Calling all affiliate program managers…
Want to supercharge your affiliate roster with super affiliates?
It all starts with your affiliate outreach email templates. However, we know that creating an engaging email to attract potential partners can be challenging.
Affiliates get hundreds of these outreach emails from prospective brand partnerships every month.
Your emails need to stick out in an affiliate’s inbox.
That's where we step in.
We’ve curated a collection of standout affiliate outreach email templates and examples.
These templates help you communicate persuasively with different groups: influencers, bloggers, and businesses.
Let’s begin.
An affiliate outreach email is sent to potential partners to recruit them for an affiliate program.
The email usually has info about the program, like commission rates, cookie duration, and products. It also mentions other benefits of joining. An affiliate outreach email aims to attract potential partners to join and promote products.
Writing an effective affiliate outreach email can be a bit of a challenge, but by following these steps, you can increase your chances of success:
Before crafting your outreach email, hone in on the specific types of affiliates best suited for your program.
Whether it's industry influencers, niche bloggers, or e-commerce mavens, targeting your message to resonate with their unique interests and strengths will make your proposition more compelling.
I’m sure you can relate here with your personal inbox.
You’re sent at least 100 emails a day from brands trying to sell you something. Most of them, not very personalized. Therefore, the likelihood of you even opening those emails is slim to none.
Affiliate outreach thrives on personalization.
Here you’ll 100% want to use their name, reference their business (or following), and highlight synergies between their audience and your offerings. Showing genuine knowledge about their brand can set the tone right.
Pro tip:
Start by laying out who you are and what your brand stands for.
Highlight why you believe there's a potential alignment between their endeavors and your affiliate program.
Detail the nitty-gritty: commission structures, cookie durations, and promotable products. Sweeten the deal by emphasizing exclusive perks or bonuses they might access as partners.
Beyond just facts, present a compelling reason or incentive that makes joining your program irresistible.
If you can, and if they’re a super affiliate your targeting, present them with an even more compelling offer than your standard partnerships receive when joining the program.
Offer them things like:
Direct them with a straightforward CTA, whether it's a signup link or a dedicated contact for queries.
In my experience, I’ve found it’s a bit more personalized when you don’t just send them a link to your program. Try to open a dialogue with them to start if you can.
If responses are delayed, send a courteous reminder. Reiterate your value proposition without being pushy.
When it comes to affiliate outreach, I’ve seen a great fair share of different types of emails I’ve had to send.
Here are 6 I’ve had to set up and send to affiliates:
We send these emails to potential partners who haven't heard about the affiliate program.
These introductions are usually more general and aim to persuade people to join the program.
Converting prospects into affiliate partners through cold outreach email can be difficult. This is especially true when they are unfamiliar with your brand.
We send these emails to potential partners who have already shown interest in the program.
They might have visited the website's affiliate page or asked for more program information. These emails are more targeted and tailored to the specific interests of the potential partner.
We send these emails to partners who haven't replied to our first email. They are used to remind the recipient of the offer and encourage them to join the program.
You can usually set up automated follow-up emails with your CRM, affiliate software, or even third party email follow-up tools.
These emails are sent to partners once they have joined the program. The program information includes how to access resources and a welcome message.
These emails are 100% to the success of your program!
It's when you have the affiliate partner's attention, and they're excited to begin promoting your brand.
Set them up for success, set expectations, provide resources, and reassure them how they'll make money working with your brand!
These emails are sent to partners who have not been active in the program for some time. They use reminders to encourage them to start promoting the products or services again.
I've found it really helpful to set up some form of CRM to keep track of all your outreach.
We send these emails to partners who have already joined the program. They might have an interest in promoting products or services that pay higher.
It is important to choose the right type of email depending on the stage of the relationship with the potential partner. Each type of email has a different goal.
There’s a lot of ways to send an affiliate outreach email, but these are the 4 I’ve used the most in my experience.
Manually curating each email can be labor-intensive but offers unmatched personalization.
By tailoring every message, you can appeal directly to a potential affiliate's interests and strengths. It’s especially important to do manual outreach for super affiliates.
Leverage tools designed for affiliate outreach.
Affiliate networks and affiliate software typically have in-platform outreach tools to send messages to prospective partnerships.
These systems automate email dispatch to potential partners, ensuring consistency and saving time. However, the challenge lies in retaining a personal touch.
Tools such as Outreach, Respona, and similar platforms aren't exclusively for cold email campaigns or PR outreach.
They can be formidable assets in affiliate outreach as well.
These platforms provide features like advanced personalization, detailed performance analytics, automated follow-ups, and CRM integrations. Using them can help ensure that your affiliate proposals don't just land in the inbox but also capture attention and drive action.
Leveraging your CRM system isn't just for managing customer relationships.
If your CRM is equipped with email marketing capabilities, it can be an effective tool for affiliate outreach.
Not only can you send tailored affiliate proposals, but you can also monitor the performance of your outreach efforts, from open rates to responses.
When utilizing your CRM for email outreach, it's imperative to ensure compliance with regulations like the CAN-SPAM Act, ensuring that your communications are both effective and lawful.
Let's share some of the templates we've used in the past when reaching out to prospective partners.
Many of our templates have gotten better over time. The ones below will help you understand what each template is for.
There you have it.
When it comes to affiliate marketing outreach, we’ve only really covered the tip of the iceberg.
But, I hope this has been a helpful start to begin your outreach process and begin recruiting affiliate partners into your program!
Here's a quick summary of our recommendations:
Remember, the art of successful affiliate outreach is a blend of strategy, personal touch, and compliance. Here's to your success!
With over 7 years navigating the intricate realms of marketing, and specifically B2B partner marketing, Nick has forged collaborations with top-tier tech brands, prominent agencies, and some of the industry's foremost B2B publishers and content creators. His deep immersion in both marketing landscapes showcases a trajectory of expertise and innovation. Identifying a significant void in specialized resources, he founded Growann.The aspiration? Deliver unparalleled insights and guidance, carving out a dedicated space where the broader marketing and B2B partner marketing communities can flourish.
