Affiliate Onboarding Email Sequence Template
Five emails for the two weeks after a partner joins
A five-email affiliate onboarding sequence for the fortnight after signup: welcome, assets, a first-link nudge, how the first payout works, and a milestone prompt. The window where a new partner either posts their first link or quietly never does.
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Affiliate Onboarding Sequence
Why the first fortnight
The window this sequence exists to survive.
A partner who has not posted a link within two weeks of joining usually never will. Not because they changed their mind, because the moment they signed up in passed, and nothing since has been specific enough to act on. Every email below asks for one small, concrete thing, and the sequence stops at five whether or not they have converted. Sending a sixth reminder to someone who has not engaged is how a program teaches its partners to filter it.
Email one, welcome, and the link
Day 0, immediately after approvalSent the moment they are approved, while the intent is still live. Contains their actual link, because the single most common reason a partner never starts is that they could not find it.
Subject: You're in, here's your link
Hi [FIRST NAME], You're approved. Here's your link: [AFFILIATE LINK] Anything bought through it within [COOKIE WINDOW] days is credited to you, at [RATE]. Payouts run [PAYMENT TERMS] once you're over [MINIMUM PAYOUT]. Your dashboard is here: [PORTAL LINK], clicks, sales and what you're owed, updated as it happens. If it's useful, the thing most partners lead with is [THE ONE ANGLE THAT WORKS BEST], because [WHY]. [YOUR NAME]
Email two, the assets, and permission to ignore them
Day 2Hand over the creative, then explicitly say they do not have to use it. Partners who write in their own voice outperform partners reciting your copy, and telling them so is disarming.
Subject: Assets, if you want them
Hi [FIRST NAME], Everything you might need is in the portal under Assets: logos, screenshots, a short product description and a few images sized for [PLATFORM]. Use them or don't, honestly, the partners who do best write it in their own voice and just use our screenshots. The assets are there so you're never blocked waiting on us for a logo. Two things worth knowing: · [PRODUCT FACT MOST PEOPLE GET WRONG] · [THE COMPARISON QUESTION THEIR AUDIENCE WILL ASK] Anything you need that isn't in there, just reply. [YOUR NAME]
Email three, the first-link nudge
Day 5The pivotal email. Ask for one specific placement, not 'let us know if you need anything', a vague offer of help puts the work back on them. Only send this to partners with no clicks yet.
Subject: One idea for where to put it
Hi [FIRST NAME], No rush at all, but a suggestion in case it's useful. The placement that tends to work first is [SPECIFIC PLACEMENT, the resources page, a line in the newsletter footer, the pinned comment]. It takes about five minutes and it keeps earning after you've forgotten about it. Your link again: [AFFILIATE LINK] If something's in the way, you're not sure how to describe us, or you want to try the product properly first, reply and tell me which, and I'll sort it. [YOUR NAME]
Personalise: Replace the placement with one that actually fits their channel. A newsletter suggestion sent to a YouTuber reads as automated.
Email four, how the money actually works
Day 9Sent before the first payout, not after. Most partner confusion is about timing and holding periods, and answering it unprompted prevents the support message that starts 'where is my commission'.
Subject: How payouts work, before your first one
Hi [FIRST NAME], Quick note on the money side so nothing's a surprise. · A sale is credited when it's paid for, not when it's clicked. · It's held for [HOLDING PERIOD] days so refunds can settle. If a sale is refunded, the commission comes off, that's the only reason a balance ever goes down. · Payouts run [PAYMENT TERMS] after month end, once your balance is over [MINIMUM PAYOUT]. Under that, it rolls forward. · You get paid via [PAYOUT METHOD]. Add your details here if you haven't: [PAYOUT SETTINGS LINK] Everything's visible in your dashboard as it happens: [PORTAL LINK] [YOUR NAME]
Email five, the milestone, and then silence
Day 14Closes the sequence. For partners who have started, it names the next rung; for those who haven't, it exits gracefully and stops. Either way this is the last automated email.
Subject: [FIRST NAME], where you're at
Hi [FIRST NAME], Two weeks in, so here's where things stand: [CLICKS] clicks and [SALES] sales, [EARNINGS] earned. [IF THEY'VE STARTED: The next rung is [MILESTONE], [WHAT CHANGES AT IT]. You're [DISTANCE] away.] [IF THEY HAVEN'T: No problem at all, the link doesn't expire and the terms won't get worse. It's here whenever the timing's right: [AFFILIATE LINK]] That's the last automated email from me. From here you'll only hear from me when there's something genuinely worth telling you, a new product, a rate change, or something I think your audience would like. Reply any time. [YOUR NAME]
Before you send it
What to change
The parts that are yours.
Send email one on approval
Not the next morning. Intent is highest in the minutes after signup.
Paste the actual link
The commonest reason a partner never starts is that they could not find it.
Ask for one placement
“Let us know if you need anything” puts the work back on them.
Match it to their channel
A newsletter tip sent to a YouTuber reads as automated, and the rest gets filtered.
Explain payouts before the first one
Answers “where is my commission” before anyone has to ask it.
Stop at five, and say so
A sequence that quietly continues teaches partners to filter you.
Write it once, then enforce it
Most of this sequence is already in the product
These five emails describe things a partner portal can do without anyone sending anything by hand.
In the document
“Everything's in the portal under Assets”
In the product
Marketing assets with per-group visibility
Logos, screenshots and copy, shown to the groups you choose, so a niche partner sees the creative made for them, not all of it.
In the document
“Your dashboard is here”
In the product
The branded partner portal
Clicks, sales and balance, updated as it happens, in 15 languages. On your own domain from the Business plan.
In the document
“The next rung is…”
In the product
Affiliate milestones
Targets that unlock a higher rate or a bonus automatically when a partner passes them, rather than being renegotiated.
In the document
The nudge on day five
In the product
The onboarding checklist
A progress checklist in the partner's own portal, so the prompt to place a first link is present every time they log in rather than only in an email.
In the document
Sending the sequence at all
In the product
Messaging and announcements
Send to a group or the whole roster from inside the program, so the emails go out even in the weeks nobody remembers to send them.
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 templateRecruitment email
A three-email sequence for approaching creators who have never heard of you.
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 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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Five over two weeks is the shape this template uses, and the reasoning is that a partner who has not placed a link within a fortnight usually never will, so the sequence exists to survive that window and then stop. More than five, or a sequence that runs longer, mostly teaches partners to filter you.