Info for Merchants - UK Affiliate Marketing, Online Promotion and Sales

Introduction for the ecommerce site owner, merchant or online trader considering Affiliate Marketing as a marketing and sales channel

If you are an online merchant and are curious about Affiliate Marketing you have most probably heard about how it offers potentially limitless internet exposure whilst the charge is wholly dependent on sales. It almost sounds too good to be true. Well, first things first; AM isn't going to be the goose that laid the golden egg for your business unless you treat is as a marketing channel that demands a significant commitment from you too. If, however, you think that you can work well and communicate with affiliates to support your big ideas then it most certainly can work for your business and it isn't uncommon for successful small merchants to drive over 25% of their overall sales through AM.

Tracking, Technology and Management

In-House Affiliate Programme : Although most affiliates are confident in the technology behind much of the third party tracking and reporting software used for in-house schemes that doesn't mean they are prepared to work with them. Firstly, the level of trust in a merchant has to be significantly greater when a merchant isn't on a network. Affiliates need to be convinced of their competence and trustworthiness in running it. Secondly, affiliates prefer the consolidated invoicing offered by the networks.

Network Affiliate Programme : Self Managed and Network Assisted. So you decide to join a network because that means it's plain sailing because you'll automatically be promoted by their tens of thousands of affiliates, right? Wrong. You need to provide the creatives and tools needed for affiliates to effectively promote you, get out there and tell both active and potential affiliates what you have to offer them and run your scheme in a way that gives affiliates confidence in you to resolve issues that may arise. On a self managed scheme this would be entirely your responsibility. Network assistance may come in many forms but it is no way full management of your merchant responsibilities. Setup fees and monthly charges vary significantly according to type of programme. The standard network override is 30%. This means that you will pay them an additional 30% of what is paid to those affiliated to you. In simplest terms if your basic single tier commission rate for affiliates was 10% the actual cost to you would be 13% + monthly fee. Some networks have a strong portfolio in a certain sector, eg: finance or travel, and this, amongst other factors, may affect your choice when considering which one to join.

Agency Management : When done well this can be very good and there are a few companies out there who can perform wonders, but unfortunately there are probably a number of agencies who in fact hinder good communications between merchants and affiliates. If you decide to use an agency or consultant in managing an inhouse or network programme then you should always consider how they would respond to problems that you yourself would be dealing with if they weren't acting on your behalf. If you are confident that they would be capable of resolving it to the benefit of yourself and your affiliates then you should feel far happier about working with them. Affiliate Marketing requires a unique set of skills and the most respected consultants and agencies have a long and extensive involvement in the industry. Choosing wisely can transform your success.

Some Dos and Don'ts for your scheme to work

Provide up to date creative in a variety of common sizes. Be prepared to respond to proven affiliates who have a need for other sizes of creative. Creating one extra quick banner for an affiliate who may drive 15,000 new visitors to your latest offer IS a good investment of an hour's time. Creatives need to be available quickly. If you or your designers cannot turn these round fast you will miss out. Promises of banners in a 'couple of weeks' just will not do; all your affiliates will lose interest

Affiliates won't just flock to you just for joining a network, I'm afraid. There are very few retail or service sectors not already represented on one or more networks by at least one merchant. For effective AM to work best you as a merchant should be in contact with your affiliates. You need to communicate with them to tell everyone about your new affiliate scheme, what it offers the publisher affiliate, why it is an attractive proposition for them, what features you offer (interactive creatives, data feeds etc), your policies on how you wish to be promoted and more information about your company's site and history. Inspire potential affiliates with confidence and they will begin to consider promoting you.

Sometimes affiliates' sites may not always be to your design tastes, but just because Janet and John's pet site doesn't look like an ISP portal doesn't mean its content is poor or it has no traffic. Those visitors it has are going to be pretty well targeted too. If prettification over substance is a high demand for you then you will prbably lose some of your best opportunities. Think; there's a 1001 people would kill for a frontpage ad on Craig's List if they could get one. Some of the best affiliate sites are similar, online gems with high quality, volume traffic lurking behind simple or imperfect designs. Even if some of your affiliates' sites aren't generating any traffic or sales it's no reason to terminate your relationship. They may be the next superaffiliate just beginning to learn the ropes, and in an undustry where they take the risk your snub will probably not be forgotten. What you need to do is get today's converting affiliates working with you too. Affiliates have far greater confidence if they believe that you and networks are running your scheme in a way that is free from fraudulent affiliates and activity, ie: those using illegal and unethical methods to generate or steal commission. That is what they and their visitors are concerned with, not regarding or evaluating a site as a piece of free brand building real estate belonging to you.

Communicate well with affiliates, join the A4U forum, offer performance incentives, run competitions, promotions and offer codes. It's essentially up to you to keep the ball of enthusiasm and success rolling.

Merchant Overview

Tracking, Technology and Management

Some Dos and Don'ts for your scheme to work