- Premium features included
- No hidden costs or usage limits
- Scale from startup to enterprise
SendPulse runs what I’d call one of the better email marketing affiliate programs out there. You get solid commissions for promoting their multi-channel marketing platform, and they’ve got over 4,500 affiliates already making money with them.
The setup is pretty straightforward, and honestly, the marketing automation commissions are competitive enough to get your attention.
Right off the bat, you’re looking at 30% on any pricing plan your referrals buy, plus 10% when they top up their accounts. That’s actually not bad at all. Most SaaS affiliate opportunities make you work your way up to decent rates, but SendPulse starts you at 30%.
The nice thing? You’re earning from two different actions. Someone signs up for a monthly plan? You get your cut. They add more credits later? Another commission lands in your account. It’s one of those recurring commission programs that keeps paying you over time.
Here’s where it gets interesting. You earn commissions for two full years from when someone first clicks your link. Two years. That’s way longer than the usual 30-90 day windows most programs offer.
If someone buys an annual plan, you don’t get a huge lump sum upfront. Instead, they pay you monthly as the customer actually uses the service. It’s more predictable income, which is nice if you’re trying to plan ahead.
There’s also this subaffiliate thing where you can earn 5% from people your recruited affiliates bring in. It’s not huge money, but it adds up.
When your referrals hit $1,000 in monthly spending, you get an extra 10% on top of everything else. So instead of 30%, you’re suddenly making 40% on their purchases.
The program has these tiers that basically reward you for bringing in bigger customers:
They also let you create custom discount codes for your audience. Makes it easier to close the deal when you can offer someone 20 bucks off.
Let me break this down with actual numbers. Say you refer someone who signs up for their standard plan at about $10 monthly. You’d make around $3 per month from that customer. Not earth-shattering, but it adds up.
Now, if you land an enterprise customer spending $1,200 monthly, you’re looking at $480 per month from that one referral. Over a year? Nearly $6,000 from one customer.
Most successful affiliates in email service provider partnerships see conversion rates around 2-5%. So if you’re driving decent traffic and targeting the right audience, the math starts working in your favor pretty quickly.
Head over to sendpulse.com/partners/affiliates and you’ll see everything laid out. They’re pretty transparent about the commission structure and what they expect from affiliates.
The page shows those 4,500+ active marketers I mentioned, plus examples of their tools. Good way to get a feel for what you’d actually be promoting.
Click the signup button and fill out the basics. They want to know about your website, how you plan to promote them, and what kind of audience you have.
Nothing too invasive, but they do ask about your marketing channels and audience size. Previous affiliate experience helps, but it’s not required.
Most people hear back within 24-48 hours. I’ve seen some approvals come through even faster if your application is straightforward.
They’re looking for real marketers with actual audiences. If you’re a content creator, blogger, or have any kind of established online presence in the business/marketing space, you’ll probably get approved without much hassle.
Once approved, you get login details via email. The dashboard is actually pretty clean and shows you everything you need – commission tracking, referral activity, performance by traffic source.
Real-time updates, which is nice. You can see when someone clicks your link and follows their journey through to purchase.
Your main referral link is right there on the homepage when you log in. Under “Banners & Links” you’ll find more promotional stuff and can create custom tracking links.
You can add tags to track which campaigns work best. Helps you figure out whether your blog posts, social media, or email campaigns are actually driving conversions.
Pick your channels and start sharing. Commissions show up automatically once people buy through your links.
Content marketing works well here – blog posts about email marketing, tutorials, comparisons with other digital marketing tools. Social media can work too, especially if you’re already talking about marketing automation tools with your audience.
They’re pretty relaxed about entry requirements. No specific traffic minimums that I could find. They care more about whether you have a real audience that might actually need email marketing tools.
Digital marketers, content creators, business consultants – basically anyone who talks to small business owners or entrepreneurs regularly. Even if you’re just starting out with digital marketing tool affiliates, as long as you have some kind of platform, you’ve got a shot.
Keep it honest and professional. Don’t make wild claims about what SendPulse can do, and make sure you’re transparent about being an affiliate.
They provide approved marketing materials, so you don’t have to guess what’s okay to say. Stick to their messaging and you’ll be fine.
The program is global, which is great. They handle different currencies too – minimum payouts vary by region, but you can promote pretty much anywhere SendPulse operates.
Just check that the actual service works in your target market. No point promoting to an audience that can’t actually use the platform.
Here’s where they get strict. No spam, obviously. But also no paid ads on Google or Bing. That rules out a lot of PPC strategies right away.
You’re basically limited to organic methods – content marketing, social media, email to your own list, direct outreach. If you’re heavily into paid advertising, this might not be the program for you.
Two options: PayPal or account credit. PayPal if you want actual cash, account credit if you want to use SendPulse yourself (which honestly makes sense for testing and understanding the product better).
They handle multiple currencies, so international affiliates don’t get stuck with awkward conversion issues.
There’s a 30-day waiting period after someone makes a purchase before you can withdraw those commissions. Makes sense from their perspective – protects against refunds and chargebacks.
After that, it’s monthly batch processing. Not the fastest payout in the world, but pretty standard for this type of program.
$100 minimum for most affiliates. Agency partners might get lower minimums depending on their currency, but for regular folks, plan on building up to $100 before you can cash out.
The “Request Payment” button shows up once you hit the threshold. Simple enough.
Two years. That’s the big selling point here. Someone clicks your link today, buys something next year? You still get paid.
First-click attribution, so if someone finds SendPulse through multiple affiliates, whoever got there first gets the commission. Fair enough.
There’s one catch – if more than 70% of your commissions come from a single customer, they might hold your payments until you diversify a bit. Probably not an issue for most people, but worth knowing.
They’ve got banners, screenshots, email templates – the usual stuff. Everything’s in the “Banners & Links” section of your dashboard.
Quality is decent. Nothing fancy, but professional enough to use without embarrassing yourself. They keep the materials updated, which some programs forget to do.
Pre-written emails you can customize for your audience. Subject lines, calls-to-action, the works. Saves you from starting with a blank page.
They update these based on what’s actually working for other affiliates. So you’re not just getting random copy – it’s tested stuff.
Email support at ok@sendpulse.com for questions. They also do webinars and have a knowledge base with the usual documentation.
Response times are pretty good from what I’ve seen. They actually want their affiliates to succeed, which isn’t always a given.
The commission rates are solid – 30% base, potentially 40% with volume bonuses. That two-year attribution window is probably the strongest feature. Most marketing automation affiliate earnings come from much shorter windows; SendPulse gives you 24 months.
SendPulse itself is a decent product. Email marketing, SMS, chatbots, web push notifications – it’s not just another basic email tool. Makes it easier to promote when you’re not selling something you’d be embarrassed to use yourself.
Support seems genuine. They provide real resources and actually respond when you need help.
The paid advertising restrictions are a real limitation. If you’re big into PPC, this program probably isn’t for you. They’re strict about no Google Ads, no Bing Ads, none of that.
$100 minimum payout might slow things down for newer affiliates. And that 30-day holding period means your cash flow isn’t immediate.
Content creators in the marketing space. Business consultants. Anyone who already talks to small business owners about marketing tools. If you’re building an audience around entrepreneurship, digital marketing, or small business growth, this could work well.
International marketers will appreciate the global accessibility and multi-currency support.
PPC affiliates who rely on paid search. The advertising restrictions kill most paid strategies right away.
If you need quick payments or have cash flow issues, the 30-day hold and $100 minimum might be problematic.
Generalists without specific marketing expertise might struggle to create content that actually converts in this niche.
Usually 24-48 hours if your application is straightforward. They’re looking for real marketers with actual audiences, but they’re not unreasonably picky about it.
Yeah, program’s global. Different minimum payouts by currency, but you can promote pretty much anywhere SendPulse operates.
Quite a few, actually. No spam (obviously), but also no PPC advertising. That means no Google Ads, no Bing Ads, none of the usual paid search strategies. Organic methods only.
Dashboard shows everything in real-time. You can add custom tags to your links to track which campaigns work best. Pretty detailed analytics for an affiliate program.
Nope. That’s probably the biggest limitation. Organic promotion only – content marketing, social media, email to your own list, that kind of thing.
You lose the commission for that sale. Standard practice – they’re not going to pay you for refunded purchases.
Payment delays usually come down to not hitting the minimum threshold or the 30-day waiting period. Check your dashboard balance and wait it out.
Low conversion rates? Make sure you’re targeting the right audience. SendPulse works best for small businesses and entrepreneurs who actually need email marketing tools. Educational content converts better than hard sales pitches.