affiliate-onboarding-sequence

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---
name: affiliate-onboarding-sequence
description: Design the onboarding sequence that carries a newly approved affiliate from approval to first tracked conversion - touch plan (timing, channel, one action per touch), asset kit, time-boxed activation nudge, and never-activated follow-up branch. Covers B2B SaaS partner programs and B2C ecommerce affiliate programs. Use whenever the user mentions affiliate onboarding, an affiliate welcome email series, affiliate activation, a new-affiliate ramp, partner activation emails, or approved affiliates who never send a click or a sale, even if they never say onboarding. Starts at approval - to pitch affiliates who have not joined yet use mbfinotti/partnerships-skills@affiliate-recruitment-outreach.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: Maya-Beth Finotti
  version: "1.0.4"
---

# Affiliate Onboarding Sequence

Design the sequence that moves a newly approved affiliate to their first tracked conversion. Most programs activate only a small minority of approved affiliates - practitioner estimates cluster around 5-20%, a convergent range rather than a controlled measurement - so the sequence's whole job is to compress time-to-first-conversion while intent is still warm.

Two commitments run through everything below:

- **Day offsets are a starting skeleton, not a standard.** Documented practitioner consensus is 4-6 touches over 10-14 days, but every sourced practitioner favors behavior triggers - first click, first sale, no-click-by-day-N - layered on top of, and overriding, the calendar.
- **An affiliate who cannot get a working link cannot activate.** Provisioning and tracking readiness is the pre-condition of the sequence, never a touch inside it.

Two entry paths, both starting with the Interview:

- Build from scratch - "write the welcome emails for affiliates we just approved", "design our affiliate onboarding sequence", "what should new partners get in their first 30 days?" - run the full Workflow.
- Diagnose a running sequence - "our approved affiliates never send a click", "nobody activates after the welcome email" - run the Interview, then jump to Diagnosing an existing sequence before touching the plan.

## Interview

Ask one question per message; offer the multiple-choice options where given. Skip any question the user already answered.

1. B2B SaaS or B2C ecommerce? Both means the plan needs two branches.
2. What event counts as "activated": first click, first lead/trial, first paid sale, or first closed deal? Inside what window (days from approval)?
3. Program mechanics: commission model (recurring %, one-time %, flat CPA), cookie window, payout threshold, payout hold period?
4. Which archetypes does the intake actually contain: content/review site, coupon-deal, loyalty-cashback, social creator, email-list owner, sub-network - and in B2B: agency, consultant, tech partner?
5. Which assets exist today vs must be created: tracking links, banners, swipe copy, product one-sheets - and for B2B: sandbox/demo access, comparison and buyer-question material?
6. Tracking setup: are links or coupon codes auto-provisioned at approval? Is server-side (postback) conversion tracking live?
7. Tax and payout collection: which steps (tax form, payout method, terms attestation) - and do they gate payout eligibility?
8. Who sends the touches: an automated program address, or a named affiliate manager? Does capacity for calls and 1:1 exist?
9. How many new approvals arrive per month?
10. By what date must the first activation numbers land? A date inside the next cohort's window deletes every option that needs a build and promotes the near-zero fixes; no date leaves the default ordering intact.
11. A one-off win on this cohort, or a compounding asset? Compounding promotes the automated drip and the persistent asset hub; one-off promotes manual outreach to the affiliates already approved.
12. Effort ceiling: manager hours per week, whether a named AM exists at all, and whether changing a commission needs