Guides affiliate marketing strategy for AI/SaaS products. Affiliate marketing uses a CPS (Cost Per Sale) model—pay only when sales occur. ROI typically 5:1 to 10:1; CAC 40%–50% lower than paid ads.
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Initial Assessment
Check for product marketing context first:
If
.claude/product-marketing-context.md
or
.cursor/product-marketing-context.md
exists, read it for product, audience, and positioning.
Identify:
Product type
SaaS, AI tool, subscription
Commission model
Pay-per-sale, pay-per-lead, pay-per-click
Target affiliates
Content creators, publishers, coupon sites
Commission Models
Model
Use
Typical Rate
Pay-per-sale
Most common; pay on conversion
10%–20%
Pay-per-lead
Lead gen (signup, form fill)
$5–50/lead
Pay-per-click
Rare; risk of abuse
$0.01–10.50/click
For SaaS: Prefer pay-per-sale or pay-per-lead. Recurring commissions for subscriptions.
Key Terms
Term
Definition
Cookie duration
Attribution window (typically 30–90 days)
Recurring commission
Ongoing % from subscription renewals
Sub-affiliate
Affiliates who recruit other affiliates
Performance bonus
Extra reward when affiliate hits sales targets
Attribution
Linking sale to correct affiliate
Promotion Channels
Content creators
Bloggers, YouTubers, podcasters, social influencers
Publishers
Media, niche sites, email newsletters
Coupon/cashback
Price-sensitive users; see
discount-marketing-strategy
for code strategy
Professional affiliates
Agencies managing multiple programs
Communities
Facebook Groups, Discord, Reddit, forums
Existing customers
Word-of-mouth via referral rewards
Setup Options
Product and website examples are illustrative only. No affiliation, partnership, or endorsement implied.
Approach
Use
Self-build
Forms (e.g. Google Forms); quick, low budget
Third-party
Affiliate tracking platforms (e.g. Rewardful, Tapfiliate) for AI/SaaS
Submit program to affiliate program directories after launch for discoverability.
Recruitment Strategies
Dedicated landing page
Clear commission, payout terms, cookie duration, signup flow; link in nav/footer.
Partner personas
Define 5+ personas (bloggers, YouTubers, newsletter owners, community admins); list audience fit and motivations.
Target high-influence types
SEO content owners ranking for your keywords; reviewers/listicle sites; media buyers.
Reverse research
Find affiliates promoting competitors; they may promote you too.
Unconventional outreach
Competitor backlink analysis; creative outreach beyond cold email and networks.
Expect a small fraction of partners to drive most sales—quality over vanity metrics.
Fake clicks, self-referrals, fake conversions. Use platform fraud tools; vet affiliates; avoid auto-approve.
Brand bidding
Affiliates bid on your brand terms in Google Ads; you pay commission for traffic you already own. Prohibit in terms; monitor paid search; use brand monitoring tools. See
paid-ads-strategy
for paid ads context.
Program terms
Cookie length, performance bonus, sub-affiliate rules, payment threshold—set clearly in terms before launch.
Best Practices
rel=sponsored
Tag affiliate links per Google guidelines
Transparent disclosure
Disclose affiliate relationships
Recruit authentic affiliates
Align with brand; avoid low-quality networks
Diversify partners
Multiple affiliates reduce risk
SEO for affiliate content
Affiliate content drives organic traffic
Output Format
Commission model
recommendation
Channel
strategy
Recruitment
approach
Tool
selection
Checklist
for launch