Hey,
Every affiliate program has them.
Partners who signed up, promoted once or twice, and then went completely silent. No clicks. No content. No reply to your last three emails.
Most affiliate managers write them off. I think that's a mistake.
Here's why dormant affiliates are worth your time, and how I actually go about reactivating them.
Why they go quiet in the first place
Before you can fix it, it helps to understand what happened.
In my experience, dormant affiliates usually fall into one of three buckets:
They got busy and your program slipped down the priority list
They promoted once, didn't see great returns, and quietly moved on
They never got what they needed to promote properly in the first place
That third one is more common than most managers want to admit. No proper onboarding, no creative assets, no clear direction on what to promote or how. They joined with good intentions and then had nothing to work with.
That's not on them. That's on the program.
Who to go after first
Not all dormant affiliates are worth reactivating. Some were never a good fit to begin with.
Start with two groups.
First, partners who drove at least one sale or a meaningful amount of clicks before going quiet. They've already shown they can convert. Something just got in the way.
Second, the ones you know are big. The partner with a large, relevant audience who joined, never really activated, and has been sitting idle ever since. They're worth extra effort. A personalized outreach, a stronger offer, a direct call if needed. Don't treat them the same as someone who drove three clicks in 2023.
Make a combined short list. Fifteen to twenty names is plenty to start.
What to actually say
This is where most re-engagement emails fail. They're either too formal, too salesy, or they come in with a discount offer before even checking if the person is still active.
Keep it human. Something like:
"Hey [name], I was looking through our program and noticed you haven't promoted in a while. I checked out your latest content and think [specific product / current campaign] would genuinely land well with your audience. Similar partners who picked this one up saw a solid bump in their numbers last month. Happy to set you up with fresh assets if you want to give it another go."
That's it. Short, warm, no pressure. You're not chasing them. You're opening a door.
Bonus tip: before you hit send, double-check the contact details on your affiliate platform. They go stale faster than you'd think. A quick LinkedIn search or a visit to their site to find a current email can be the difference between a bounce and a reply.
What to offer
If they re-engage, give them a reason to stay engaged this time.
A few things that have worked well for me:
A temporary commission bump for their first sale back. A fresh set of creative assets tied to a current campaign. Early access to a product launch before it goes public.
None of these need to be expensive. The point is to make them feel like a partner again, not just a link in a spreadsheet.
When to let go
After two or three well-spaced attempts, if there's still nothing, remove them from your active list. Not from the program necessarily, but from your reactivation effort.
Some affiliates just won't come back, and that's fine. Your energy is better spent on the ones who do.
How do you handle dormant affiliates?
That's it for this issue.
If you want a second pair of eyes on your affiliate partner mix, just reply.
Happy to take a look.
Want to see what I've covered previously? You can find all my past posts in the archives.
Talk soon,
Jani Gysels