Brand and Manufacturer Outreach for Affiliate Sites: Samples, Direct Programs and the Lines You Can't Cross
Once a guide ranks for a category, the brands in it will find you, and sooner or later you'll want to find them: for a review unit, for a direct program paying 10% where Amazon pays 3%, for a discount code that lifts conversion.
Outreach is the part of affiliate work that looks like marketing and isn't; it's a short email from a page that already sends a brand customers, asking for something specific. Most of the rules are about keeping the verdict honest once the brand is in the picture.
This post covers when a site is big enough to write (and what to do until then), the email that gets a reply, what to ask for and in what order, the FTC's rule on free products and how to disclose, Amazon's rule that the sample can't change the link, the sponsored-content line, and how to keep the verdict honest after a free unit.
The monetisation post covers the direct programs themselves; this is how you get into them.
The short answer
Write to a brand once you have a page that ranks for its category. Lead with the URL and its traffic, ask for one specific thing (a direct program, a review unit, a code), and keep it to six sentences. Disclose any free product in the review where readers see it.
Never let the sample change the verdict or the link, never take money for a ranking, and label any sponsored post as such with sponsored links. The brand gets an honest review from a page with readers; that's the trade.
When you're big enough
The threshold isn't traffic to the site; it's traffic to the page the brand cares about. A guide at position three for "best bike lights for commuting" that sends a few hundred readers a month to Amazon is interesting to every brand in it, whatever the rest of the site does.
A site with 20,000 visits spread across topics the brand isn't in is not. So the first outreach happens when the first guide ranks, usually month four to eight, and it goes to the brands in that guide. Until then, the backlinks post covers the outreach that does work on a new site, which is a different email to different people.
The email
Six sentences, from a named person, to the marketing or PR contact (the brand's site footer, LinkedIn, or the press email on the about page):
- Who you are and the site, one line.
- The URL of the page that ranks for their category, and where it ranks.
- What that page sends them: visits a month, or clicks to their product.
- The one specific ask: "Do you run a direct affiliate program?" or "Could you send a review unit of the X for an update to that guide?"
- What they get: an honest, updated review on a page with readers; you'll disclose the unit.
- How to reach you.
No pitch deck, no media kit on a small site, no "collaboration opportunity". The page's position is the credential, and the specific ask is what gets answered. Brands reply to "can you send unit X for guide Y" and ignore "let's explore ways to work together".
What to ask for
| Ask | Worth to you | Cost to them | Reply rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| A direct affiliate program (or an invite to theirs) | High: often 8% to 15% vs Amazon's 3% to 4%, longer cookies | Nothing; they already run it | High if they have one |
| A review unit for a product you'd cover anyway | Real experience for the review; a photo you own | One unit | Moderate; higher with a ranking page |
| A discount code for your readers | Lifts conversion; trackable; readers like it | Margin on code sales | High |
| Early access to a new model | A review before the category's big sites | A unit and trust | Low until you're established |
| Money for a ranking or placement | Short-term cash, long-term a dead site | Cheap for them | Don't ask; decline when offered |
The FTC's rule on free products
A free product is a material connection, and the FTC's endorsement guides require it to be disclosed where the reader sees the review: in the review itself, near the top, in plain words ("The brand sent this unit for review; it didn't change what we recommend").
Not in a footer, not only on the about page, not behind a link. The same applies if you keep the unit, and to a discount code arrangement where you earn on code use. The disclosure post covers the affiliate-link disclosure; the free-product line sits next to it.
Amazon's rule
The Operating Agreement doesn't stop you accepting samples. It does require accuracy and prohibits misleading claims, which in practice means: the sample doesn't buy a verdict, the link still goes to the product your verdict recommends (not to the sample's variant because the brand asked), and the brand's claims don't become your findings without checking.
If the free unit's clamp cracks, the review says so. Brands that want otherwise are offering a paid endorsement, and that's the sponsored-content question.
The sponsored-content line
Two things look similar and aren't. A sponsored post, labelled as sponsored at the top, with links marked sponsored, that doesn't claim to be a ranking: legal, disclosed, and a judgment call about whether your readers mind.
Paid placement in a buyer guide ("pay us and you're the top pick"), undisclosed: deceptive to readers, an FTC violation, against Google's reviews guidance and its link-scheme rules, and the thing that gets a site's rankings and reputation removed at the same time. Decline it however it's phrased, including "we'd love to support the site" and "a small fee for inclusion".
Keeping the verdict honest
- Decide the verdict before opening the box, from the specs and the review pattern; let the unit confirm or change it, and say which.
- Write the complaints section from owner reviews, not from your fortnight with a free unit; the unit's job is the experience sentence, not the whole review.
- If the unit changes the verdict upward, say what you expected and what surprised you; if downward, say that too and send the brand the review before publishing as a courtesy, not for approval.
- Keep the alternatives section. A review that names three rivals with their reasons is a review a brand can't have bought.
Doing it with AffSERP
The review a brand gets from an AffSERP site is the same one every product gets: a verdict with a reason, complaints from the owner-review pattern, three alternatives with their own buttons, specs through the API.
The free unit adds the experience sentence through your notes, and the disclosure line for the unit goes in the same notes field so the X Best Review tool places it with the affiliate disclosure above the first link.
A direct program's link, once you're in one, is the button edit the monetisation post describes. The outreach email is yours; the page it points at is already written.
FAQ
How do I get free products to review for my website?
Have a page that already ranks for the brand's category, then write to the brand's marketing or PR contact with the URL, the monthly traffic to that page, and a specific ask: a review unit for a named product, to be covered in a named guide. Brands send samples to pages that already send them customers. A new site with no rankings gets no reply, and that's the right outcome; samples follow traffic, not the other way round.
Can I accept free products as an Amazon affiliate?
Yes, with two rules. The FTC requires you to disclose that the product was provided free, in the review, where the reader sees it. And Amazon's Operating Agreement requires that the free unit doesn't change what you link to or claim: your verdict and links stay honest, and you don't present the brand's talking points as your findings. A free unit and a true review are compatible; a free unit and a guaranteed positive review aren't, under either rule.
Should an affiliate site accept sponsored content?
Paid placement in a ranking ('pay us and you're the top pick') is the line not to cross: it's deceptive to readers, the FTC treats an undisclosed paid endorsement as a violation, and Google's reviews guidance and link policies both target it. A clearly labelled sponsored post that isn't a ranking, with the links marked sponsored, is legal and sometimes worth it on a large site; on a small one it costs more trust than it earns.
What should I ask a brand for?
In order of value to a product site: a direct affiliate program with a better rate than Amazon's (if they have one), a review unit for a product you'd cover anyway, a discount code for your readers (which converts and is trackable), and early access to a new model. Not asked for: money for a ranking, or a link in exchange for a mention. Most brands say yes to the code and the unit and no to nothing else, because the ask costs them little.
AffSERP reviews carry a verdict with a reason, complaints from owner reviews and three alternatives with their own buttons, which is the shape a free unit can inform and not change.
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