Affiliate Marketing B2B

The problem

Many B2B companies try affiliate marketing with flat CPL and end up with low-quality lead volume that doesn't convert. Affiliate works when you properly structure the network, define valid leads with hard criteria and align incentives with quality clauses and approval windows.

My 3-phase approach

Network setup

Partner recruitment (content, influencers, B2B newsletters), onboarding with materials (banners, copy, landing pages) and product training.

Contracts & Models

Valid lead definition, hybrid CPL+CPA model with tiers, fraud-prevention clauses (IP, device ID, email verification) and approval windows.

Reporting & Optimization

Dashboard with partner metrics (CPL, approval %, CAC SQL), bi-weekly reports, quality audit and commission adjustment by performance.

Payment models

I recommend hybrid CPL + CPA model: you pay €X per valid lead (with criteria: 50+ employee company, corporate email, complete form) and €Y bonus when that lead converts to SQL or closes. This aligns incentives and reduces fraud.

For B2B with long sales cycles (+3 months), you can start with pure CPL but with validation window: you only pay if the lead passes the first SDR call. This protects you from inflated volume without quality.

Fraud-prevention clauses

Limit on leads per IP/device in 24h
Corporate email verification (no Gmail/Hotmail for B2B)
Blacklist of temporary and disposable email domains
Manual audit of 10% random leads each week
Penalty for approval rate <40%: commission cut or pause

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to generate consistent volume?

Partner recruitment takes 4-6 weeks. Significant volume starts in month 2-3 after onboarding and optimization. For rapid scaling, integrate an affiliate platform (Impact, PartnerStack) that already has a network.

Is CPL or pure CPA better?

Depends on sales cycle. If your LTV is high (+€2K) and you sell in <30 days, pure CPA works. If the cycle is long (+3 months), use hybrid CPL+CPA to give partners quick cash flow and reduce risk. Read CPL vs CPA comparison

How do I prevent fraud in the network?

Weekly manual audit of 10% leads, blacklist suspicious IPs/domains, corporate email verification and automatic penalty to partners with approval rate <40%. If you detect patterns (multiple leads same IP), pause immediately.