Affiliate Programs
Affiliate Programs: No-Risk Internet Advertising that Sells
-Response Magazine, June 2003
What's better than global ad exposure 24/7 at your fixed media cost (CPO) with a system for 24/7 promotion, traffic, sales tracking & payment? Affiliate programs, websites that run ad campaigns on a PI/CPA basis driving sales at advertiser websites, were projected to represent 25% of Internet sales. [1]
DRTV companies should feel comfortable building affiliate programs. What is successful with consumers in DRTV translates almost identically in the Internet space. Consumers want a strong perceived value, ease & speed to purchase, quick & accurate fulfillment & customer service. Performance analysis and campaign massaging continue to be the key to success.
What attracts the strongest web site affiliates:
1. Good payouts: is your payout equal or better than your competition? Generally, advertisers post a % of sales. Programs that offer a 2nd tier payout for sites that persuade other sites to sign up under them are also attractive. Payout strategies include flexibility to pay more to the strongest sites as well as flat cost per sale for larger sites that prefer that kind of payment.
2. Realtime tracking: manual and delayed sales results are a turnoff to sites.
3. Lifetime earnings for ongoing sales from consumers that sites deliver are an important feature.
4. Attention to their special needs: sites like advertisers who address their creative requirements & work with them on special promotions.
Corey Newhouse of GreatBuyUSA says his 800 web sites/ad networks affiliates deliver 12% of Internet sales in their 1-2 year-old program. Corey uses Performics, one of the 4 big third-party affiliate solution companies like Commission Junction, BeFree & Linkshare. Companies like these host (for fees/commissions) a central location for advertisers like Corey to post the amount they offer per sale/lead, store creative and access a reporting system of sales results. They promote offers to thousands of member websites who then review & accept offers and post creative at their websites using unique links to accurately credit their site's sales.
Getting Started - Posting and Promoting Your Affiliate Program
The process starts by building a description of the program, benefits of the product, the best audience for the product/service, payout to the web sites, developing and posting various sizes & kinds of creative, payment terms, an application and agreement (outlining indemnification, anti-spam and trademark protection policies) for them to join with a list of FAQs. A great source for guidance is AffStat.[2] Next is the budget decision to host at home, lease from smaller hosts or the big 4.
Promotion with TV increased Internet sales conversion by five times in Shawn Collins' experience.
Free posting of advertisers' programs is available by 40-some affiliate program directories who show offers to their website memberships. The web is also a huge resource for researching competition & potential sites to invite to accept an offer. Emailing of press releases and promotion to previous customers, web sites and affiliate directories is integral to any campaign.
Maintaining and Increasing Your Program or the Care & Feeding of Affiliates
Web sites may be attracted to sign up for your program, but fail to "activate," or select and post your creative. Email reminders, enticements, participation in discussion groups and news about upcoming promotions will encourage activation and build strong ongoing relationships. Time devoted to the top performers is well spent, as many programs find that 5-20% of their affiliates deliver 80%+ of the affiliate program dollars.
Realtime tracking of sales results affords analysis of the number of ad exposures, the number of interested visitors who clicked on an ad, and, of course, the number of sales conversions. Testing can be done and evaluation made of every creative version as well as each affiliate.
Affiliate programs are really a situation where you can build it and they will come.
Good starting places to learn more are Successful Affiliate Marketing for Merchants by Shawn Collins[2], and iAmfa.org.
1 comScore/Jupiter