Why Our Conversion Rate Dropped From 32% to 7%

Short answer: while our offer lived inside the partner's product, 32% of the founders who clicked through signed up. When the partner started showing a bunch of other links next to ours, it fell to 7%. Being part of their product converts. Being one link among many doesn't.

This is one of our own collaborations. The numbers are click → signup, not revenue. The partner stays unnamed.

What happened

We had a collaboration with another business that was performing really well. Then the other side started doing affiliate work, showing a bunch of other links, and our collaboration took a hit. Nothing changed on our end: same integration, same offer, same partner.

• Before: our offer lived inside their product. Of the founders who clicked through, 32% created an Ordana account.
• After: the same offer, now next to a row of other links. Click → signup fell to 7%.

Why it fell

Our offer to their users wasn't an extension of their business anymore. We were just a fancier affiliate. A customer looking at one product's feature thinks this is part of what I already use. A customer looking at a row of logos thinks ads.

That is the whole difference between an integration and an affiliate link, and it shows up in the one number that didn't need anything else to change. (The broader argument is in are affiliate programs worth it for early-stage SaaS?)

The lesson

• Be part of their product, not a link. The customer shouldn't jump between platforms, systems and logos. It should all feel like one place.
• Protect the placement. When you set up an integration, agree on where it lives and what sits next to it.
• Measure click → signup, per placement. If it changes and you changed nothing, look at what changed around you.

The second one is the one founders skip, because it feels presumptuous to ask a partner what else they'll put on the page. It's the cheapest thing in the agreement to write down, and the most expensive to discover later.

Frequently asked questions

Is 32% typical?

It's one integration of ours, not a benchmark or a promise.

Why not just run an affiliate program?

Because the drop to 7% happened precisely when we became one affiliate-style link among many.

What does the 32% measure?

Click → signup: of the founders who clicked through from the partner's product, the share who created an Ordana account. It is not a reply rate, a paid conversion or a revenue figure.

On Ordana, your feature is integrated as a widget inside the partner's product, which is the placement the 32% came from. Set up your widget.

Related reading:

• What Is a Widget Integration? — being part of the partner's product, by design.
• How to Get Paying Users for Your SaaS Without Ads — the four partnership models graded.
• The 3 Types of SaaS Integration: Placement, Capability, Handoff — why a placement alone is the weakest kind.