Affiliate Marketing is Easy - there’s no excuse to fluff it!
Posted by Zak on 11 Mar 2008 at 05:29 pm | Tagged as: Affiliate Marketing
Hello folks,
There’s been a lot written of late about how some merchants (including some MASSIVE ones) seem to make an absolute pigs ear of Affiliate Marketing. Now, I’m not an Affiliate Guru - far from it - but Prezzybox always seem to do OK within the Affiliate Marketing arena. Why? Coz it’s not chuffin rocket science that’s why!!!
So, with it not being rocket science, here’s some basic tips which we adhere to which seem to work pretty well for us…
- Provide Affiliates with all the tools/information/data they require to sell your products.
- Do this early - not like the competitor of ours who sent out their Fathers Day creative on the Friday before Fathers day.
- Pay people for stuff they deserve. If the Affiliate has driven a sale or lead to your site then they deserve some credit for it , right. So for example when somebody purchased 50 hammocks on Prezzybox through an affiliate link we were happy to pay the affiliate £500 commission.
- Don’t do stooopid things which would be annoying if they happened to you. Reducing Commission/not paying commission during key selling periods on key lines/leakage on your site are all no-no’s. Affiliates are like elephants. They have lllloooonnnngggg memories.
- Work with your affiliates. It’s an ‘us and us’ situation, NOT an ‘us and them’ scenario. I’ve heard sooooo many merchants (and affiliates) berating the other side.
- Own up to your mistakes. If you’ve made a cock up, own up to it. Affiliates are humans too you know (even if some of them don’t look it!). Tell them if you’ve made a mistake and work through it with them. Honesty is the best policy.
I reckon that’s about it. 6 easy steps to running a half decent Affiliate programme.
One other thing. If you are looking to close your affiliate programme then do it honourably. Tell affiliates that your programme is closing in X days (making sure X is longer than 3 nanoseconds!!) so they can manage the changeover. I can understand ‘in principle’ why some big companies - who have to answer to a big board of Directors/Shareholders - close their programme, but surely it can be done with a modicum of professionalism.
Anyhoo. until next time…
TBW
I’d also add that if you have to reduce commissions give enough leadtime as you can and give a business case for it like “our costs have gone up” and our margin nolonger covers the commission.
Just remember what happened to Comet (I think).
We understand that commissions can come down as well as up, but let us know why.
Great article Zak
Work with your affiliates. It’s an ‘us and us’ situation, NOT an ‘us and them’ scenario. I’ve heard sooooo many merchants (and affiliates) berating the other side.
Exactly what I’ve been telling people for years.
[Not the same Keith as above!!] - Great stuff Zak.
Us and Us = Success - what some of us have been preaching for years.
That is a top blog post Zak.
“Own up to your mistakes. If you’ve made a cock up, own up to it.”
Hmm… But you don’t always get it right - you offered to send my mum a Pole Dancing kit a few years back, don’t forget?
Only a cheeky bugger like you Zak could get away with that! LOL
On behalf of the ministry of the bleedin’ obvious thank you for that post, very timely.
Yep, it still amazes me how many merchants can get simple things wrong. As I always say - be it in business or personal life - you should treat others as you’d like to be treated yourself.
Nice awards btw Zak :o) ————>
“As I always say - be it in business or personal life - you should treat others as you’d like to be treated yourself”.
Ahhh yes Mr Keen, and that is why you is one of da finest Affiliate Managers around!
If that’s your attitude to affiliates, I think we’ll be giving prezzybox a little extra push from now on.
PS, I know who sold those hammocks!!
Spot on Zak, Why is #6 such a big deal for so-called market leaders? “Own up to your mistakes”
Someone told me very early on in my career “it’s not the problems that are problems, it’s how people deal with the problems that is the problem”
That was before the information-super-dual-carriageway was invented. How the hell anyone expects to gloss over with corporate BS these days I’ll never know.
And now I know where to get my hammock when the weather warms up
you’re joking, right? You’ve been doing this for, what, 5-6 years now? It might not be rocket science to you, but for a new starter (oxymoron), IT IS! For some of the agencies, too
No matter how much help, support & advice the account manager offers, the merchant is still overwhelmed. I particularly enjoy those who dismiss allocating resources & time until the channel proves worthy of their dedication - no matter how many times you tell them that unless they dedicate themselves they will not see the desired return…
Affiliate marketing is worse than astrophysics - at least with astrophysics you get to go to uni, not to mention that stars don’t have a go at you on a public forum!
Spot on Zak - Any new merchant (or even old ones who feel like giving their program a kick up the behind) should print this off and keep it by their screen at all times.
Hi,
i must admit that i’ver never seen it this way.
But to succeed with making money online, i ‘d strongly advice that you get yourself a treasure map - a roadmap to Affiliate success …*-)
Michael
Hi zak.
Thanks for sharing the 6 easy affiliate marketing tips which helps in how to do work with affiliates.I really liked point 5 which explains about its a us and us situation.
Nice Post Zak,
Thanks for sharing your experience with affiliates to us. Great post very helpful tips to do affiliate marketing.