Unless you know about the product very well, it is highly recommended to test it before you recommend it to your audience. This way you can offer your honest opinions and your consumers will trust you when they make a purchase.
Listicles have been a mainstay of online articles for decades. They are easy to organize, give structure when writing, and often give a set number of options for something people are looking for anyway. Using this as a way of finding article topics can also be a powerful way to break through writer’s block.

Remember, if this affiliate is doing well, there is a high chance other brands are reaching out to them as well, and the last thing you want is someone to provide them a better offer. The key to building a long-lasting relationship so that affiliates will come to you when this happens and give you the chance to negotiate, rather than leaving you out to dry.
This makes it much easier to diagnose the actual problem in your sales process and make improvements where required.