned with the number of referred sales.
When giving higher commissions to top contributors, the team could motivate influencers to actively promote Click & Grow and gradually foster long-term partnerships.
Drive more sales with personalized coupon codes
Moreover, Vivian Agency offered personalized coupon codes for influencers, helping them drive more sales. The UpPromote system tracks down every sale made through those coupon codes and attributes them to the right partners.
For example, Vivian Agency collaborated with Brittany Goldwyn, a gardening blogger with 120,000 monthly visitors. Brittany wrote a detailed review of Click & Grow’s Smart Garden and included her 15% discount code at the end of the post, giving her readers an incentive to try the product.
Another key partnership was with Maddie, a YouTuber known as “Let’s Eat Plants,” who has 53,700 followers. Maddie created a video showcasing how to grow vegetables using Click & Grow and shared her unique coupon code in the video description.
Expand the influencer network through the MLM model
Additionally, Vivian Agency implemented a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) model to scale the program. This system allowed partners (referred as uplines) to recruit others (referred as downlines) into the program. Uplines earned a 5% commission on sales generated by their downlines, as well as a $20 bonus for each new partner they brought in.
This strategy significantly eased the workload for the agency team to find partners for Click & Grow. Instead, the network grew organically thanks to influencers who were incentivized to bring in new members.
The results were impressive. Within the first two months, the Vivian team onboarded 122 active influencers, and by the end of 2021, the program had grown to 445 active partners.
We helped Click & Grow reach $20k in sales in the first 6 months and onboarded over 200 partners, growing to 445 partners by the end of the first year.
Vivian Agency
Stage 2: Quality partnerships for authentic content and sustainable growth
During Stage 1, with the help of Vivian Agency and UpPromote, Click and Grow successfully recruited, onboarded, and managed over 1,000 influencers.
In Stage 2, the brand focuses on expanding partnerships and retaining existing ones. They now want to recruit more high-profile influencers and empower them with the necessary tools and resources.
Expand their reach with quality influencers and authentic content
After successfully onboarding high-quality influencers with the help of Vivian Agency, Click & Grow wanted to find more influencers with similar impact.
They set clear recruitment criteria, requiring influencers to have at least 10,000 followers to ensure both a wide reach and engaged audiences. These influencers can help the brand approach potential customers who are genuinely interested in their innovative gardening solutions.
What’s more, the Click & Grow team is also willing to send sample products to influencers who request them. As Ilya Lyubimov, the affiliate manager of the brand stated, “If they want to create content about our garden, they need to actually show the garden – which means, yes, we do have to send them one. But overall, we see a lot of activity and positive media buzz in return, so it’s definitely worth it.”
Diary of a Yorkshire Gardener, with 58K followers on Instagram, grew strawberries using the Click & Grow Smart Garden 9
Brands can now even simplify the process of sending product samples by leveraging UpPromote’s built-in tools. Merchants can easily select available items and send them to chosen influencers or affiliates directly through the app. Additionally, the system can be set up to automatically send gifts to new partners as soon as they join the program.
Equip partners with product knowledge & clear policies
Click & Grow recognizes that well-trained influencers are essential for creating authentic content and driving consistent sales for the brand. That’s why they always provide their partners with a comprehensive understanding of their products and continuous support.
They frequently update their partners with educational materials and program updates. For instance, one piece of their training material highlights the unique selling points and key features of their plant pods, helping influencers communicate the benefits of the products to their audiences.
Moreover, the brand also uses newsletters to educate their partners about coupon usage. As the affiliate manager shared with us, “We clearly state that external coupons are not permitted, will not be approved, and will not generate commissions.”
That way, Click & Grow can ensure all affiliates understand and follow the rules, maintaining fairness and protecting the program’s integrity.
Within the UpPromote app, merchants can stay in contact with their affiliates or influencers via email or direct message. Brands can easily inform their partners about product launches, program changes, or address any questions or concerns during promotional campaigns.
Results
Thanks to the Vivian agency and UpPromote, the results of Click & Grow’s affiliate program exceeded all expectations.
- In 2021, the program surpassed its annual revenue target by 66%, with the number of active partners growing to 445.
- In 2022, the total revenue skyrocketed by 204%.
- In 2023, sales grew an additional 187%, reaching $350,000 compared to $187,000 the previous year.
Vivian Agency credited much of this success to UpPromote’s tools and support. “We appreciated UpPromote’s straightforwardness and ease of use, while providing robust tools and being able to handle complex setups. And we weren’t the only ones: some affiliate partners mentioned that this was the best platform they had to use for their brand collaborations!” said the Vivian Agency team.
Ellie Tran, a seasoned SEO content writer with three years of experience in the eCommerce world. Being a part of the UpPromote team, Ellie wants to assist Shopify merchants in achieving success through useful content & actionable insights. Ellie's commitment to learning never stops; she's always eager to gain more knowledge about SEO and content marketing to create valuable content for users. When she's not working on content, Ellie enjoys baking and exploring new places.
