INSIGHT provide to your business, from price and scalability to reporting and analytics. So it’ s key that you make the right choice for your business and avoid paying unnecessary costs at the start of your affiliate-programmes lifecycle. There is no point in paying for the Rolls-Royce of a fully customised white-label solution when what you need is a functional Ford Fiesta – basic reporting and tracking – to get your affiliate revenue stream started. Your programme can migrate and scale up when it is the right time to do so; don’ t be stung for expensive, over-complicated systems in your first year of launch.
“ Remember that affiliates are in the front line of promoting your brand to new audiences so their feedback is invaluable in helping your business grow”
Compliance is also a factor for operators, so think about how you will track this within the technology you have and how you can leverage automated services to manage it. You might want to invest in a system that watches over this in addition to tracking and reporting – wag. io and rightlander. net are two such solutions. Remember: you are responsible for the failings of any affiliates you work with.
A small investment in expert advice at the beginning of your affiliate journey will save you wasted spend down the line. Affiliate marketing is now a specialised field and speaking to someone who’ s been immersed in the industry and understands the finer attributes of this digital channel can be highly beneficial for your business.
Perfect your pitch and support your launch When it comes to launching your affiliate programme, you’ ve got to start thinking about its functional operations and dayto-day running. Account management functions can easily eat up your time so make sure you have a strong team in place post-launch to take your programme forward. Ensure you have the right level of customer support to help new affiliates get up and running. Often it is easier to work initially with an established agency that can leverage its networks and relationships to help you quickly gain traction in the community.
Affiliate marketing is all about building trust. As a new brand or programme in the market, you may struggle getting the buyin from affiliates who are cautious about spreading their risk to unknown names.
Affiliate recruitment is a specialised art and an incredibly time-consuming activity. You have to invest a lot of hours to research connections and then perfect your pitch to effectively sell your programme to affiliates. You should also invest in promotional marketing to pitch your programme within the affiliate community and gain a wider reach. Participating in events and forums is a good way to do this, as is creating a strong content-marketing plan that enables you to be seen as a thought leader committed to growing the affiliate channel for your brand.
It’ s not just about courting new affiliates one by one either; you also have to focus on retaining your existing affiliates and growing your relationship with them. Commercial negotiations are key to ensuring relationships are maintained and deliver the right return on investment for your business. Measuring results and engaging those deeper conversations will bring you a long term relationship that works for both parties. Above all, listen to your affiliates. When they’ re candid and tell you how they feel as your partner, you have to really take note. Remember that affiliates are in the front line of promoting your brand to new audiences so their feedback is invaluable in helping your business grow.
These are the key elements for success: be smart, ask for expert guidance and remember you’ re investing in long-term revenue growth, not quick wins – so make sure you have strategy and objectives mapped out. That way your affiliate programme will launch with a clear structure, pay dividends and help your business to grow.
With two decades of digital marketing and affiliate experience in retail, payments and blue-chip igaming brands, LEE-ANN JOHNSTONE has a wealth of expertise as an award-winning digital marketing and affiliate expert. She is an affiliate business mentor and founder of Affiliate Insider, which launched in 2017 offering Affiliate Bootcamp Training( AffiliateFEST + AIBootcamp), Affiliate Programme Management and Affiliate Manager Training services. affiliateinsider. com
38 iGB Affiliate Issue 70 AUG / SEP 2018