Ask an Affiliate Manager: beehiiv's Four-Step Process for a Successful Affiliate Program

In a recent webinar hosted by Rewardful, Tyler Gillespie, Head of Partnerships and SEO at beehiiv, shared invaluable insights into their highly successful affiliate program.

This article summarizes key takeaways and strategies that have helped beehiiv build a thriving partnership ecosystem, focusing on their four-step process for launching and growing an affiliate program.

Meet the Experts

Emmet Gibney - CEO at Rewardful

Emmet is the CEO of Rewardful, an affiliate tracking platform for SaaS and other online businesses. His extensive experience has helped companies develop successful affiliate programs.

Tyler Gillespie - Head of Partnerships & SEO at beehiiv

Tyler leads Partnerships and SEO at beehiiv, a platform for launching and monetizing email newsletters. His strategic approach to affiliate marketing has driven significant business growth, contributing 13% to beehiiv’s MRR.

Watch the full webinar session here.

About beehiiv and Their Partner Program

beehiiv is a SaaS platform that helps creators, media companies, and businesses launch, scale, and monetize email newsletters.

Founded just three years ago, beehiiv has rapidly emerged as a leader in a competitive industry. Their strategic partner program has been instrumental in driving their growth.

Here are some key statistics about beehiiv and their partner program:

• beehiiv generates about $1 million MRR from SaaS and another $500,000 from their ad network
• The company has grown significantly, expanding to 75-80 people, including contractors and full-time employees
• The partner program was launched in June 2022
• It has generated over $1.6 million in revenue
• The program has driven over 2,500 customers, accounting for 13% of beehiiv's total MRR
• 20,000-25,000 partners have signed up, with 500-600 actively generating conversions
• The program is on track to generate $1.2-1.3 million this year from partnerships alone

beehiiv’s Hybrid Approach: Blending Affiliate and Customer Referral Programs

beehiiv has taken an innovative approach by combining elements of traditional affiliate programs and customer referral programs.

This hybrid model includes:

• A partner dashboard built directly into the beehiiv product
• Active recruitment of customers to become affiliates
• Unified treatment of customers and affiliates, offering the same rewards and incentives

This approach has significantly increased partner signups:

• Before integrating the program into the app: 500-600 signups per month
• After integrating the program into the app: averaging 3,000 new partners joining per month

A key learning from beehiiv's success is that their best partners are often beehiiv’s own customers.

The Secrets Behind beehiiv's Successful Affiliate Program

When asked how beehiiv rapidly built and significantly grew their partner program, they revealed some of their key tips and strategies.

Step 1: Set the Foundations with Clear Communication

beehiiv employs a multi-faceted approach to communicate with their partners:

1. Dedicated partner page: A website page for partners to learn about and apply to the program.
2. In-app integration: A "Share and Earn" button within the beehiiv product for easy opt-in.
3. Email sequences: Automated email sequences using beehiiv's own platform, focusing on helping partners achieve their first commission.
4. Onboarding flow: A pop-up flow to segment new partners based on their type (e.g., agency, blogger, course creator). This guide can explain more about the different types of affiliate and their use cases.
5. In-app resources: The partner dashboard includes video overviews, strategy guides, and FAQs.
6. Webinars: Regular "Zero to One" webinars help new partners get started and achieve their first conversion.

Step 2: Create Compelling Incentives

beehiiv offers a mix of monetary and non-monetary incentives to motivate their partners:

1. Generous commissions: 50% commission for 12 months, plus a 30-day trial and 20% off for three months for referred customers. Learn more about affiliate commissions and how much you should pay your partners here.
2. beehiiv Beach Club: Quarterly contest where the top-performing affiliate wins an all-expenses-paid trip to a beach destination. This has been a significant motivator for partners and provides valuable content for beehiiv's marketing efforts.
3. Tiered structure: beehiiv is planning to introduce four commission tiers (Launch, Bronze, Silver, and Gold) with increasing benefits and slightly higher commissions for top performers.

Step 3: Continuous Education

beehiiv invests heavily in educating their partners through these approaches:

1. Comprehensive resources: They provide product information, promotion strategies, best practices, and effective techniques specific to their product.
2. Multiple formats: Affiliate education is delivered through various channels, including webinars, blog posts, email sequences, and in-app resources.
3. Promotion strategy guidance: beehiiv has identified that agencies (especially email and newsletter agencies), SEOs, and bloggers tend to be their most successful affiliates. They share these insights and provide tailored strategies for different partner types.
4. Continuous learning: beehiiv constantly analyzes what promotion activities work best for their affiliates and shares these insights with their partner community.
5. Co-branded materials: Creation of co-branded landing pages for partners who achieve their first conversion, which has led to higher conversion rates for partner-referred traffic.

Step 4: Provide Ongoing Support and Build a Strong Community

To keep the partners engaged and active, beehiiv:

1. Maintains open communication: They ensure partners can easily reach out to the beehiiv team with questions or when they need support.
2. Hosts regular events: Webinars, Q&A sessions, and other events provide opportunities for affiliates to interact and learn.
3. Encourages community interaction: beehiiv is exploring ways to facilitate communication between affiliates, fostering a sense of community.
4. Offers co-marketing opportunities: For high-performing affiliates, beehiiv collaborates on co-branded webinars and content creation.
5. Shares success stories: beehiiv creates partner case studies and spotlights successful affiliates, providing inspiration and practical tips to other partners.

beehiiv's Blueprint for Affiliate Success: 10 Key Insights

1. Reduce friction: Integrate the partner program into your products. This way, customers are exposed to it and making them easy to join.
2. Focus on activation: Help partners achieve their first commission quickly through targeted onboarding and resources. Follow this guide on how to onboard and activate your affiliates.
3. Provide value: Create high-quality content, tools, and assets for your affiliates to use in their promotion efforts.
4. Segment and personalize: Tailor your communication based on partner type and performance to provide more relevant support.
5. Offer compelling incentives: Use a mix of monetary (commissions) and non-monetary (contests, experiences, etc.) rewards to motivate partners.
6. Educate continuously: Regularly share insights, strategies, and best practices with your affiliates to help them succeed.
7. Build community: Foster interaction and collaboration among your affiliate network to increase engagement and share best practices.
8. Monitor and optimize: Continuously track performance metrics and look for ways to improve the program based on data and partner feedback.
9. Leverage your customer base: Remember that your existing customers can become your best affiliates and make it easy for them to participate.
10. Evolve your program: Be willing to refine and update your program structure, such as introducing commission tiers or new incentives, to keep it competitive and engaging.

Final Thoughts

By implementing these strategies and continuously refining their approach, beehiiv has built a partner program that significantly contributes to their overall growth and success, despite playing in a competitive market.

Their four-step process—clear communication, compelling incentives, comprehensive education, and ongoing support—offers a solid framework for SaaS companies looking to launch or improve their own affiliate programs.

While beehiiv's blueprint provides valuable guidance, you'll also need a reliable affiliate management tool to streamline your day-to-day operations.

Try Rewardful, the all-in-one affiliate management solution, offering the features and flexibility you need to manage your affiliate program effectively.

‍Explore Rewardful today and see how we can help you achieve your goals!

Check out our Ask an Affiliate Manager series for practical affiliate management tips:

• 3 Core Principles for Building a Successful SaaS Affiliate Program
• 5 Proven Outreach Strategies (+ Email Templates Included)
• How to Attract Top Quality Affiliates to Your Affiliate Program