TRAFFIC
company with them. Having a tool
in place that can manage the affiliate
conversation, deal negotiation and
keep a record of what is meant to be
delivered and when is key in terms
of programme management. Loyalty
and retention are vital components for
building an affiliate programme, so
find a technology partner that can help
you automate this function within the
programme management platform.
Recruitment is the most labour-
intensive part of managing an affiliate
programme. It takes an enormous
amount of time and energy to search,
recruit and build a programme, so if
you can find a technology partner that
offers a recruitment service or tools to
help your programme grow then it’s a
great USP to have.
Get the right support for
when things go wrong
Support service packs are often
overlooked when considering a
technology provider but it’s probably
the most important thing you’ll need.
Why? Simply because it’s the first
thing you’ll call on when a problem
occurs and your affiliates are affected.
Technology isn’t perfect and the way
you react when it breaks down can
have a big impact on how affiliates
perceive your programme service.
Make sure you ask for the service
level agreements, check whether you
have a personal account manager to
escalate problems to and if there is an
out-of-hours service for when critical
items occur. The last thing you need
in a crisis is a ticket number and no
human to speak to. Being able to use
these support options when you need
them (and not paying extra for the
privilege) is what you want to aim for
in negotiations.
Importantly, you don’t want to be
tied into contracts that make you pay
over the odds for services that you
don’t need. Try to negotiate sliding
scales or minimums for when you first
start your programme. It often takes
six months to build momentum and
during this time you don’t want to pay
costly overheads for a service that is
barely being used. Once again, this ties
into the flexibility that is important
to your programme if it is going to
thrive. The right network operator will
provide this.
Get expert advice
Last but not least, get an expert in
to help if you don’t have the right
knowledge in-house. The affiliate
space is a specialised area of digital
marketing and it needs a specialist to
advise you on how to navigate it. The
benefit of using an expert or an agency
is in the breadth of experience that
they have in the wider marketplace,
something that will be invaluable to
a fledgling business. If you do not
get this help then you run the risk
of failing in your attempt to juggle
the complexities of infrastructure,
promotion, commercials, technology,
programme maintenance and
management. Invest in the right
infrastructure at the start and you
will reap the rewards in the longer
term. Become involved in the wider
community and invest in insight from
the exp erts.
If you follow these tips for
choosing the right technology, you
will be building the right foundation
for creating a scalable and profitable
affiliate programme. It isn’t the easiest
job on which to spend your time and
resources in the short term, but laying
these foundations is vital for creating
a programme that will bring you a
return on investment.
LEE-ANN
JOHNSTONE
With almost two decades
of digital marketing and
affiliate experience gained
within retail, payments and blue chip
igaming brands, Lee-Ann Johnstone
has a wealth of expertise as an
award-winning digital-marketing
expert and business mentor. She
is the creator of AffiliateFEST and
founder of Best Odds Marketing,
a strategic digital consultancy
specialising in affiliate marketing. In
2017 she launched Affiliate Insider,
which offers affiliate bootcamps,
business retreats, affiliate manager
training and business development.
iGB Affiliate Issue 71 OCT/NOV 2018
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