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The beauty of Software as a Service (SaaS) is the subscription model, which provides recurring revenue for the business. When customers sign up for your SaaS, they will typically pay you monthly or annually as part of a subscription. Some customers may continue to pay for your service for months or years, resulting in a lifetime value that far exceeds the initial payment amount.
Many companies have found that sharing a portion of that recurring revenue with affiliates for the life of a customer's subscription is a surefire way to attract high-quality affiliates. The following article will discuss how using recurring revenue to your advantage with an affiliate program benefits both your business and your affiliates.
How Recurring Revenue Benefits Your Company
Recurring revenue in SaaS affiliate marketing can bring a new dimension to your marketing strategy and result in significant benefits.
1. It Motivates Your Affiliates
For your affiliates, earning a portion of your recurring revenue program can be highly motivating. Their recurring commissions only last as long as the customers they referred continue subscribing to your SaaS. The high return allows affiliates to invest more time and money promoting your SaaS.
2. It's Not as Costly as it Seems
At first, the thought of paying out on ongoing monthly commission to your affiliate partners might seem like it will put a dent in your marketing budget. But since these programs are performance-based, you only pay your affiliates when their customers subscribe. Each subscriber boosts your revenue, so it's a cost-effective investment for you and your affiliate partners.
3. It Builds Your Credibility
When you partner with bloggers and influencers in your niche, your company establishes more trust compared to the impression it makes from a simple ad on social media. Affiliate promotion is a form of social proof. Many affiliates will write genuine reviews or guides about your product or service that can generate brand awareness portray your business in a positive light.
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How Recurring Revenue Benefits Your Affiliates
Recurring revenue has clear advantages for efficiently and effectively marketing your product, but it also benefits your affiliates for a win-win situation. By working together, you can accomplish goals for business growth on both sides. Your affiliates will enjoy several benefits from partnering with you:
1. They Receive a Steady Income Stream
The primary benefit of SaaS affiliate recurring revenue is the chance to earn passive income. Once the affiliate has made the initial sale, the subscription does the rest with little additional effort on their part. When affiliates successfully convert more customers, they make more money.
2. They Can Add Value to Their Network
Your affiliates likely partner with you because they believe your product can benefit their network. They share their trust in your product with their followers, thereby providing their readers or clients with reliable products and services. By partnering with reputable companies, affiliates build their own credibility and generate high-quality sales.
3. They Can Easily Promote SaaS Platforms
Your company likely offers free trials, onboarding support, and other features that make it easy for customers to sign up and try your SaaS platform. These features reduce the risk for potential customers, making it simple for your affiliates to promote your SaaS platform on their websites. If your affiliates are savvy marketers with a knack for target marketing, they can quickly sell your product.
4. They Have Low Startup Costs
One feature that makes affiliate marketing programs desirable to your partners is that there isn't much up-front investment. Your affiliates can start a blog, video channel, or another platform for a reasonable price. Often, the highest cost involves buying and registering a domain. Your affiliate marketing program allows your partners to make money from their blog or website without investing a lot of their own money.
5. They Don't Need Extensive Expertise
If you provide the talking points and tips for marketing collateral to your affiliate partners, they don't need to be experts in SaaS to sell your product. They need to know how it works and how it can benefit their readers to make a compelling case to their network. But they don't need to have in-depth knowledge about the platform, and they don't have to provide client support for the life of the subscription.
Conclusion
Starting a SaaS affiliate program is mutually beneficial as it gives your partners the chance to generate reliable, passive income and allows you to convert new customers that you may have never found without your affiliates. As the SaaS market grows and competition becomes more fierce, improving your reach and building your reputation as a quality company can help you stand out among your competitors.
If you're interested in learning how to implement recurring revenue in SaaS affiliate marketing, LeadDyno can help you know where to start.
