Affiliate onboarding checklist: the first seven days after someone joins your program

By the RecruitAffiliates.ai team · 27 October 2026 · 9 min read

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Affiliate onboarding is what you do in the first week after you approve someone. Approval is not the finish line. It can happen that a person joins, copies a link and never posts.

An affiliate is someone who sends buyers to your shop and earns a commission, a cut of each sale. This checklist covers the seven days after you say yes. Finding and approving people is covered elsewhere. See the recruitment email and the application form.

Everything here is written for a DTC Shopify brand. DTC means direct to consumer: you sell your own products straight to shoppers.

What should the first seven days look like?

Here is the whole week at a glance.

Day	Job
1	Run a tracking test, then send the welcome message
2	Give them a link, a code and one first product
3	Send a one-page content brief
4	State the disclosure rule
5	Check they have posted or planned something
6	Check the first click or sale is credited
7	Write down the payout terms and the next date

Why seven days? We chose it. It is our own rule of thumb, not a standard. A week is short enough that nobody forgets they joined. It is long enough to ship one product and write one post.

Day 1: how do you test tracking before anyone posts?

Do this before you message anyone. A broken link wastes the one thing the affiliate gives you, which is their audience's attention.

Run this test yourself, in a private browser window:

Open the affiliate's link. Note the address after it loads.
Add one low-priced product to the cart.
Check out with a test or real order, using a different email than your own.
Open your affiliate app. Find the order.
Check that the sale is credited to the right person, at the right rate.

Then repeat with their discount code and no link. A creator code is a code buyers type at checkout. Shopify Collabs says each creator gets one, and the brand sets it when sending the invite (Shopify Help Center, checked 27 October 2026). The same page says affiliate links work only for creators who are connected and assigned to a tier.

That second line is a trap. If you approve someone but skip the tier step, their link may not count. Test, then message.

Tracking may also miss slow sales, in our reasoning. WebKit, the team behind Safari, says it caps some cookie expiry "to 24 hours" (WebKit, checked 27 October 2026). A code is a useful second route. Our guide on Shopify affiliate programs covers the setup and a month-one plan.

If your app has no test mode, we would place a real order with a 100% code, then cancel it.

Day 1: what should the welcome message say?

Send it the same day the test passes. A fast welcome keeps the yes warm.

The message has one job. It tells the new affiliate what happens next, so they don't have to ask. Copy this and change the brackets:

Subject: Welcome to [Brand]. Here's your link and what happens this week

Hi [Name],

You're in. Thanks for joining the [Brand] program.

Your link: [link] Your code: [code] Your rate: [rate]% of each sale, paid after our [number]-day return window.

Here is what happens this week:

Tomorrow I'll send you [first product] to try.
On day 3 you'll get a one-page brief with ideas that suit your audience.
One rule: say you earn a commission whenever you share your link. I'll send exact wording.

Reply to this email with questions. I read every one.

[Your name], [Brand]

It answers three questions: where is the link, what do I earn, and when do I get paid.

The Collabs help page describes the welcome content as part of the invite email, and merchants can save a default message for later invites (Shopify Help Center, checked 27 October 2026). So the email above fills a gap you may otherwise leave open.

Day 2: what first product should you give?

Give one product, not a catalogue. Choosing for them removes the hardest question, which is where to start. Pick one with strong reviews that shows well in a photo and fits what this person already writes about.

For gifting rules and what goes in the box, see our guide to product seeding on Shopify.

Don't make a gift a condition. In our view, a gift with no strings gets a more honest post. If you do expect a post in return, say so before you ship.

Day 3: what goes in a content brief?

A content brief is a short page that tells an affiliate what to say and what to avoid. Keep it to one page. In our view, long briefs rarely get read.

Put these five things in it:

Who the product is for. One sentence.
Three angles that work. For example, a before-and-after, a gift guide, a how-I-use-it.
Facts they can quote. Materials, sizes, care, what is in the box.
Claims to avoid. Anything you cannot back up, such as health claims.
Where to send readers. Your link, your code and the page they should land on.

Add one example post from someone else, if you have it. A real example beats a paragraph of advice. Put logos and photos in a shared folder and link it in the brief.

Tell them what you won't control. They write the post. The best affiliate content sounds like the writer, not like you.

Day 4: how do you state the disclosure rule?

The disclosure rule says affiliates must tell readers they earn from the link. It is the one rule you should never skip.

The US Federal Trade Commission gives a sample line: "I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post." It says "affiliate link" or "buy now" on their own are not enough. It also says the closer the disclosure is to the recommendation, the better (FTC, checked 27 October 2026).

The same page puts some of the duty on you. It says "Your company is ultimately responsible for what others do on your behalf." It also says advertisers need reasonable programs to train and monitor members of their network.

For a brand, that points to three small steps:

Put the rule in your terms and in the welcome message.
Send the exact line you want them to use.
Look at their first post on the day it goes live.

We have ten lines ready to copy in affiliate disclosure examples. Here is a day-4 message you can paste:

Quick reminder on one rule. Whenever you share your link, say you earn a commission, close to the link and before the call to buy. For example: "Ad: I earn a commission if you buy through my link." Send me your first post when it's ready, and I'll check the wording with you.

This is guidance, not legal advice. The FTC page is for US rules, and other countries have their own.

Day 5: what do you check?

Today is a light check. Look for signs of life, not results.

Did they open your email? Did they reply?
Have they claimed the product? If you sent a gift in Collabs, you can view how many times it was sent and redeemed (Shopify Help Center, checked 27 October 2026).
Have they sent a post idea?

If nothing has happened, send one short nudge. For example: "Did the [product] arrive? Happy to answer questions." Silence on day 5 is common and not a verdict.

Day 6: how do you check the first sale?

A first click or sale is the proof that the whole chain works. Open your app and look.

Check four things:

The click is on the right affiliate.
The sale shows the right order total and commission.
The sale is marked pending, not paid.
Any code use is credited to the same person.

If the sale is missing, don't assume the affiliate did nothing. Re-run the day-1 test and ask them for the exact page they shared. We would check first for a link that lost its tracking tag, or a code typed with a space.

When a sale does land, tell them the same day. "Your first sale just came through" is a good second email to send.

Don't pay the sale until the return window ends. Shopify Collabs holds a new commission as pending, so a refunded order does not get paid. The merchant sets the holding period between 1 and 90 days, and the default is 30 days (Shopify Help Center, checked 27 October 2026).

Day 7: what payout terms do you write down?

Money questions can be a reason an affiliate goes quiet. Answer them in writing before they ask.

Write down:

The rate. Percent of each sale, before or after shipping and tax.
The wait. How long you hold a commission, so returns can come back.
The minimum. The smallest balance that triggers a payment.
The method and date. How you pay, and on what day each month.
What cancels a commission. Refunds, cancelled orders, and self-purchases.

Here is how Shopify Collabs does it, as one example. Commission is paid through the merchant's Shopify bill once the holding period ends. Creators get paid twice per month if they have turned on automatic payouts and their balance is at least $25 (Shopify Help Center, checked 27 October 2026).

Not sure what rate to set? Read what commission a Shopify program should pay and what to offer affiliates.

End the week with a short message. Say what you saw, what is next, and when they will hear from you.

What if they go quiet after day 7?

Some will. That is normal. Send one useful message at day 14 with a new angle, such as a product launch. If there is still no reply by day 30, move on.

Our post on why nobody joins your program covers why people ignore the offer in the first place. For the plan that comes before all of this, see the first 10 affiliates in 14 days.

Frequently asked questions

What is affiliate onboarding?

Affiliate onboarding is what you do between approving an affiliate and their first sale. It covers the welcome message, link and code, a first product, a brief, the disclosure rule and payout terms.

How long should affiliate onboarding take?

We suggest seven days. It is our own rule of thumb. A week is long enough to ship a product and agree on a post, and short enough that the affiliate still remembers joining.

Should I test tracking before I send the welcome message?

Yes. Place an order through their link and another with their code, then check your app credits both. A broken link wastes their first post, and that is hard to win back.

Do I need to give every new affiliate a free product?

No. Gifts suit creators and review writers. A coupon site or a loyalty site usually doesn't need one. If you do send a gift, say before you ship whether you expect a post.

Who is responsible for the disclosure?

Both of you. The FTC says a company is ultimately responsible for what others do on its behalf. So send the exact line, and check the first post. This is not legal advice.