Summary
CHALLENGE
- Wanted to grow revenue across the USA, Canada, Europe, the UK, and Asia through affiliate marketing.
- Onboarded only 60 affiliates using a large network platform.
- Struggled to manage and motivate affiliates with limited internal resources.
SOLUTION
- Partnered with Vivian Agency, which adopted UpPromote to rebuild the program.
- Ran five linked Shopify-store programs across five regions on one platform.
- Used performance-based commission tiers, personalized coupons, and an MLM model.
- In Stage 2, recruited quality influencers (10,000+ followers) and trained them with clear policies.
RESULTS
- Surpassed the 2021 annual revenue target by 66%, reaching 445 active partners.
- Grew total revenue 204% in 2022.
- Grew sales 187% in 2023, reaching $350,000 from $187,000.
LESSONS
- Bring in a specialist agency when internal resources limit your program.
- Manage multi-region programs from one platform to scale cleanly.
- Reward top performers with higher commission tiers to drive results.
- Set clear influencer criteria and policies to protect program integrity.
When indoor-gardening brand Click & Grow needed to scale its affiliate program, it brought in Vivian Agency and UpPromote to rebuild the program across five regions.
Click & Grow makes Smart Gardens that let anyone grow fresh herbs, vegetables, and flowers at home. Its products focus on sustainability and simplicity, with durable, recyclable parts that are easy to replace.
Vivian Agency specializes in connecting brands with ambassadors and audiences, having run 50+ programs and generated $12M+ for clients. That expertise shaped a tailored strategy for Click & Grow.
What challenges did Click & Grow face running its affiliate program internally?
Click & Grow set out to grow revenue across the USA, Canada, Europe, the UK, and Asia, and chose affiliate marketing to get there. But its early in-house efforts fell short.
Using a large network platform, the brand managed to onboard only 60 affiliates. With limited internal resources, it also struggled to manage and motivate the affiliates it had.
Recognizing it needed help to scale, Click & Grow partnered with Vivian Agency to turn things around. The agency made influencer partnerships the cornerstone of a new approach.
How did Vivian Agency and UpPromote build a scalable program in Stage 1?
Vivian connected Click & Grow with top creators like Victoria Raechel (635k YouTube subscribers) and Gardening Indoors (547k followers), then used UpPromote to scale the program across four moves.
Unified management across five Shopify stores
Vivian built five separate affiliate programs, one for each of Click & Grow’s Shopify stores in the USA, Canada, Europe, the UK, and Asia, all synced 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 team
The setup let Click & Grow target each region precisely, while giving partners a wider range of products to promote.
Motivate influencers through performance-based rewards
Vivian segmented influencers by performance, starting commissions at 10%. Strong performers moved up to 15%, and the best-performing partners earned 20%.
UpPromote’s tracking and reporting tools gave real-time insight into performance, so the team could spot top partners and adjust rates to match referred sales.
Higher commissions for top contributors kept influencers actively promoting Click & Grow and helped build longer-term partnerships.
Drive more sales with personalized coupon codes
Vivian also gave influencers personalized coupon codes, with UpPromote tracking every sale back to the right partner.
Gardening blogger Brittany Goldwyn, who draws 120,000 monthly visitors, reviewed Click & Grow’s Smart Garden and added her 15% discount code to the post. YouTuber Maddie of “Let’s Eat Plants” shared her own code in a how-to video.
Tying each sale to a specific code gave Vivian a clear read on which creators were converting.
Expand the network through an MLM model
To scale recruiting, Vivian added a Multi-Level Marketing model. Partners, or uplines, could recruit others, the downlines, earning 5% on their downline’s sales plus a $20 bonus for each new partner brought in.
That eased the agency’s recruiting load and let the network grow organically. Within two months, 122 active influencers had joined, reaching 445 active partners by the end of 2021.
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 team
With the foundation built, the focus shifted from rapid growth to the quality of each partnership.
How did Click & Grow shift to quality partnerships in Stage 2?
By the end of Stage 1, Click & Grow had recruited, onboarded, and managed over 1,000 influencers. Stage 2 turned to expanding and retaining high-profile partners.
Expand reach with quality influencers and authentic content
Click & Grow set a clear bar: influencers needed at least 10,000 followers to ensure both wide reach and engaged audiences genuinely interested in its gardening solutions.
The brand also sends sample products to influencers who request them, since creators need the garden in hand to make authentic content.
If they want to create content about our garden, they need to actually show the garden… we see a lot of activity and positive media buzz in return, so it’s definitely worth it
Ilya Lyubimov, affiliate manager at Click & Grow
UpPromote also offers built-in tools that let merchants streamline sample sending and auto-gift new partners as soon as they join.
Equip partners with product knowledge and clear policies
Click & Grow treats well-trained influencers as essential to authentic content and steady sales, so it gives partners thorough product knowledge and continuous support.
The team regularly shares educational materials and program updates, including the unique selling points of its plant pods, and uses newsletters to set coupon rules.
We clearly state that external coupons are not permitted, will not be approved, and will not generate commissions
Ilya Lyubimov, affiliate manager at Click & Grow
Clear rules keep the program fair, and within UpPromote the brand can reach partners by email or direct message about launches and changes.
What results did Click & Grow achieve with the program?
Across three years, the collaboration’s results topped expectations.
In 2021, the program beat its annual revenue target by 66% and grew to 445 active partners. In 2022, total revenue jumped 204%.
In 2023, sales grew a further 187%, reaching $350,000 versus $187,000 the year before.
We appreciated UpPromote’s straightforwardness and ease of use, while providing robust tools and being able to handle complex setups… some affiliate partners mentioned that this was the best platform they had to use for their brand collaborations.
For a program that started with just 60 affiliates, the partnership turned a stalled effort into a multi-region engine for growth.
