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What is a B2B SaaS Affiliate Program?

A B2B SaaS affiliate program is an indirect marketing channel, where external partners promote your software and earn commissions when they bring in new PAYING customers. For SaaS businesses, this channel scales revenue cost-effectively with trust, recurring income, and minimal upfront spend.

In this article we will go deeper into the basics of a what an B2B SaaS affiliate program is. If you are unsure about what a B2B SaaS is, see this article. 

How a SaaS Affiliate Program Works

  1. SaaS company sets up an affiliate program on Reditus & installs our tracking
  2. Affiliate receives an unique tracking link (or coupon code)
  3. Affiliate shares unique tracking link with their network (blog, newsletter, social media etc.)
  4. People will click on the affiliate link, going to your homepage 
  5. People will sign up (this is what we call a referral) to your SaaS
  6. When the referral purchases a paid plan; a commission is generated for the affiliate. 
  7. Commissions will be accumulated into a pay out, so you don't have to worry about small payouts. 

See below a more simplistic version on how this would look. Want to look at how to get this technically installed? See here the full installation guide. 

How the tracking of an affiliate program works.

Not sure about launching an affiliate program yet? See here when you should launch an affiliate program. 

Why SaaS Affiliate Programs Matter

Affiliate programs are not just another marketing channel for SaaS companies, they can unlock unique advantages that can drive growth, sustainability and scalability; 

  1. Performance-based Cost Efficiency
    You only pay when a referral converts into a paying customer, which means no wasted spend on clicks or impressions. As you pay a percentage of the received payment, it will help you to keep your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) low and predictable from day 1. 
  2. Recurring Revenue & Better ROI Over Time
    With SaaS, many programs use recurring commissions, meaning affiliates earn as customers renew. Affiliates are motivated to bring high-quality leads who stay longer, increasing lifetime value (LTV) and boosting ROI. With Reditus you can motivate affiliates to do better, by creating multiple tiers. 
  3. Expanded Reach Through Trusted Partners
    Affiliates are people or companies which often already have engaged, niche audiences. They expose your product to people you might not reach (or reach cost-effectively) with paid ads. Trust from affiliate recommendations can increase conversion. We see a lot of agencies and consultants referring SaaS to their clients, making them trusted partners to their clients. 
  4. Enhanced Credibility & Brand Trust
    When someone other than you, someone the customer respects recommends your product, that acts like social proof. Especially in B2B SaaS, where buyers often look for reviews, case studies, and peer opinions before purchasing. By pulling in the right affiliates, you can increase your credibility. 
  5. Scalable Growth Without Proportional Resource Increase
    As your affiliate base grows, the reach tends to compound. More affiliates = more promotion channels = more referrals, often with relatively small incremental effort. Managing affiliates won't take much more time, as you can have automated onboarding emails and they will have access to their own dashboard. 
  6. Flexibility & Low Risk in Experimentation
    Affiliate programs let SaaS companies try different commission models, promotional channels, or partner types with lower risk. Because payouts are tied to results, experimenting is less risky than sinking big budgets into unproven ad campaigns. 

    By default you pay (recurring) commissions for the paid referrals an affiliate would bring in. You can however also reward affiliates for certain actions they took for you, think about writing a blog, review, newsletter, or anything else. Easily create an one-off commission to keep track of it.  

Avoid these common mistakes made in affiliate marketing. 

SaaS Affiliate Programs vs Referral Programs

  • Affiliate Program: External partners (bloggers, creators, consultants) promote your SaaS for commission, they would need to sign up to a 3rd party tool to receive their unique link. 

  • Referral Program: Existing customers recommend your SaaS to friends or colleagues, often for discounts or perks, they don't have to leave your app to grab their unique link. 

See the key differences between Affiliate program vs Referral program here. 

Best Practices for SaaS Affiliate Programs

When running an affiliate program, your main question should be; how can I help my affiliates to make money. As in the end; the more money they make, the more revenue you have generated. By keeping that exact question in mind, you will start thinking about the following;  

  • Offering competitive commissions; keep affiliates motivated from day 1. 

  • Provide affiliates with ready-to-use assets; make it easy for them to promote you. 

  • Set clear terms; what is allowed, when do they receive a payout etc. 

  • Recruit relevant affiliates; recruit affiliates with access to your ICP (in bulk!) 

  • Track and optimize; measure performance and motivate/engage dormant affiliates. 

See Reditus Case Studies with more in depth information here; 

FAQ – SaaS Affiliate Programs

Q: What is a good commission rate for SaaS affiliates?

A: Most B2B SaaS companies offer 15–30% recurring commissions, but it depends on multiple factors to determine yours. See here some things to consider; 

  • Early stage SaaS: increase the commission percentage, as you don't have the brand awareness yet. 
  • Niche SaaS: the more niche you are, the harder it is to find affiliates. If you find good affiliates with access to your ICP, reward them well. 
  • High churn; if you are experiencing high churn, affiliates won't get a lot of recurring commissions. It might not even be good to setup an affiliate program, but if you do; increase the commission to keep them motivated. 
  • Your margins: AI tools tend to have a lower margin than 'traditional' SaaS. Make sure you always maintain healthy margins when implementing an affiliate program. 

Q: How do affiliates promote SaaS products effectively?

A: Common channels include blogs, LinkedIn, YouTube tutorials, comparison sites, and newsletters targeting your ICP. The most important thing to check; do they have access to your ICP. If they do, try to see if they can combine all the available channels they have (content + social + referral for example). 

Q: What’s the difference between recurring and one-time commissions?

A: Recurring pays affiliates for every subscription renewal, while one-time commission is a single payment for something they did (writing a blog, adding you to the newsletter, creating a video etc.). You are able to combine one-offs with recurring, making it a 'hybrid deal'. Recurring overall is more attractive when customer retention is strong .

Q: What is a Hybrid deal in Affiliate Marketing 

A: If you want the affiliate do write a blog, add you to their newsletter, their listicle article or anything else, they might ask for an upfront payment. By paying this + a recurring commission you created a hybrid deal, often you can negotiate the upfront payment down so their big rewards is when they deliver you paid clients. 

Q: How long should the cookie window be?

A: A 60–90 day attribution window is common in SaaS, giving affiliates credit for delayed sign ups. You can adjust your cookie period within your settings. Ps. You don't have to ask for cookie consent when placing the tracking script from Reditus. Learn more here. 

Q: Can I run both referral and affiliate programs together?

A: Yes; referrals tap into existing customers, while affiliates expand reach through external channels. See more about running the two programs together here. 

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