HowTheyGotUsersHowTheyGotUsers

Find Partners by Mining Competitors' Backlinks and Social Feeds

Find Partners by Mining Competitors' Backlinks and Social Feeds is a partnerships & affiliates tactic for getting your first users: Source ready-made affiliate prospects by reverse-engineering who already promotes your competitors and who creates content in your niche.

It's a strong fit for B2B SaaS, Consumer / mobile apps, Dev tools / technical, and E-commerce / DTC teams, and works especially well for SaaS, dev tools, consumer apps, ecommerce. As a partnerships & affiliates play, plan for medium effort and expect results to build gradually over time, all grounded in 3 linked primary sources.

Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effortSlow

Why does partnerships & affiliates work for this?

People already linking to competitors or posting in your niche have audiences pre-qualified for your product and have shown they're willing to do affiliate work. You skip the convincing step.

The exact steps (4)

The full step-by-step this founder ran, what they posted, where, and in what order, plus the watch-outs, is part of the library.

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Sources

Works for
B2B SaaSConsumer / mobile appsDev tools / technicalE-commerce / DTC

Frequently asked

What kind of products does the "Find Partners by Mining Competitors' Backlinks and Social Feeds" tactic work for?
It is a good fit for B2B SaaS, Consumer / mobile apps, Dev tools / technical, and E-commerce / DTC — pick it when your product looks like one of those, since the play is shaped around how those users find new tools.
How is the "Find Partners by Mining Competitors' Backlinks and Social Feeds" tactic verified?
It is drawn from 3 primary sources — real founder write-ups and interviews, not generic advice. They are linked in the Sources section above so you can read the original accounts yourself.
How much effort is it and how fast are results?
It is medium effort, and results tend to be slow.
Where can I see the exact step-by-step?
The full step-by-step a founder ran, documented via Build a SaaS affiliate program from zero and They Make $1.4M/Year With AI, is in the paid library.

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