Partner & Commission Audit
Reviewed active partners, commission structures, and membership conversion paths to separate quality trials from traffic that inflated CAC before LTV could justify the spend.
CASE_STUDY: 009PAWPAffiliate
Scaling Affiliate for Membership Quality
As Growth Marketing Lead at PAWP, I rebuilt affiliate the way I had at Funimation: measured the LTV of each partner's traffic, grew partnerships 30%, lifted affiliate-driven new subscriptions 25% with tailored promotions, and helped pull overall CAC down 30%.
OVERALL CAC
-30%
While affiliate partnerships grew 30% and channel subscriptions grew 25%
The Challenge
Affiliate Volume Without Membership Quality
PAWP's affiliate channel brought traffic, but too much of it failed to become high-quality memberships. Platform costs and partner economics were hard to defend when CAC kept climbing.
I inherited the same class of problem I had solved at Funimation: a channel that looked active on paper, but needed an audit, a broader partner mix, clearer attribution, and a way to measure the LTV of each partner's traffic so we scaled quality, not just volume.
THIN PARTNER MIXOPAQUE ATTRIBUTIONWEAK PROMOTIONSCAC PRESSURE
Phase 01
Auditing Partners, Costs, and Credit
Before expanding the roster, I mapped which partners earned memberships worth keeping, where fees and attribution leaked value, and what LTV each partner's traffic actually produced over time.
Platform Cost Analysis
Quantified platform fees against partner output so leadership could see where spend bought volume without membership quality.
Attribution Gap Analysis
Mapped broken tracking, overlapping windows, and disputed credit across trial and paid membership before changing partner rules.
Portfolio Segmentation
Segmented the roster by partner type, trial quality, and paid conversion so growth was not capped on a narrow creator-only mix.
Partner Traffic LTV
Measured the lifetime value of members acquired through each affiliate so partners were ranked by the long-term value of their traffic, not clicks, trials, or short-window conversions alone.
Executive Alignment
Reframed affiliate as a measurable acquisition channel with forecasts leadership could fund alongside CRO and SEO.
Phase 02
Growing Partnerships Beyond a Thin Roster
Partnerships grew 30% by expanding beyond a thin creator set into publishers and partners who could send high-intent pet parents into membership offers.
01
Pet & Parenting Publishers
Activated editorial and community publishers already trusted by pet parents, not just one-off creator posts.
02
Deal & Offer Partners
Brought in deal and promotion partners aligned with trial and membership offers that could convert with clearer intent.
03
Inbound Partner Pipeline
Built application and qualification workflows so new partners could join without waiting on fully manual outreach.
04
Outbound Partner Development
Prospected publishers and communities that matched PAWP's audience but were not yet in the program.
05
Quality Gatekeeping
Kept low-quality volume out so the larger roster still protected CAC instead of recreating the old leak.
Phase 03
Tailored Promotions, Incentives, and Trust
Stronger partnerships only compound when promotions and credit follow LTV. Tailored offers and incentives lifted affiliate-driven new subscriptions 25% while overall CAC moved down 30%.
01. Tailored Partner Promotions
Built partner-specific offers and messaging so promotions matched audience intent instead of one generic membership CTA.
02. Performance Incentives
Reworked compensation so partners earning quality memberships had room to grow without constant renegotiation.
03. LTV-Weighted Partner Economics
Weighted commissions and promotions toward partners whose traffic produced stronger membership LTV, so the channel paid for durable value instead of raw volume.
Transparent Attribution
Revised reporting so partners could see how traffic moved through trial and paid membership.
PROMOTIONSINCENTIVESATTRIBUTIONLTV
The Results
More Partners, More Subscriptions, Lower CAC
Affiliate stopped acting like a traffic side channel and started contributing measurable membership growth. Partnerships expanded, subscription volume through the channel rose, overall CAC fell, and partners were judged by the LTV of the traffic they sent.
AFFILIATE PARTNERSHIPS+30%
AFFILIATE SUBSCRIPTIONS+25%
OVERALL CAC-30%
“The calling point was LTV. Once we measured the lifetime value of each affiliate partner's traffic, we knew which partnerships to grow, which promotions to fund, and how to cut CAC without starving the channel. Partnerships up 30%, affiliate subscriptions up 25%, overall CAC down 30%.”
Scaling affiliates without knowing partner LTV?
I measure the lifetime value of each partner's traffic, grow the roster that compounds, and build promotions that scale subscriptions without inflating CAC.
Engagement Series
PAWP
Short growth lead engagement across affiliate quality, multivariate membership CRO, and programmatic Vet Finder SEO.
