Affiliate Recruitment Email Template
Three emails, ten days, one ask
A three-email outreach sequence for recruiting affiliates, day 0, day 4 and day 10, plus four subject-line variants and a short version for DMs. Written for creators who have never heard of you, with the one line you must personalise marked in each.
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The full template
The whole thing, free
No form in front of it. Copy it and change what you need.
Affiliate Recruitment Sequence
How the sequence works
Read this before you send anything.
Three emails over ten days, then stop. Each one is short enough to read on a phone and makes exactly one ask. The first line of email one is the only part you personalise, and it is the only part that decides whether the rest gets read, a generic opener marks the whole thing as a mail merge no matter how good the offer is. If there is no reply after the third email, move on: a fourth is how a sender ends up in a spam folder, and a creator who ignored three emails is telling you something.
Email one, the specific compliment and the offer
Day 0Leads with something only a person who actually looked could say, then states the commission and the product in two lines. No attachment, no deck, no calendar link.
Subject: Your [SPECIFIC PIECE], and a partnership idea
Hi [FIRST NAME], [PERSONALISE: I read your piece on [SPECIFIC TOPIC] last week, the part about [SPECIFIC DETAIL] is the clearest explanation of it I've seen.] I run [PRODUCT], which [ONE LINE ON WHAT IT DOES, IN THEIR AUDIENCE'S WORDS]. A lot of your readers are exactly the people it's built for. We pay [RATE] on every sale, tracked for [COOKIE WINDOW] days, paid [PAYMENT TERMS]. No minimums, no exclusivity, and you'd keep full control of how you talk about it. Worth a look? I can send you an account so you can try it properly before deciding. [YOUR NAME] [ROLE], [COMPANY]
Personalise: The first sentence. Name a specific piece of their work and one concrete thing about it.
Email two, the thing they'd have to build otherwise
Day 4Not a nudge. A second, different reason to care, usually the specific problem your product removes for their audience. Reply in the same thread so the first email is visible above it.
Subject: Re: Your [SPECIFIC PIECE], and a partnership idea
Hi [FIRST NAME], Following up on this, with one thing I should have led with. The question your audience keeps asking in [SPECIFIC PLACE, comments, replies, your community] is [THE PROBLEM]. [PRODUCT] solves that in [ONE CONCRETE MECHANISM], which means you can answer it once with a link instead of ten times by hand. Same terms as before: [RATE], [COOKIE WINDOW]-day tracking, paid [PAYMENT TERMS]. Happy to set you up with an account either way, no obligation to write about it. [YOUR NAME]
Email three, the close, and the exit
Day 10Short, gives them an easy no, and leaves the door open. The explicit 'I won't follow up again' is the part that gets replies, because it removes the cost of engaging.
Subject: Re: Your [SPECIFIC PIECE], and a partnership idea
Hi [FIRST NAME], Last one from me on this, I won't keep following up. If the timing is wrong or it's not a fit, no problem at all, and a one-line reply saying so is genuinely useful to me. If you'd like to look at it later, the program's here: [SIGNUP LINK]. It'll stay open, and the terms won't get worse. Thanks for reading, [YOUR NAME]
Four subject-line variants
Swap the subject on email one; keep the follow-ups threaded as replies. Pick by what you actually know about the person, not by which sounds best.
| Subject line | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Your [SPECIFIC PIECE], and a partnership idea | You genuinely read something of theirs. The default, and the strongest. |
| [MUTUAL CONTACT] suggested I get in touch | You have a real mutual connection. Never fake this; it is checkable in one message. |
| Partnership with [PRODUCT], [RATE] recurring | They already run affiliate partnerships and are used to being approached commercially. |
| A question about your [TOPIC] coverage | You have an actual question. Only use it if the email really does contain one. |
No open-rate or reply-rate figures are published here because none has been measured. Anyone quoting you an industry benchmark for cold outreach is quoting a number from someone else's list.
The short version, for a DM
For platforms where a long message will not be read. Same structure, four sentences.
Hi [FIRST NAME], [PERSONALISE: one specific line about their work]. I run [PRODUCT] ([ONE LINE]). We pay [RATE] on sales, tracked [COOKIE WINDOW] days. Think it'd land well with your audience, want me to set you up with an account to try it? No pressure either way.
Before you send it
What to change
The parts that are yours.
Personalise one line
The first sentence of email one. Two minutes of actually looking beats twenty minutes of writing.
Rate goes in paragraph three
An email that opens with a percentage gets filed as a mail merge.
Offer the account, not the post
“Try it properly” asks for curiosity. “Promote us” asks for endorsement.
Thread the follow-ups
Replies in the same thread read as a continuation, not a second cold approach.
Give email two a new reason
“Just checking in” has added nothing and spends goodwill.
Stop at three, and say so
“I won't keep following up” is the line that gets replies, because it removes the cost of engaging.
Write it once, then enforce it
What happens after they say yes
The sequence gets a reply. These are the parts of the product that turn a reply into an active partner.
In the document
“I can send you an account”
In the product
Invitations with a plan attached
An invitation carries the destination group or commission plan, so the offer in the email and the deal in the product are the same thing.
In the document
The rate you quoted in email one
In the product
Commission plans
Per-group and per-affiliate rates mean the rate you promised a specific creator is the rate they actually get. Per-affiliate rates start on the Business plan.
In the document
“No minimums, no exclusivity”
In the product
Optional signing bonus
A bonus paid automatically on acceptance is a stronger opener than a higher rate, because it pays before they have done anything.
In the document
Finding people to send it to at all
In the product
Influencer Discovery
Search creators by category and what they have actually earned. A $199/mo add-on with a 500-invitation monthly quota, included on Enterprise and Agency Scale, the program works perfectly well without it.
Templates
The other templates
Free to read, free to copy, no account needed.
Affiliate agreement
The contract between you and each partner, covering commission, attribution and clawbacks.
Get the templateCommission structure
Four commission structures with worked numbers, and when each one fits.
Get the templateProgram terms
The public terms affiliates accept when they sign up.
Get the templateOnboarding sequence
Five emails for the two weeks after a partner joins.
Get the templateNeed to calculate something rather than send it? The free tools price a program, model a commission and search for creators.
FAQ
Questions people actually ask
Direct answers, including the ones that do not favour us.
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We are not going to give you a number, because we have not measured one and every outreach template that quotes a benchmark is quoting someone else's list, in another category, at another time. What is true and useful: the response you get is driven far more by how specific the first line is than by anything else in the email.