Growth that other people want to share.

An affiliate and partnerships agency builds and manages the relationships that let other people promote your brand in return for a reward. At Vertical that covers strategy, programme setup, tracking, partner recruitment, creator and brand partnerships, commission design, day to day management and reporting. We connect partner activity with your paid media, email and store, so partnerships support the rest of your marketing rather than running in isolation.

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based channel where partners promote your products and earn a commission when their audience buys or signs up. Partners can include content publishers, review sites, creators, newsletters, communities and loyalty platforms. Because you pay mainly for results, affiliate marketing can be an efficient way to reach new customers. It works best when partners are carefully chosen, well supported and rewarded for bringing in genuinely new business.

We start by defining the kinds of partners whose audiences match your best customers, then research and approach them directly with a clear, personal pitch. Every prospective partner is checked for audience quality, content standards and brand fit before they join. Recruitment is ongoing rather than a one-off push, so the programme keeps adding partners who can bring in new customers as it matures.

Commission should reflect the value each partner brings. We design rates around your margins and customer lifetime value, often with higher rewards for new customers, tiers for top performers and bonuses for launches or key periods. We also look closely at partners who mainly convert shoppers already close to buying, such as some voucher sites, and adjust terms so commission rewards real influence rather than last-minute clicks.

Affiliate programmes are usually open to many partners, who promote your brand and earn commission on sales they drive. Creator partnerships tend to be closer, longer-term relationships with a smaller number of creators, often combining commission with content fees, product seeding or exclusive offers. Many brands benefit from both: a broad affiliate programme for reach and a smaller group of creator partners for deeper trust and better content.

Brand partnerships are collaborations between two brands that serve similar customers without competing directly. They can take the form of co-marketing campaigns, product bundles, shared events, cross-promotion to each other's audiences or limited editions. The right partnership introduces you to customers who already trust a brand you sit well beside. We identify suitable partners, shape the proposition, handle the approach and manage the campaign through to results.

We track sales, new customers, average order value, returns and cost of sale for every partner, then look at how much of that revenue is genuinely incremental. Some partners introduce new customers, while others mainly claim sales that would have happened anyway. Understanding the difference lets us reward the partners who drive real growth and adjust terms where commission is being paid without adding value.

We use AI agents to research potential partners, analyse audience fit, monitor partner performance and draft outreach and briefs. That lets us find and approach more of the right partners and spot changes in performance quickly. Every partner, message and commission change is reviewed by our team before anything happens, so AI speeds up the research and analysis while experienced people make the judgements about who represents your brand.

A programme can be set up and recruiting partners within a few weeks, once tracking, terms and creative assets are in place. Revenue usually builds gradually as partners join, create content and find what works for their audiences. Most programmes gain real momentum over several months, with the strongest partners growing in value over time. We agree realistic goals at the start and report regularly on progress.

Yes. B2B partnerships often take the form of referral programmes, technology and integration partners, agency and reseller relationships and co-marketing with complementary businesses. The principles are the same: find partners who serve your ideal customers, give them a good reason to recommend you and reward them fairly. We help B2B teams design these programmes, recruit partners and track the leads and revenue they bring in through your CRM.