How Affiliate Managers Can Help
Affiliate Managers get no love. In affiliate marketing the role of the affiliate manager is to bridge the gap between advertiser and marketer. A good affiliate manager will keep you informed of new offers, help you choose higher converting offers, and check in from time to time to see how business is going.
I make it no secret that I promote with many different CPA networks. I do have some I prefer over others but to me there really isn’t much difference between them all. The two bggest factors in determining if I stick around with a CPA network is trust and relations. When there is an issue between advertiser and affiliate, I want to trust that my CPA network will fight for me and get the payment I deserve, even if sometimes the CPA network takes a temporarily loss on an offer. Developing a good solid relationship is the other factor I look at when promoting with a CPA network. Does the company go out of the way to provide top notch service? Do they help the smaller affiliate or just focus on keeping the so called “super affiliates”?
Which leads us back to affiliate managers. I’ve seen the full spectrum when it comes to my affiliate managers. Some provide great service while contuially updating me with the latest offers why others only care about their cut and take my traffic for granted. Still on some networks I don’t even have an AM (tired of typing out the word affiliate manager). I absolutly do prefer quality service from an AM over no AM at all. Here is a guideline from an email marketer on how to be a good AM
- Listen to your affiliate. This isn’t realtionship advice, but if your affiliate is one who doesn’t like you bugging him on AIM or phone all day, LEAVE HIM ALONE! it’s your job to guage the personality. Most affiliates are going to be introverted by nature. Others like myself, don’t mind the occasional mid-day gab. However, be conscious of the time invested. Sometimes a quick hello and how ya doing is all that’s needed. The affiliate will contact you for offer advice so be ready and available.
- It’s never JUST business! That attitude will get you no where. Your job is to build good quality relationships. I’ve switched out AMs due to their unwillingness to invest time in helping my business grow. If you want to keep your affiliates around, big and small, be there for them.
- Be honest and don’t push crappy offers. The affiliate marketing industry is small and word travels fast. Do whatever you can to help the affiliate and be straight. Don’t push low converting offers to affiliates b/c of higher payouts to you, pressure from boss, etc. Your top affiliates will appreciate it in the long run.
- Find ways to provide value. This might take some creativity, but try and figure out ways that you can directly be an asset. If an affilaite is looking for hosting, maybe you know of a good reputable service. Providing services like that will make you an invaluable component to helping him grow his business.
- Provide payout increases whenever possible. Again, CPA/Affiliate networks are a dime a dozen. Knowing that I will be recieving increases motivates me to use more of my resources to promote a high converting offer. if you won’t provide higher payouts, I will move my traffic elsewhere.
- Referals are your friend. All it takes is a few good super affiliates to provide a nice source of income for the AM. If you follow the first 5 steps to the bone, the referals will start pouring in. As an email marketer, I talk with many other top performing email marketers on a daily basis. if a certain network is doing a real good job, I’ll refer other mailers to that AM. Don’t beg for referals. That shhows you only care about stuffing your pockets. Provide good service and referals are your friend.
The above listed points is a guideline I follow when looking for an AM. I proably missed a few keep points and I might add another version to this post at a later time. I believe that Am’s are a good thing for the industry as long as they stay in communicaton with you and your needs. If there’s anything I missed email me and I might consider revising this post.
Filed under: Affiliate Marketing