5 Affiliate Recruitment Strategies Most Affiliate Managers Are Missing

Affiliate recruitment can feel like a grind sometimes. With everyone fishing in the same pond, it’s tough to stand out. But here’s the thing—great affiliate managers don’t just rely on the same old tactics. They innovate, test, and explore new strategies that their competitors often miss. 

So what is working in 2025? Whether you're a seasoned affiliate manager or a business owner just dipping your toes into affiliate marketing, here are five affiliate recruitment strategies that are off the beaten path but can supercharge your affiliate program.

Why Thinking Outside the Box Is Crucial

Here’s the tough truth about affiliate recruitment in 2025: traditional methods aren’t cutting it anymore. Cold emails? Oversaturated and filled with generic wishes of hoping your outreach message finds them well. How about joining affiliate networks and waiting for quality affiliates to roll in? Good luck.

The reality is, with so much competition, the same old tactics leave you fighting over scraps. Standing out requires creativity. Think beyond the basics, and you create opportunities to attract real affiliates—those who’ll drive results. Unconventional strategies don’t just help you work smarter; they ensure you’re reaching partners who might’ve been overlooked by everyone else.

Why go for the obvious when the gold is in the strategies most affiliate managers don’t even consider? Let's get into the good stuff.

The 5 Affiliate Recruitment Strategies Most Managers Overlook

1. Tapping Into Competitor Backlinks

Every marketer loves backlinks, and there’s a reason—it’s proof someone’s talking about you (or your competitors). But have you considered turning competitor backlinks into affiliate gold? Here’s how you do it.

Use tools like Ahrefs or Semrush (these are MVPs for marketers) to analyze your competitors’ backlink profiles. Look for bloggers, websites, Youtube videos or influencers who are already ranking for keywords, but are not linking to your brand…yet.

Why does this work? 

These content sites have likely demonstrated interest in your niche and could already be familiar with your target audience. Bonus points if they’re creating amazing content—you want that kind of energy in your affiliate program.

What’s Next? 

Gain their attention with a friendly outreach message, coming from a place of help. Mention you noticed their piece on a related product, introduce your affiliate program, and explain how it can benefit their audience. Add a personal touch—this isn’t one-size-fits-all outreach. Relationships matter, and you never know how valuable your next outreach will be for the rest of your career.

2. Mining Existing Content Not Linking to You

Ever Googled your brand and found articles mentioning your business but neglecting to include a link? Well, my friend, there’s gold in them thar hills.

First, identify this low-hanging fruit using tools like Google Alerts or Mention. Search your brand in Youtube as well for videos that mention you. These tools notify you whenever your brand name pops up. Next, check for pages that mention you without linking to your site. Your job? Turn these mentions into affiliates.

Pitch Time: 

Reach out and thank the site owner or blogger for featuring your brand (because, you know, manners). Then, sweeten the conversation by introducing them to your affiliate program. Point out that linking to your site could benefit their audience while earning them commission. That win-win sells itself.

3. Engaging Competitor Brand Followers

Spoiler alert—some of your best potential affiliates are hanging out right now in your competitors' LinkedIn or Instagram follower lists. These are the people who have already expressed interest in similar brands. With a little finesse, they’re yours for the taking.

Start by sleuthing around in your competitors’ social media followings. Phantom Buster has an incredible Instagram follower scraper to identify influencers, complete with their follower count. Organize them by biggest following and engagement rates. Then, craft a thoughtful pitch that introduces your brand and highlights why they’d be perfect for your affiliate program. Keep it casual, keep it friendly, and most importantly, offer something their current partnerships might not.

Pro Tip:

If they’re already promoting your competitor, don’t shy away—roll out the red carpet. Sometimes, a better offer or better communication (on your part) is all it takes to turn them into loyal partners.

4. Targeting Podcasts as Affiliate Hotbeds

Ever notice how podcasts are quietly taking over the internet? They’re conversational, niche, and boast die-hard audiences who trust the podcaster like they trust their best friend. That’s the trifecta for affiliate magic.

Here’s how you crack this code. Search for podcasts in your niche with engaged audiences. Podmatch and Listen Notes are a couple of tools working for me. Find podcasts that are niche relevant, but too early to rate sponsorships. Any pod that averages less than 100 downloads per episode is looking for ways to make money and you can get in early with them!

Your Move: 

Pitch yourself to the host. Instead of just sponsoring the show, offer them a spot in your affiliate program. Explain how they can earn while naturally promoting your product to their audience. And the best part? This strategy often costs a fraction of what typical sponsorships do while providing the same (if not better) ROI.

5. Finding Partners Ranking for Niche Keyword

If you are an experienced affiliate manager, you probably already know this strategy. What you might not know is that you don’t need to master Semrush or ask the grumpy SEO at your company for a list of keywords anymore. There are tools that are designed to help affiliate managers save hours of their work week by doing the dirty work.

Affistash might just be your new favorite secret weapon. This fancy little tool helps you identify niche keywords, just by plugging in your brand’s URL. Then, it will help you identify hundreds of verified affiliates that are ranking on search engines…and hooks you up with their email and Linkedin profile. It’s like holding a magnifying glass over a treasure map.You’ll likely uncover review sites, content creators, and niche bloggers who might be perfect additions to your affiliate program.

Execution Tip: Once you’ve identified the players, do not spray and pray your outreach. Take a calculated and personalize approach to maximize your response rate. Compliment their content, highlight the overlap between their audience and your product, and propose an affiliate partnership that feels aligned. It’s a data-driven way to find affiliates with an existing audience, rather than gambling on random ones.

Get a free trial of Affistash here, or use code PMM to save 30%.

Wrapping Up Affiliate Recruitment Strategies

Affiliate recruitment doesn’t have to be a rinse-and-repeat of tired tactics. When you think outside the box, you’ll not only uncover high-quality affiliates but also build mutually beneficial relationships that drive long-term success.

The five strategies we broke down—competitor backlinks, unlinked mentions, competitor followers, podcasts, and niche keyword—are here to give your program the edge it deserves. Not everyone’s doing this, and that’s the best part.

Now, it’s your turn! Try implementing one or all of these strategies in the coming weeks. Got a genius recruitment tactic that’s worked wonders for you? Share it in the comments or reach out—because the only thing better than leveling up is helping someone else do the same.