How to Set Up and Run SaaS Affiliate Programs

Looking for other ways to get customers? To tap into a wider audience consider setting up an affiliate program for your SaaS. It works by encouraging individuals to advertise your product, drive traffic and produce leads. Let our guide walk you through each step of the process. 

Begin by outlining your affiliate program’s objectives. Do you plan to expand your brand reach, increase sales, or both? With goals in mind, you create your structure and the type of affiliates you attract.

To hit your targets, think about the following questions:

• What are your metric goals? For example: increase traffic by 10%, generate 50 new leads per month and consistently show a 5% conversion rate from affiliate referrals.
• What is the budget for affiliate commissions?
• What type of affiliates do you want? E.g., bloggers, influencers, review sites and industry partners.

After identifying your goals, create a commission structure that makes sense. To give you an idea, take a look at  some common commission models for SaaS:

Choosing a tracking platform is important to the success of your program. This software acts as the base of your operations, tracking the affiliate links and conversions, manages affiliate payouts, and generates reports and analytics.When investigating platforms, think about:

• Are commission calculations and recurring payments automated?
• Are the features you need, like customizable reports or robust fraud detection in the platform?
• Does it integrate with your existing CRM, payment gateway, and other tools without issues?
• Are fraud prevention measures like IP address tracking, email verification checks, and customizable referral limits included? 
• Is the pricing structure transparent and does it work with your budget?
• Does reliable customer support and onboarding assistance come with their service?

To find affiliates, begin with individuals and businesses that align with your target audience. Use a multi-faceted approach to recruitment:

1. Direct Outreach: Find affiliates through email, social media, or LinkedIn. Customize your messages and summarize the benefits of your program.
2. Affiliate Networks: Use affiliate networks like CJ Affiliate or ShareASale to access a wider pool of potential partners.
3. Content Marketing: Develop blog posts, articles, and social media content to promote your affiliate program and find partners.
4. Paid Advertising: Run targeted ads on Google Ads or Facebook Ads to locate a broader audience of affiliates.
5. Bloggers and Content Creators: Identify people who write about topics relevant to your product or industry.
6. Influencers: Find social media influencers who have a large, active following in your niche.
7. Review Sites: Get your product to websites and publications for review.
8. Strategic Alliances: Create alliances with businesses that mesh with your product or service strategy.

Now create an affiliate landing page that illustrates the benefits of your program. Show your commission rates, give promotional materials, and set up dedicated support.

Key topics of a quality landing page include:

• Clear and concise headline: Communicate the essence of your program and summarize the benefits for affiliates. Examples: “Join Our Affiliate Program and Earn Recurring Commissions,” “Partner with Us to Grow Your Audience and Income,” “Become an Affiliate and Unlock Exclusive Rewards”
• Benefits and commission structure: Outline both the financial and non-financial benefits affiliates will experience.
  – Commission rates: Prominently display your commission rates, and show whether they are percentage-based, recurring, or flat-fee. Use tables to make this easy to understand.
  – Payout terms: Explain how and when affiliates will receive their commissions. Specify minimum payout thresholds and payment methods.
  – Promotional support: Explain the marketing materials and resources you provide, such as banners, email templates, social media assets, and dedicated affiliate managers.

• Case studies and references: Display relevant examples and testimonials from past affiliate collaborations to prove the positive outcomes achieved.
• Call to action: Entice visitors to sign up for your program with a well placed call-to-action button.
• Affiliate application form: Collect personal/business information (name, email, address, payment details), marketing channels (website, blog, social media handles), promotional methods, and audience demographics. During the sign-up process, require that they agree to your program’s terms and conditions and Privacy Policy.
• Onboarding and training: Give new affiliates with access to your dashboard, marketing materials, and training resources. Offer a welcome webinar or tutorial to help them get started.

While a landing page may not guarantee the attraction of high-quality affiliates, it could potentially contribute to attracting affiliates who are interested in promoting your SaaS product..

A strong fraud prevention strategy is key to maintaining the integrity and long-term success of your SaaS affiliate program. Addressing threats quickly could potentially help prevent harm to your brand’s reputation, finances, and the trust of any associates.

To safeguard your program from fraudulent activities, consider incorporating the following measures into your affiliate tracking platform:

• IP Address Tracking: Track the IP addresses associated with affiliate activities. This can help you identify suspicious behavior, such as multiple signups or conversions originating from the same IP address. If you see  suspicious activity, you can investigate and take action, such as blocking the IP address or suspending the affiliate account.
• Email Verification Checks: Require affiliates to verify their email addresses during the sign-up process. Verifying email addresses helps guarantee they are legitimate accounts, thus minimizing potential fake signups. You can use email verification services to automate this process and flag any invalid or disposable email addresses.
• Referral Limits: Set limits on the number of referrals an affiliate can generate within a given period. This helps prevent abuse by limiting the potential impact of fraudulent activity. You can set daily, weekly, or monthly limits depending on the nature of your product and program.
• Suspicious Activity Monitoring: Monitor your program for unusual patterns of behavior, such as: 
   – Spikes in traffic or conversions from a single affiliate
   – Bounce rates tend to be higher for traffic referred by affiliates, potentially indicating a need to ensure consistency between the promoted offer and the user experience on the landing page.
   – Unusual click patterns or sources

• Fraud Detection Tools: Use fraud detection software that automatically flags suspicious activity based on parameters, such as IP address, geolocation, device information, and behavioral patterns. Automating initial screenings has the potential to affect time and resource expenditures, however the impact may vary..
• Manual Review Applications: Vet each affiliate application before approving them. Check their website or social media presence, verify their identity, and assess the suitability for your program. This manual review filters out fraudulent affiliates.
• Clearly Define Program Rules: Outline your program’s terms and conditions, include details on commission structures, payment terms, cookie duration, termination clauses, and penalties for fraudulent behavior. Make sure your affiliates understand and agree to these rules before joining your program. Your Privacy Policy should inform affiliates and customers how their data is collected, used, and protected. Ensure compliance with applicable data protection regulations like GDPR.

Share with your affiliates a collection of diverse marketing materials, including content templates, promotional images, and campaign inspiration, to facilitate their marketing initiatives.

• Banners: Include static and animated banners. Their diverse sizes and formats align with various website layouts and preferences. Make the banners consistent with your brand identity and include calls to action (CTAs).
• Persuasive Email Templates: Use pre-written email templates that affiliates can personalize to send to their subscribers. These templates should highlight your product’s key benefits and features, incorporate persuasive language, and include a CTA.
• Engaging Social Media Posts: Create a variety of social media posts for different platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.). Include eye-catching visuals, interesting captions, and relevant hashtags to increase visibility and engagement. Consider creating templates for different types of posts, such as: 
    – Product announcements
    – Customer testimonials
    – Industry news and insights
    – Special offers and promotions.

• Product Image and Video Enhancement: Consider using high-quality product images and videos to showcase the features and benefits of your product. Include screenshots, demo videos, and customer testimonials to demonstrate the value of your product.
• Informative Blog Posts and Articles: Provide affiliates with blog posts or articles they can publish on their websites or share with their audience. These articles should educate readers about your product, its benefits, and how it resolves their pain points.
• Customizable Landing Pages: If possible, create customizable landing pages for affiliates to promote your product.Optimize the pages for conversions and include relevant information, testimonials, and a clear CTA.

Beyond marketing materials, provide sustained support to affiliates. Hold hosting webinars to educate affiliates about your product and demonstrate marketing strategies or exclusive discounts to motivate affiliates.

Track your affiliate program’s performance using your chosen tracking platform. Monitor key metrics such as:

• Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of clicks on affiliate links relative to the number of impressions. A high click-through rate (CTR) indicates that users are finding your affiliate’s promotions relevant and are taking action by clicking on them.
• Conversion Rate: The percentage of clicks that result in a sale or desired action (e.g., free trial signup, demo request). When there is a high conversion rate, it might suggest that the prospects identified by your affiliates are more likely to become paying customers, though additional factors can also play a role.
• Revenue Per Affiliate: The average revenue generated by each affiliate. This metric identifies top-performing affiliates and shows the overall value they bring to your program.
• Return on Investment (ROI): The overall profitability of your program, calculated by comparing the revenue generated by your affiliate program to the costs incurred (commissions, marketing materials, platform fees, etc.). A positive ROI shows that your program is generating a net profit.

Analyze this data to determine your top-performing affiliates, channels, and promotional strategies. Based on these insights, you might explore ways to modify your program and adjust resource allocation appropriately.