When Should a SaaS Launch an Affiliate Program?

Launch an affiliate program once you have product-market fit, paying customers who would recommend you, and a funnel that turns traffic into paying customers. As a rough bar, that is around $10K MRR. Below that, people usually won't recommend your product yet, and affiliates can't earn if nobody pays.

Signs you are ready for an affiliate program

1. Paying customers who came through your funnel

• You have paying clients who signed up through your website and bought a recurring plan.
• You really know who your ideal customer is.
• Your positioning is clear: an affiliate can explain your product in a sentence.

2. A funnel that converts, and you know the numbers

• You know your conversion rates from visit to signup and from signup to paid. Running paid ads on your own brand is a good way to learn them with your own money first: affiliate traffic won't convert better than your own.
• Every main call to action is tracked on your own domain. Subdomains work, but a signup, demo booking or checkout on a different root domain can't be tracked.

3. Customers already recommend you

• People mention or recommend your product without being asked. An affiliate program amplifies that; it can't create it.

4. A price that works for affiliates

• Do the affiliate's arithmetic: your average deal size times your commission should give an affiliate roughly $10 or more per customer payment. Below that, a blog post or a newsletter slot isn't worth their effort. Very low prices and lifetime deals make this hard.
• Your churn is under control, so commissions don't stop after a month or two.

5. Someone who owns the program

• Someone recruits affiliates, reviews their content and helps them earn, every week. At the start that may be the founder; hand it over as soon as you can.

The affiliate program checklist takes you through the launch step by step.

Signs to wait

• You don't have paying customers yet. Affiliates can't help you win your first clients.
• You are running an active AppSumo deal.
• Your signup, demo booking or checkout happens on a different root domain, so it can't be tracked.
• You are not a B2B SaaS. On Reditus the affiliate program is built for B2B SaaS. A B2C SaaS with a signup form and Stripe can still run the in-app referral program.

Risks of launching too early

• No clear ideal customer: affiliates don't know whom to target, and the leads are poor.
• Low conversion: affiliates drop off when their traffic doesn't turn into signups and paying customers.
• High churn: commissions stop quickly, and affiliates leave.
• No owner: without clear terms and someone to help them, early affiliates go quiet.

See the other common mistakes SaaS companies make with affiliate marketing.

What to do if you're not ready yet

Win your first paying customers through your own channels and learn your conversion rates. If you are very early, grow the program with your own users and network first; Growth is built for that. Once you are ready, launch your in-app referral program and your affiliate program together, starting with the people who already know you: your users in the referral program, your consultants, agencies and partners in the affiliate program. More: should you start with referrals or affiliates first?

How long until an affiliate program pays off?

There is no single answer. It depends on your sales cycle, because a 7-day trial converts much sooner than a 30-day trial, and on how you recruit: recruiting your own affiliates and allowing paid ads brings revenue much sooner than waiting for affiliates to write blog articles. The channel typically breaks even after 9 to 12 months. The affiliate revenue timeline calculator estimates it for your situation.

FAQ: launching a SaaS affiliate program

What MRR should I reach before starting an affiliate program?

Roughly $10K MRR, with product-market fit. It is a rough bar, not a hard rule: what counts is that you have paying customers who would recommend you and a funnel that converts.

Should I launch a referral program before an affiliate program?

No. Launch both together and start with your own network: your users go into the in-app referral program, and consultants, agencies and partners into the affiliate program. On Reditus both are included in every paid plan, starting with Growth, and you can set up both during the 14-day free trial.

Can I run affiliates if I am pre-revenue?

It doesn't make sense yet. Affiliates won't invest effort in a product that hasn't proven it converts, and they can't earn if nobody pays. Ask yourself: would you promote a product when you're not sure it turns your traffic into paying clients? Probably not. Win your first paying customers through your own channels first.

What if I can't afford recurring commissions yet?

Do the arithmetic before you decide. Commissions in B2B SaaS usually sit between 20 and 50%, with early-stage companies paying more and for longer, and you only pay them on customers who pay you. If your average deal size times your commission can't give an affiliate roughly $10 per customer payment, affiliates won't promote you, whatever the percentage. Your own users can still recommend you through the in-app referral program, with rewards that don't have to be cash, such as credits or an extra trial period. Learn why recurring commissions motivate affiliates.

Is affiliate marketing only for B2C SaaS?

No. Affiliate programs work for B2B SaaS too, and Reditus is built only for B2B SaaS. See examples of successful SaaS affiliate programs.

Relevant links

• SaaS affiliate program checklist: 10 steps to launch
• Common mistakes to avoid in SaaS affiliate marketing
• Reditus pricing
• Referral program vs affiliate program

Start your 14-day free trial of Reditus: sign up now, no credit card needed.