We believe there are better options available in this category, read below to learn what this software does well, and what they could do better. ⤵
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The referral category deserves a bit of an explanation because we continually see confusion arise when it comes to the competitors in this space. You'll often hear terms like "affiliate", "referral", "link tracking", and "partner portals" all used interchangeably.
And with that, not all referral tracking tools are created equal, nor are they focused on the same needs. They can actually be broken up more into 5 main sub-categories:
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An affiliate tracking tool for large B2C eCommerce businesses like GAP and Honey (not for B2B SaaS companies)
If you are a B2B SaaS company, stay away from Impact. Let me explain: Impact was initially built specifically for large B2C eCommerce brands like GAP and coupon sites like Honey (does that sound like you?).
That said, they've saturated that market and saw the B2B SaaS space as another market to go after. Because of that, they updated their branding to include the SaaS space (largely due to getting a few big-name SaaS companies like HubSpot and ClickUp but don't let that fool you).
There's a reason why the leading B2B SaaS affiliate & referral tracking companies only work with B2B SaaS. Managing affiliates for physical product purchases from an eCommerce store and managing store coupons is a completely different beast than the recurring revenue model of SaaS.
An analogy would be someone that wants to build a web app using a tool like Shopify, all with absolutely no use for an eCommerce store. Shopify has mastered eCommerce. The software that even integrates with Shopify is eCommerce solution-focused. Using Impact for your B2B SaaS affiliate program is using the wrong tool for the wrong job.
If you're a software company, you should use one of the best affiliate platforms that was built for B2B SaaS on day one. In-fact, they actively avoid working with eCommerce companies, because it makes sense, right?
Our recommendation? Dub Partners (it's our top pick), as it was built for recurring revenue models (you know, 3–4 "SKU's"), so they actually understand the concept of free trials, extended onboarding, and subscription tracking, with deep analytics, all without trying to retrofit an archaic platform (Impact).
Basic affiliate and referral tracking for SaaS.
FirstPromoter is an affiliate platform that shares the same core problems seen in the Rewardful review. Your affiliates will not care about your program, they will avoid logging in because they are juggling multiple FirstPromoter accounts (this point cannot be understated, and only the highest impact affiliate partners will be frustrated by it). You will be stuck chasing invoices, sending payments one by one, requesting W-9's, sending 1099's, and W-8BENs (to everyone). All of this and you don't even get the tracking needed to see what is actually working (for your affiliate partners, and thus yourself).
Compared to modern affiliate tracking tools that are completely disrupting the space, like Dub Partners, FirstPromoter ends up just feeling incredibly dated and inconvenient for everyone. When we see FirstPromoter, we don't believe you're taking your affiliate program seriously.
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