inside the minds of affiliates

Affiliate Summit West 2011

Inside the Minds of Affiliates

Greg Hoffman, President, Greg Hoffman Consulting (@akagorilla)Tricia Meyer, Owner, Sunshine Rewards (@sunshinetricia)Eric Nagel, President, Eric Nagel & Associates, Inc. (@esnagel)Kim Rowley, Founder, Key Internet Marketing, Inc. (@kimarketing)

Program Management

• Benefits– They'll connect you with the right affiliates– They'll guide you on your way

• Warnings– Give them the authority they need to do their job

• Differences between outsourced & in-house program managers

• If you have an experienced, dedicated person vs. marketing person running affiliate program.

Program Management

• "These people need to be fired: Affiliate managers who do not respond to emails, who expire publishers without warning or explanation, who will not help a publisher with a problem concerning an advertiser, who treat publishers as second class citizens."

• "Affiliate managers rarely make any effort to respond to my problems, complaints or request for help."

• "It should be easier to reach affiliate managers or at least know who is managing programs before signing up."

Source: 2010 Affiliate Summit AffStat ReportUsed with Permission

Communications

First contact: Recruitment e-mail

• Know who we (the affiliates) are• Don't say, "your site"

– We have many of them• Make sure your product / service fits our niche• Don't sign, "the affiliate team"

First contact: Program Description

• If you mention average figures, make sure they're in line w/ the network

• However, they mean nothing to us.– One affiliate can skew them

• Why are you different from your competition?– Official / exclusive reseller of product X– Too many programs have identical products

You've been approved e-mail

• Contact information• Highlight non-standard terms

– Coupons– PPC

• Top-selling products• Seasonal trends

First sale e-mail

• Panel discussion

Be available

Types of communications with affiliates

• Email• Phone• Twitter• Facebook

– Don't add us to your Groups• Instant messenger

Newsletter Frequency

• Depends on the program.– If weekly coupons / specials, weekly e-mails– Don't send the same thing each week

Source: 2010 Affiliate Summit AffStat ReportUsed with Permission

When To Send A Newsletter

• Not on the 31st of the month, nor the 1st• Not Friday afternoon• Not 8:40pm on Cyber Monday, with your Cyber Monday

deal

Newsletters

• Include the program name, including in subject line– ex: "We are

Changing our Merchant Program"

• Include the network!• Include MY link, or a link

to the network's page where I can get links

• Over 20% of affiliates promote 50 or more programs

Source: 2010 Affiliate Summit AffStat ReportUsed with Permission

Newsletters

• "It's annoying when program managers spam my Inbox with useless stuff! I tend to ignore those that email me too often. On the other hand, I DO appreciate information that is actually useful to me and sent ONLY when it's actually warranted. Don't know the difference? Send me ONE email and ask me to subscribe if I want more."

Source: 2010 Affiliate Summit AffStat ReportUsed with Permission

What Works?

• Be generic!• Don't give out other affiliates' sites

Seasonal Trends

• We don't know your business like you know your business

Media Exposure

Specialty Categories

• Top sellers• Best sellers• Holiday Specials• Hot Deals• New Arrivals

Banners & Creative

• Text links– Homepage link!

• Banners– Popular sizes

• 468x60, 728x90, 250x300• See iab.net "Ad Unit Guidelines"

– Logo-only• Widgets• Video

Datafeeds

• Updated• Check the links before you upload the datafeed• Thumbnail & fullsize images• Understand what affiliates use datafeeds for

– Product search– Niche site

• Let the affiliates know about major changes

Coupons

• Exclusives, tracked back to the affiliate• Handed out ahead of time, not day-of• Understand your network's coupon feed system so your

coupons are included– Watch the dates– Make sure our exclusives are really exclusive.

Search restrictions

• Know what you're saying. Stating, "affiliates cannot use our brand name in your source code" is stupid.

• Would you rather have your affiliates bidding on your brand name, or your competition?

• Understand what TM, TM+ mean.• If you have rules, enforce them.

– Brand Verity

Rewards & incentives

• "Most sales" contests don't motivate niche-blog affiliates.

• Compete against last month, or year-over-year sales.

• Discussion on subjective (opinion-based) contests

• Personalized• Achievable

• Ask your affiliates what they want: cash, prizes (electronics, trips, t-shirts), increased commissions

• Don't make us ask for our bonsues.

"Run more Promotions, where you can earn a bonus if you reach a given goal."

Source: 2010 Affiliate Summit AffStat ReportUsed with Permission

Leaks

• Fix with PayPerCall• Live Chat• Links to other sites• AdSense

Your Affiliate Account

• Have your own, so you can see what affiliates see– 0% commission

Affiliate Summit West 2011

Inside the Minds of AffiliatesGreg Hoffman, President, Greg Hoffman Consulting

greg@greghoffmanconsulting.comTricia Meyer, Owner, Sunshine Rewards

tricia@sunshinerewards.comEric Nagel, President, Eric Nagel & Associates, Inc.

eric@ericnagel.comKim Rowley, Founder, Key Internet Marketing, Inc.

www.kimarketing.com