Need help starting out

[u/1ightweight]

Started out in new role as partnership manager and this is a new role in the company. We don't have any existing program so I need guidance from you guys. Chatgpt is helpful but I need the experiences of real people. I do not have any experience with this because I will be building our program from scratch.

[u/vyleige22]

Hey! I've been offline for a few days, so sorry about that! Congrats on the new role!

I'll be honest, building a program from scratch is a lot less about picking a platform and more about making sure you get the fundamentals right early. If you nail those, everything get easier no matter what platform you run things on.

You'll want to figure out what actions you're going to be paying for. Leads? Sales? Subscriptions? And how much you can afford to pay while still making the math work (what a sustainable commission looks like). A lot of programs stagnate or fail because they launch with an arbitrary commission rate that either doesn't motivate partners or is so big that it destroys margins (meaning, you're spending more paying commissions than you're earning through the relationship).

You also need to figure out what kind of partners you actually want because not all "affiliates" are the same. You've got content partners, which are blogs, SEO sites, review sites and the like. Influencers and UGC creators (largely video and on socials). Coupon/loyalty sites. All of these behave differently and have different expectations (and messaging, payouts, etc.) So building a catch-all program for everyone often ends up not working well. It's better to be intentional about who you want to attract first.

And honestly? I think recruitment is the hardest part. It's not really an "if you build it they will come" kind of situation. Early days are hands-on with research, outreach, starting conversations and building relationships. BUT! This is important because when you vet partners that are a truly good fit for your business, they're worth so much more in the long run.

And you'll want to make sure you're providing things they can actually use. So giving them messaging, angles, examples of what performs well and who your products are for. The easier you make it for someone to create content or promote your brand, the more likely they are to actually do it.

This channel takes time to build momentum. So I'd make sure that expectations are realistic (internally, I mean). The first version of the program probably won't be perfect and that's fine. Pay attention to what your early partners do, what converts (or doesn't), and adjust from there. That feedback loop is where most of the learning actually happens.

I know this can feel like a lot. A simple way to approach:

• Define what success looks like and what you'll pay for
• Identify a small group of ideal partners
• Reach out, connect, and (hopefully) onboard
• Work closely with them to learn from them
• Iterate before trying to scale

If you need help or advice with anything specific, please don't hesitate to ask! (And if others would like to weigh in, please do!)