How Shakes Matches Offers to Partner Requests

How Shakes Matches Offers to Partner Requests

Every partner has a list of what they’d like to run: a specific niche, a specific GEO, a specific offer type. Every advertiser has a product lineup where not everything converts equally well. The marketplace’s job is to bring these two lists together so both sides make money. Here’s how it works at Shakes: how we know what partners need, how we read the market, and how we pick offers from an advertiser — no guesswork involved.

The Wish List: Partner Requests Don’t Get Lost

When a partner tells their manager “I want joint products on this GEO” or “I’m looking for a diabetes offer with a decent approval rate,” that request doesn’t dissolve into the chat history. Managers log requests in a wish list: which offers and which GEOs partners are interested in right now.

What matters is that the wish list works over the long haul. If there’s no suitable offer right now, the request doesn’t die. It sits there and waits. The moment the marketplace gets a matching product — even months later — the partner gets an offer tailored to their saved request. For the partner, it means one simple thing: they’re heard not only in the heat of the moment, but also long after they’ve forgotten they even asked.

That’s the first half of the equation — demand. We know what partners want to run, and we can approach an advertiser not with a vague “give us something interesting,” but with concrete demand: we have partners ready to work with this niche on these GEOs.

What’s Already Running: Reading the Market Through Our Own Data

The second half of the equation is what’s happening inside the marketplace right now. We look at which GEOs and niches partners are already running, because those are the market conditions: where there’s traffic, payouts, approval, and clear unit economics.

So when an advertiser comes to us, we don’t suggest launching blind. We find out every GEO they operate in, but propose starting where they already have traffic and a working call center. They know their math on those markets: lead cost, approval rate, redemption rate. In parallel, we cross-check against what our partners are already running on the same GEOs. If the market has both their working infrastructure and live affiliate traffic — that’s the entry point. We don’t pitch GEOs that are new to the advertiser at launch: first, the “traffic plus call center” combination needs to prove itself where at least one side already understands the numbers.

The Request to the Advertiser: Top 3 or Top 5 Offers with Numbers

Step three is the conversation with the advertiser. We don’t ask them to “show us the whole catalog.” We ask for their top 3 or top 5 offers with data on each: name, terms, total approval rate, payout, product price.

Why this way. The advertiser knows their assortment better than anyone — which products actually sell and which just sit in the catalog. But their knowledge is no guarantee an offer will work for affiliate traffic. That’s where our filter kicks in: from the submitted list, we pick the offers that overlap with what partners are already running and with what’s sitting in the wish list. If there’s a product in the list that matches a saved partner request — it’s a priority. If an offer looks strong on paper but there’s no demand or market conditions for it — we say so honestly instead of padding the catalog for volume’s sake.

The key point here is approval. We look at the organic total approval rate, not at promises. If an offer organically delivers 15 total, a promise of “we’ll make it 20 for you” is unrealistic: approval is the call center’s work on current traffic, and there’s no magic button on the advertiser’s side. If approval is low, we don’t bargain for promises — we say it straight: work with your call center and current traffic, come back when the number grows organically. That’s exactly why statistics are mandatory — a week at minimum, ideally 2–3 months, with volumes and trends. No stats, no launch.

Terms: Better to Decline Than Accept Mediocrity

Once an offer is selected, the terms conversation begins. We don’t rush here either. Mediocre terms produce mediocre results: a payout that doesn’t cover the partner’s traffic costs means nobody picks the offer up — or they do and burn out fast. Fewer interested partners means less volume for the advertiser. So for us, it’s better to walk away from a launch than accept terms where the economics don’t add up for either side.

That said, no fanaticism. If a number is slightly below target — that’s negotiable: we look at approval, product price, and volume growth potential. Decisions are made on the whole picture, not a single row in a spreadsheet.

What Happens After “Yes”

If the terms align, the process kicks in: contract, filling in the offer details, and the mandatory deposit to start. The first test of a new advertiser runs on safe niches — diabetes and joints. We don’t take unpredictable niches like potency at launch: with low approval there, it’s impossible to tell whether the call center or the traffic is at fault — which means no honest way to evaluate either side’s work. After a successful test, we add niches gradually.

We start with a capped volume — 50–100 leads per day, depending on the advertiser’s capacity. And we ask about their cap headroom upfront: how far we can scale together if the test goes well. Advertisers with volume headroom are more interesting to work with — and partners get room to scale.

Why Both Sides Win

For the partner, this mechanics delivers predictability: their requests are logged, and offers don’t appear randomly — they show up in response to real demand, including their own. For the advertiser, it delivers a concrete entry point: we don’t come asking “give us an offer” — we come knowing which of their products, on which GEO, and against which demand we’re ready to launch, and which statistics we need to see.

If you’re an advertiser looking to discuss a launch — send us the stats on your strongest offers: approval rates, volumes, and trends over the past months. If you’re a partner and can’t find the offer or GEO you need in the catalog — log the request with your manager. It will land in the wish list and wait for its product.