Affiliate programs offer businesses a way to expand their reach and create new revenue streams through outside partnerships. However, lasting success depends on more than just signing up as many affiliates as possible. The most effective programs are built on thoughtful strategy: choosing partners whose audiences and values align, giving them the tools and support they need to succeed and providing incentives that reward long-term impact.
Below, the members of Forbes Business Development Council share their top strategies for designing affiliate programs that deliver real results.
1. Reward Customer Lifetime Value Over Volume
Create affiliate tiers based on customer lifetime value, not just sales volume. I reward affiliates who bring high-retention customers with exponentially higher commissions. A smaller sale from someone who stays years beats a larger sale from someone who churns immediately. This shifts affiliate focus from quick wins to quality relationships. – Ori Lev-Ran, Teramind
2. Offer Affiliated VIP Perks
Build your affiliate program like a VIP club. Give members exclusive perks, surprise bonuses and direct access to leadership. When people feel valued and connected at a personal level, they become long-term champions who grow your brand with genuine enthusiasm. – Thasha Batts, Pinnacle Global Network
3. Align Your Program With Broader Goals
One strategic approach is aligning your affiliate program with broader business goals, such as targeting niche influencers for product adoption. This ensures partnerships drive measurable growth, like user acquisition, by focusing on high-ROI affiliates. It prevents dilution of efforts and maximizes scalability in competitive markets. – Tomer Warschauer Nuni, PRIM3 Capital
4. Help Affiliates Build Their Own Business Profile
Offer affiliates something they need or want to elevate their business profile and boost profits. Provide them with exclusive, high-quality marketing materials, advanced training and access to premium tools. Additionally, offer co-branded promotions and joint ventures that can help them reach new audiences and establish credibility. This also increases your company’s visibility and revenue. – Scotty Elliott, AmeriLife
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5. Find Potential Partners Through Your Network
Leverage your network to identify affiliate partners that have performed well and you can get a warm introduction to. Building a base to get the program started can go a long way in attracting new affiliates after being able to demonstrate the success of other partners and creators. – Max Avery, Digital Ascension Group
6. Build Your Program Around Customer Champions
One strategic (and often overlooked) approach is to build your affiliate program around your existing customer champions first—those who already love your product or service. Instead of blasting out invites or chasing big influencers, start by identifying your most vocal fans and turning them into your first affiliates. – Richard Lindhorn, VivoAquatics Inc.
7. Provide Clear Value For Partners
In prior experiences with some of the largest providers of technology solutions in networking and application software, we found that a large part of entering a market is the ability to create value for the affiliates or partners and resellers. We often tailor the solutions such that we integrate with the customers’ overall IT requirements and enable our affiliates to offer tech or other services and consulting. – Mike Quinn, Active Cypher
8. Treat Enablement As A Shared, Evolving Investment
Business growth through affiliate and partner models hinges on enablement that’s intentional and ongoing. While resources will vary—marketing, sales, customer success—the real value comes from tailoring them to how each partner engages in the market. Leaders must treat enablement not as a handoff, but as a shared investment that evolves over time and accelerates results on both sides. – Susana Cabrera, Parsec Automation
9. Focus On Quality Over Quantity
A strategic approach to developing an affiliate program is focusing on quality over quantity, partnering with affiliates whose audiences and values align with your brand. Equipping them with tailored content, data-driven incentives and transparent performance metrics fosters trust, maximizes ROI and turns affiliates into true growth partners rather than just channels. – Salice Thomas, Wipro Limited
10. Center Your Program Around Shared Success
Build your affiliate program around shared success and trust. Partner growth should equal your growth. Choose affiliates who align with your vision and values. Equip them with clear messaging, training and assets. When trust and strategy align, they create growth that lasts. – Michael Fritsch, SavvyCOO
11. Design Tiered Incentives
Design a tiered incentive structure that mirrors performance. Not every affiliate drives equal value, so don’t treat them equally. Create Bronze, Silver and Gold tiers that offer escalating rewards. This structure fuels aspiration, nurtures loyalty and builds a self-sustaining growth engine. When rewards evolve, so does ambition. – Praneeth Kudithipudi, Sacumen
12. Set Up Full-Cycle Tracking Early
A smart approach to building an affiliate program is to set up clear, full-cycle tracking from the start. Make it simple to see exactly who’s driving which results, and have a clean process to reconcile activity each month. This builds trust, avoids disputes and keeps growth predictable. – Scott Hozebin, DirectCare AI
13. Consider Partnering With Aligned Companies
Instead of recruiting individual affiliates, we focus on an ecosystem integrator model by partnering with companies that already serve our target audience, such as financial planning software or HR platforms. This approach integrates our products into their customer journey, leveraging their trust to create a higher quality of leads and a more efficient sales process for both parties. – William DeCourcy, AmeriLife
14. Let Affiliates Become Part Of Your Business Community
I see two key drivers of growth: people and ideas. Surround your brand with those who truly believe in you and what you stand for. Don’t view them simply as business partners, but as people who share your vision. Let this become a genuine community that supports your brand and believes in its success. With that foundation, growth will follow naturally. – Dima Raketa, Reputation House