Catch the full transcript below if you're more of a reader. 🧠 Pro tip: copy and paste this into Chat GPT (or DeepSeek I guess?) and ask away!
Kenyon From CreatorCommerce:
Thanks, everybody, for joining. This should be a great event. This is a fireside chat by design—not going to be rolling out any crazy decks here. This is just a conversation about what's going on in the competitive world of affiliates.
Anybody who's in this space right now knows it's hot. Every software company is launching the latest and greatest features. But amongst all that, the backdrop is that so many brands now have affiliate programs. It's good to see people diversify, but it also means that it takes more work to actually win the heart of those affiliates you're trying to recruit.
That’s why we wanted to have this chat—how do we actually get beyond just having programs and start making those programs truly attractive? It’s not just about having them.
Just to introduce myself, my name's Kenyon, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I'm one of two co-founders of CreatorCommerce. We help power co-branding and shopping experiences for DTC Shopify brands. I'm very excited to be co-hosting this with these two lovely people, so I'll let them introduce themselves. Maybe I’ll pass it over to you, Julia.
Julia Etman:
Hey guys, I’m Julia. I oversee partnerships at Health. If you don’t know, we’re based out in London, and we sell the best global wellbeing brands.
We have a relatively new affiliate program that is currently booming. I’m really excited to have this chat and share with you guys what’s working. Looking forward to diving in. How about you, Zohaib?
Zohaib Rattu:
Yeah, so my name is Zohaib. I oversee the growth side at Social Snowball. Funny enough, a lot of our growth is all through referrals and affiliates—we don’t even run paid ads.
We follow a lot of the same strategies that brands like Health and other brands are leveraging—word of mouth to grow. That’s what we’re doing as well. We can geek out about affiliate all day, so I’m super excited about this.
Kenyon From CreatorCommerce:
Right on. Well, I guess to get started, this isn’t a conversation about why you need an affiliate program or the benefits of one. We’re really getting into the next layer—if you’ve already decided as a brand to pursue an affiliate program, how do you actually get more competitive?
How do you attract not just influencers, but a range of affiliates that might make sense for your business? Whether that be athletes, practitioners, influencers, ambassadors—there are so many different types. That’s a great place to start. What are the classifications of affiliates these days?
Julia, you guys have been experimenting with segmenting affiliates at Health. Can you take the audience through how you look at affiliate personas?
Julia Etman:
Yeah, for sure. I think it’s so important to broaden what we mean when we say "affiliates." A lot of people immediately think bloggers or influencers, but at Health, we really spent time thinking about this differently.
Essentially, we are a wellbeing brand—we champion wellbeing, that’s what we’re all about. So when we think about affiliates, we think about people in the wellbeing space who have that passion as much as we do. It’s not necessarily just bloggers or influencers. Of course, we have some of those, but we’ve really broadened our vision.
Our two main affiliate segments are our ambassadors and our practitioners. Our brand ambassadors are anyone who has a passion for wellbeing. We don’t limit it, but we are selective about who becomes a Health ambassador. Authenticity is our number one value when we look for ambassadors—we want people who are truly passionate about sharing their wellbeing journey.
Then, we have our practitioners. These are people actively working in the wellbeing space—nutritionists, naturopaths, holistic dentists, and more. The intention behind partnering with a practitioner is slightly different than an ambassador, but they’re both key to our strategy.
We can dive so much deeper into this, but I would say those are our two main categories right now.
Kenyon From CreatorCommerce:
I want to come back in a bit to the subtle dynamics and differences when working with practitioners versus regular ambassadors, but before that—Zohaib, I know at Social Snowball, you’re seeing affiliate programs at scale.
Not to put you on the spot, but aside from influencers and ambassadors, what are some of the more unconventional affiliate types you’ve seen brands successfully use?
Zohaib Rattu:
Yeah, so a lot of brands think they have to go directly to people in their niche—like if they sell electronics, they should hit up tech reviewers. But sometimes, the best affiliates are one or two degrees removed from the niche.
For example, I recently talked to a brand that makes t-shirts for men. Instead of targeting men directly, they had girlfriends talking about the t-shirts. Same with a skincare brand for men—they had women talking about how attractive it is when a guy takes care of his skin.
It’s a smart approach because it gets the message into a guy’s feed in a way that’s more compelling. And from an affiliate cost perspective, these women aren’t being bombarded with partnership requests for men’s products, so they’re more receptive.
That’s something I’ve been seeing a lot—brands getting creative by finding these indirect but influential affiliates.
Julia Etman:
That’s actually super interesting. It aligns with what we’ve seen—thinking about not just direct affiliates, but those who have an audience that reflects your customers.
For example, we recently had a successful collaboration with a company that sells filtered water taps. That’s not directly in the wellbeing space, but the people who invest in high-quality water filtration care about their health.
So even though they’re not a supplement company like us, their audience overlaps with ours. That kind of thinking is so important.
Zohaib Rattu:
Yeah, and on top of that, traffic exchange collaborations between brands are a huge cheat code. Are you doing any collaborations where you’re cross-promoting on social channels?
Julia Etman:
Yeah, for sure. We collaborate a lot with giveaways and subtle content like Instagram stories rather than reels. But we’re very careful about brand alignment. When you combine brand ecosystems properly, the impact can be massive.
Zohaib Rattu:
Yeah, I love that. I feel like brands are starting to get more creative with their partnerships. The collaboration feature on TikTok and Instagram is such a hack—when two brands or creators collaborate on a post, it goes live on both their feeds, and now both audiences see it.
Julia, with the water tap brand, how did you distribute the content? Did you run ads? Did you just rely on organic reach?
Julia Etman:
Right now, we're in a phase where we're very protective of our brand. We’re super intentional with our content and partnerships, so for collabs, we’ve mainly focused on giveaways, Instagram stories, and more subtle forms of promotion.
We’re not really doing heavy cross-posting reels at the moment, but I completely agree that leveraging combined audiences is a powerful strategy. We’ll definitely be experimenting more with it in the future.
Kenyon From CreatorCommerce:
I think those strategies are so well said. It really comes back to the power of pattern disruption—when you take an affiliate who doesn’t typically promote a certain category and introduce them to it, it disrupts the norm and stands out.
There are so many emerging affiliate types right now. Like NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals with college athletes—that’s an entire new segment of affiliates. There’s also B2B affiliate marketing, where brick-and-mortar businesses, gyms, and even hotels become affiliates.
It’s a great exercise for brands to sit down and ask: Who else could be an affiliate? Who has access to my customer, even if they aren’t a traditional influencer?
Julia, going back to your point about practitioners—if you sent the same messaging to them as you would to influencers, it probably wouldn’t land as well, right? Can you walk us through how you personalize your outreach and offers for different types of affiliates?
Julia Etman:
Yeah, 100%. Personalization is so key. A lot of brands make the mistake of sending out the same generic outreach message to everyone, and people can see right through it.
At Health, we take the time to personalize every outreach message. We have a master template, but we also have sub-templates for different affiliate types—practitioners, ambassadors, influencers, etc. And even within those, we tweak the messaging further based on the individual.
One of our biggest outreach hacks is targeting our existing customers first. The best affiliates are often the people who already love your brand. We also track engagement—people who comment on our posts, reply to our stories, or DM us about products. Those people are already warm leads, and they convert much better than cold outreach.
And if we don’t get a response, we don’t just stop there. We have a diligent follow-up strategy with multiple touchpoints. Maybe the first outreach is an Instagram DM, the second is an email, the third is a LinkedIn message. We even consider things like sending a handwritten note if it makes sense.
It takes extra effort, but it makes all the difference in getting responses and standing out.
Zohaib Rattu:
Yeah, that’s so smart. A big issue I hear from brands is that Instagram DMs get filtered out, and affiliates never even see them. You mentioned LinkedIn and email—how do you decide which channel to use for outreach?
Julia Etman:
It depends on the person. For practitioners, for example, Instagram DMs don’t work well because many of them don’t have social media. But what does work? Practitioner Facebook groups, LinkedIn, and direct emails.
For ambassadors, Instagram is usually our first touchpoint. But if that doesn’t work, we move to email, and if needed, we’ll even engage with their content organically first—like commenting on their posts so they start recognizing our brand before we DM them.
The key is understanding where your target affiliates are most active and reaching them there.
Zohaib Rattu:
Love that. Who is actually doing this outreach for Health? Do you have an in-house team, or do you outsource it?
Julia Etman:
We have a dedicated team that focuses on outreach. Some are in London, some are virtual, but they all specialize in this. Outreach isn’t just a numbers game—it requires creativity and strategy.
A lot of brands hire VAs to do mass outreach, but if the messaging isn’t personalized, it won’t be effective. Investing in a solid outreach team is key.
Zohaib Rattu:
Makes sense. Another question—how important has gifting been in your program? And do you personalize gifts for affiliates, or is it the same for everyone?
Julia Etman:
Gifting is a huge part of our program, and we personalize it as much as possible. We have different ambassador tiers, and gifting varies by tier.
For top-tier ambassadors, they get a set budget each month to choose whatever products they want. This is important because every affiliate’s audience is different. Someone focused on skincare will have different needs than someone in the fitness space.
One mistake brands make is sending the same product to all affiliates. If an affiliate’s audience isn’t interested in that product, it won’t perform well. Giving them choice is key.
Kenyon From CreatorCommerce:
That’s a great point. And I love the idea of tiered rewards—it adds an extra layer of motivation for affiliates to stay engaged.
Something I’ve noticed with Health is that you have an incredibly high level of engagement in your program. Your affiliates don’t just sign up—they stay involved and keep sharing.
That’s where a lot of brands struggle. They’ll get someone to sign up, but then the momentum dies. How have you kept your affiliates engaged long-term?
Julia Etman:
Yeah, retention is huge. We don’t just bring affiliates in and forget about them—we continuously engage them in different ways.
A big piece of that is the Health Stores, which we built with CreatorCommerce. Affiliates get their own personalized Health Store where they can curate a collection of their favorite products. This makes it super easy for them to share their recommendations with their audience.
We also send out monthly newsletters tailored to each group—one for ambassadors, one for practitioners. These newsletters feature product updates, content ideas, and even spotlights on top-performing affiliates. People love being recognized, and it helps build community.
Speaking of community, we also have private group chats for our top affiliates. This makes them feel like they’re part of something bigger, not just an individual pushing a product.
And lastly, we’re extremely selective about who we bring in. If someone is naturally obsessed with wellbeing, they’re much more likely to stay engaged long-term. That’s why we prioritize quality over quantity in recruitment.
Zohaib Rattu:
That makes so much sense. You mentioned something interesting—allowing affiliates to curate their own product collections. That ties into a question we just got from the chat:
How do you track which products are performing best with affiliates? Do you use any specific tools?
Julia Etman:
Great question. We do a monthly deep dive into our Shopify analytics. We look at which products are getting the most traction through affiliate links and use that data to inform our gifting and outreach strategy.
For example, if we see that a certain product is driving the most revenue, we’ll prioritize it in next month’s gifting. Or if a specific creator’s audience is responding well to a certain category, we’ll tailor their future gifts around that.
That said, it’s not a perfect science. There’s still some guesswork involved, but having that data helps us make more informed decisions.
Zohaib Rattu:
Yeah, totally. Tracking first-touch attribution is one thing, but knowing the real impact of an affiliate takes a bit of nuance.
Kenyon From CreatorCommerce:
Yeah, and I think what’s exciting about this space is that brands are starting to use affiliates not just for DTC, but even for B2B and wholesale.
We’re seeing brands use affiliate programs to warm up wholesale partners—basically saying, “You don’t need to take on inventory risk right away, just start with an affiliate partnership, and if it works well, then let’s talk wholesale.”
I think that’s where the future is headed—affiliates being leveraged across multiple layers of a brand’s business.
Zohaib Rattu:
Yeah, I love that. I feel like that’s where CreatorCommerce is really coming in—giving affiliates their own co-branded landing pages instead of just handing them a link or a code.
Kenyon, what types of affiliates do you think should have their own landing pages? Who benefits the most from that setup?
Kenyon From CreatorCommerce:
We’ve found that affiliates who can actually tell a story around the brand’s product catalog are the best fit for landing pages.
If you’re just selling a single product, a landing page might not add as much value. But if you have a catalog—let’s say, supplements, skincare, or fashion—giving affiliates a way to curate and personalize their own selection makes a huge difference.
That’s why Health has been such a great fit for CreatorCommerce. Their affiliates aren’t just pushing one product—they’re building a full shopping experience around the products they genuinely use and recommend.
We’re also seeing this work really well for businesses as affiliates. A surf shop, for example, might only have space for five surfboards in-store, but with an affiliate storefront, they can sell an entire brand’s catalog online without holding inventory.
It’s all about making the shopping experience more personal and seamless.
Zohaib Rattu:
That makes a lot of sense. Julia, on the Health side, what kind of affiliates do you see benefiting the most from having their own landing pages?
Julia Etman:
We’ve seen the most success with affiliates who are experts in a specific niche.
For example, we work with a lot of holistic dentists. Their audience follows them for dental health tips, so it makes perfect sense for them to have a collection of their recommended products.
Same thing with sleep experts—they can curate a collection of their favorite sleep supplements, blue light blockers, and relaxation products.
For general wellness influencers, it’s a bit different. They might not need a dedicated collection, but they still love the personalization aspect. Having a storefront makes them feel valued and gives them an extra incentive to stay engaged.
Zohaib Rattu:
Love that. Okay, next question from the chat:
How do you track the impact of specific affiliates on demand for a certain product?
Julia Etman:
Great question! This is tricky, especially for brands with a large catalog like Health.
What we do is a combination of:
- Shopify analytics – We track sales tied to affiliate links to see which products are performing best.
- Surveying affiliates – We regularly ask them which products they’re seeing the most engagement on.
- Observing trends – If we see a spike in a product’s sales right after a certain affiliate posts about it, we take note.
It’s not a perfect science, but combining those data points helps us make better gifting and outreach decisions.
Zohaib Rattu:
Yeah, I think brands sometimes overcomplicate this. At the end of the day, it’s about looking at the data directionally and optimizing based on what you see.
Okay, next question from the chat:
Do you have trouble getting affiliates to actually post when they receive the product? And how do you deal with that?
Julia Etman:
Yes! This is one of the biggest challenges in affiliate programs. Some affiliates will take the product and never post.
Here’s how we handle it:
- For lower-tier affiliates, we include a simple disclaimer: “We can only continue supporting you with gifting if we see traction on your link.”
- For higher-tier affiliates, we don’t put as many strict rules, but they’re naturally more engaged because they’ve already driven results.
- If an affiliate isn’t posting, we’ll follow up with content ideas or remind them about past products they’ve received and ask them to incorporate them into their content.
But at the end of the day, if someone isn’t posting organically about us, we don’t want to force it. We’d rather invest in affiliates who genuinely love our brand.
Zohaib Rattu:
So basically, the first product is a no-strings-attached test, but after that, they need to show engagement to keep getting support?
Julia Etman:
Exactly. And it’s not just about posting—it’s also about performance. Even if they’re posting but not driving sales, we’ll reassess whether it makes sense to keep gifting.
At the end of the day, data speaks volumes.
Kenyon From CreatorCommerce:
Yeah, it’s all about balancing the carrot and the stick. You want to incentivize, but you also need to set boundaries.
I think this is where a lot of brands struggle—they either don’t follow up at all, or they get too aggressive and push affiliates away. The key is to find that middle ground.
Zohaib Rattu:
Yeah, love that. Next question from the chat:
Do you find that using Social Snowball’s Smart Links works better than a simple discount code? Some affiliates seem confused by Smart Links.
Julia Etman:
Yes, we use Social Snowball’s Safe Links instead of discount codes, and it’s been a game-changer.
The biggest reason? Discount codes leak. They end up on Honey, and suddenly, non-affiliate customers are using them, which messes up attribution.
Safe Links track via cookies, which means:
- The discount is automatically applied at checkout.
- If a customer clicks the link but doesn’t buy right away, it still tracks for 30 days.
Some affiliates are initially confused, but we educate them right away with a simple onboarding document and video explaining how it works. Once they understand, they actually prefer it because it means they won’t lose commissions to discount sites.
Zohaib Rattu:
Yeah, I always tell brands—explain to affiliates that Honey and other coupon tools are literally stealing their commissions. That usually convinces them to use Safe Links instead.
Kenyon From CreatorCommerce:
Yeah, and brands like Health are doing an amazing job at educating their affiliates about this. It’s an extra step, but it saves a ton of headaches down the line.
Zohaib Rattu:
Alright, we’re coming up on time. Last question—what are some brands with affiliate programs that inspire you?
Kenyon From CreatorCommerce:
I’d say Bandit Running is doing some really cool stuff. Not only are they offering affiliate links for their own brand, but they’re also securing affiliate links for complementary brands—so an ambassador promoting Bandit can also earn from ASICS or Gainful. It’s a genius way to add extra value for affiliates.
Julia Etman:
For me, it’s Runa, the running app. They’ve built an insane community around their brand. Their ambassadors don’t just promote the app—they feel like they’re part of something bigger. That’s what we’re always striving for at Health.
Zohaib Rattu:
For me, Divi and CurlMix. Divi created a movement around hair care, and their community is so strong that people are creating content for free before even becoming affiliates. That’s next-level brand loyalty.
Alright, let’s wrap up! Where can people connect with you?
Kenyon From CreatorCommerce:
Find me on LinkedIn—Kenyon Brown. Or on Twitter, @Kenyon_Brown. Or email me at kenyon@creatorcommerce.shop
Julia Etman:
LinkedIn—Julia Etman. Or email me at Julia.e@health.com
Zohaib Rattu:
LinkedIn and Twitter—just search my name, Zohaib Rattu. Or email me at zohaib@socialsnowball.io
Thanks, everyone! This was a great chat. Keep an eye out for the recording and some highlight reels!
