Affiliate programs from scratch for Colombian SMBs

Affiliates make sense when your product can be recommended in writing with a link, your margin handles 15 to 30% commission and your tracking is reliable. It works well in SaaS, infoproducts, niche e-commerce and professional services with tickets over $500.000 COP. It doesn't work for cheap products with thin margins or in niches where nobody has an audience.

The structures that work best: percentage on first sale (15 to 30% in e-commerce, 30 to 50% in SaaS or infoproducts), recurring commission on subscriptions (10 to 20% monthly capped at a number of months) or a flat fee per qualified lead in B2B ($20.000 to $80.000 COP). Keep the mechanic simple: one rule per program.

To start cheap: Tapfiliate, Rewardful or Refersion ($30 to $100 USD/month depending on volume). For Shopify-native: Goaffpro or Refersion. For SaaS with Stripe: Rewardful or FirstPromoter. For a custom build: a small script with 30 to 90-day cookies, a minimal dashboard and a spreadsheet export.

The best affiliates are already happy customers, niche content creators with small but engaged audiences, and complementary businesses. Identify 20 to 30 candidates manually, send each a personal message explaining the commission and why the product is worth recommending, and start with 3 to 5 active partners. 3 selling beats 50 inactive.

Ask for a short form: where they will promote the product (real URL), approximate audience, prohibited methods (no spam, no buying brand-name traffic, no cash incentives that violate policy). Approve only after reviewing the channel, never automatically. Removing a toxic affiliate is much more expensive than rejecting them up front.

At minimum: a unique tracking link, 2 to 3 banners in common sizes, 3 to 5 short social texts, an email template, high-resolution product photos and an FAQ with answers to the most common objections. Bundle it in a shared folder (Drive or Notion) and refresh it every month.

To Colombian affiliates: electronic invoice or cuenta de cobro depending on their tax regime, bank transfer or Nequi / Daviplata for small amounts. To international affiliates: PayPal, Wise or international wire. Apply the corresponding retention. Set a minimum payout floor (around $100.000 COP) so you don't process $5.000 payouts.

In Colombia and globally, the affiliate must visibly declare the commercial relationship (e.g. "Affiliate link, I earn a commission if you buy"). Include this clause in the program contract. Missing disclosure can create SIC complaints and damage the brand; clear disclosure doesn't hurt conversion.

The most common: approving everyone without filtering, paying too low a commission (serious affiliates don't move for 5%), tracking that loses conversions, paying late, not delivering materials, and not communicating with affiliates. A zombie program emits a lot of distrust; better close it than leave it idle.

Month 1: define commission and terms, pick tracking software, build materials, prepare the contract. Month 2: recruit 10 to 20 candidates manually, approve 3 to 5 active partners and personally onboard them. Month 3: pay the first round on time, ask for feedback, reward the top affiliate with a bonus and replicate the profile that sold the most.