Proven Net-New Revenue Driven Through Scaled Partner Development & Performance-First Management.

The Challenge

Ecobee needed to understand whether the affiliate channel (particularly cashback, content, and deal partners) was driving incremental demand or simply cannibalizing traffic from other paid channels.

While the affiliate program delivered steady YoY growth across partner mix, new-to-file publishers, and product-level pushes, the brand lacked definitive, third-party confirmation that this growth represented net-new revenue.

The critical question: Is the affiliate channel expanding the funnel, or just intercepting buyers who would have converted anyway?

A third-party MMM study was commissioned to answer that question holistically across all channels.

The Gen3 Approach

Rather than relying on flat-fee placements or low-intent coupon arbitrage, Gen3 executed a performance-first, product-forward, partner-diversified affiliate strategy that consistently fed the upper – and mid – funnel touchpoints that MMM identified as incremental contributors.

Key actions included:

• Weekly product prioritization and tactical pushes. Strategic promo and category emphasis kept partners aligned with ecobee’s highest-converting opportunities and broader marketing priorities.
• Partner diversification to reduce reliance on any single reward network. Ongoing partner diversification expanded ecobee’s reach across multiple intent stages while reducing reliance on any single partner type.
• Consistent publisher activation and reactivation cycles. 100–125 publishers click-active each month with 25–40 producing revenue – evidence of a healthy, multi-layered ecosystem.
• Performance-first deal & loyalty strategy. Deal and loyalty partners were optimized for efficiency through performance-based commissioning and aligned promotional strategy.
• Ongoing monitoring of Amazon vs. DTC leakage. Ensured affiliate traffic supported ecobee.com instead of losing high-intent shoppers to Amazon ranking pages or PR-driven links.

The Results

• Affiliate performance matched broader MMM trends, proving net-new demand. The program’s growth from performance-only partners aligned with MMM’s finding of a +25% increase in incremental sales on only +2% more spend.
• Media tied to the affiliate channel drove real incremental revenue. Independent MMM analysis affiliate-aligned activity drove strong immediate sales lift (short-term iROAS) and continued generating value over time, adding an additional +0.6 in long-term iROAS.
• That long-term contribution didn’t just exist, it accelerated. Always-on and mid-funnel tactics drove a +33% year-over-year increase in long-term incremental media contribution, demonstrating that sustained publisher exposure compounds value beyond the initial conversion window.
• Our product-focused pushes drove measurable gains where the MMM showed the most opportunity. Targeted promotional focus aligned with the categories MMM identified as most responsive to media.
• A +17% increase in baseline sales confirmed true incremental acquisition. Because baseline represents revenue that wouldn’t have occurred without marketing influence, this growth verifies that affiliate partners (content, deals, loyalty) drove net-new, not cannibalized, sales.

The connected home category faces rising CPAs, heavy Amazon competition, and increasingly promo-sensitive shoppers. Despite these pressures, ecobee’s affiliate program continued to grow YoY, with diversified partners and performance-only activations generating net-new demand validated by third-party MMM analysis.

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