So you want to set up an Affiliate Program?
There are an estimated 2400 affiliate merchants across the UK. Of these, the vast majority would have chosen to provide their Affiliate Management through an Affiliate Network. This is not a bad thing, but is it really maximising the potential of your program? I believe not. If you consider that most networks have a handful of staff members who have to deal with dozens of merchants and hundreds of affiliates, it might become immediately obvious why. Put yourself in their shoes - would you be able to dedicate all the time needed to support your program and your affiliates, if you had 60 other merchants on your plate? The answer is plainly and simply NO. You would not have the time, nor the necessary product knowledge to care for your program and your affiliates needs.
Keep the management in-house
I strongly believe that Affiliate Management should be kept in-house even if you run your program through a network. Think of a network as simply a marketing platform. One from which you can recruit new affiliates. Insist that your in-house affiliate managers Name and contact details, and not those of the networks appear in the affiliate interface. If you run the management in-house, the chances are your affiliate manager will know what your products are all about, and will know your site as well as the palm of his/her hand.
Knowing your products and site well is the first (and essential) step to having a successful program. Affiliates will need your guidance at some point, and your in-house affiliate manager should be the person helping them. This will lead to a good relationship between your organisation an the affiliates, leading to a potentially very lucrative business partnership for all parties.
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