'Net Features : affiliate management, affiliate marketing

Is Your Affiliate Manager Certified?

Michael Garrity — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 14:47:00 GMT

Both weathered veterans and affiliate marketing newbies may occasionally require some assistance in their endeavors. This is why many affiliate networks or programs hire affiliate managers – individuals assigned to help affiliates generate sales, track purchases, send commissions and more.

But how does one know which of these managers he or she can really trust?

Renowned affiliate marketing network Rakuten LinkShare may have the answer, as the company recently launched the first testing and certification program for affiliate managers run by a major network in the industry. Affiliate managers in the Rakuten LinkShare network will be tested for their proficiency and knowledge, and the program will provide advertisers with the education necessary to become “experts” with the ability to drive results and show significant growth.

Among the topics covered in the program are: basic affiliate marketing knowledge, best practices and strategies that can be used to maximize sales. It will also include information that is unique to the LinkShare network. Plus, participants are granted access to special tutorials, webinars and even live events hosted by Rakuten LinkShare.

Certified affiliate managers will receive a badge that can be displayed on their websites and marketing materials. These certifications are valid for one calendar year, with an annual option for renewal that will address any changes in online marketing in that time.

Currently, the program is only out in the US and Canada, but it should be launched in the UK and Japan by the end of the year. The fee for the initial test is $250, with each subsequent renewal costing $50.

The Pros and Cons of Affiliate Management Agencies

Michael Garrity — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:00:00 GMT

In the world of affiliate marketing, there is often a clear difference between highly successful “super affiliates” and those who are just starting out. Like any industry, there is a learning curve for affiliates as they begin to better understand its best practices, usually through a process of trial and error.

After all, becoming an accomplished affiliate marketer requires a lot of time and maintenance, and unfortunately some upstarts just don’t have the resources to succeed. However, as always happens, a solution emerged in the form of affiliate managers.

Affiliate managers have a number of responsibilities, but are mainly tasked with running a merchant’s affiliate program, which includes everything from recruiting affiliates to establishing incentive programs, creating media, reporting on sales and paying the affiliates. By providing this type of assistance on behalf of the advertisers, affiliate managers streamline the process for marketers and maximize their opportunities by significantly cutting down on this trial and error process. This can be especially useful for up-and-coming affiliates.

As of late, with the influx of merchants looking to advertise on the Web and the constant changes that can take place in Web marketing, many advertisers don’t have the ability to offer their own affiliate manager and can place too much of a burden on the affiliate marketer to pick up the slack, and that typically doesn’t end well for anyone. Enter affiliate management agencies, third-party organizations that work with merchants to run affiliate programs and handle all of the responsibilities typically assigned to affiliate managers.

But, is it worth it for an affiliate marketer to use a management agency? Let’s look at the pros and cons:

Pros
For affiliate marketers, there are some good reasons for working with an affiliate management agency, the most obvious of which is the amount of time and resources that it saves. Because these agencies have pre-established connections with various merchants and advertisers of varying sizes and from various industries, it’s much easier for a marketer to find a partner and get started working with them. Plus, because they have experience with both merchants and marketers, agencies will be able to help direct an affiliate to those advertisers with whom they will likely have the most success.

Since these agencies are, themselves, pretty easy for affiliates to find, and since they’re always looking to expand their base of affiliate partners, it really cuts out a lot of the initial work for marketers (especially new ones) with regards to establishing contacts and getting started with a program, which can often be the hardest part of the process. Agencies help by ensuring that any requirements placed on both merchants and marketers are sorted out beforehand.

Moreover, these agencies are useful because managing affiliate marketing programs is all they do. When advertisers do have affiliate managers on their payroll, they’re often in charge of managing all of the affiliate partnerships that the company handles, in addition to other responsibilities. This means that even a small team of people can have trouble managing all of these programs, depending on their size.

Agencies are entirely dedicated to getting the most out of every account and have multiple people involved with that single goal in mind. They will also be more flexible in terms of providing an affiliate support when it’s needed, as in-house managers tend to work a regular, fixed schedule. Agencies, on the other hand, can have people on-call at all hours of the day to provide assistance as a problem presents itself.

Cons
The biggest issue with affiliate management agencies is that they’re just that, agencies. This means they run like well-oiled machines, which is obviously good for efficiency and suitable for most situations, but also means they lack a personal element. Most operations are very routine with an agency and they often lack in the ability to customize a program. Furthermore, in-house affiliate marketers should be more familiar and interested in their particular industry, as opposed to agencies that dabble in a wide variety of industries, and can thus be more helpful and supportive when an affiliate has specific questions about the field.

The other obvious downside to using a third-party affiliate management agency is the cost. These companies either charge a nominal fee or take a performance percentage of an affiliate’s earnings; and either way, it costs noticeably more than partnering with a merchant who has an in-house affiliate manager.

As an affiliate, the choice to decide whether or not to use a management agency to find your program is yours. There are obviously many advantages, namely that these agencies can partner you with a suitable program and you have the assurance of knowing that it is being managed by professionals dedicated to that one task. On the other hand, you’ll largely be sacrificing the personal connection between you and the merchant.

Affiliate Managers! Get Ready for AMDays

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:50:00 GMT

In advance of Website Magazine's upcoming issue on affiliate marketing, we have kept our virtual eyes and ears open for developments in the performance marketing space.

One of the most exciting in my opinion is a new conference for affiliate marketing managers - AMDays. The event is being organized and chaired by Geno Prussakov, a Website Magazine contributor and the author of Affiliate Program Management - An Hour a Day. I had the opportunity recently to speak with Geno about the conference as well as the state of the affiliate marketing industry as a whole and what attendees can expect from AMDays.

The Affiliate Management Days (AMDays) event focuses on education and discussions for affiliate managers, and will take place on March 8-9, 2012 in San Francisco. I've spent a long time in the industry and this is the first event I am aware of that focuses exclusively on affiliate management.

Website Magazine: For those that are unfamiliar with the practice, explain affiliate management. Is it limited to merchants selling tangible goods?

Geno Prussakov: No, it isn't. Affiliate program management presupposes the management of any affiliate program, campaign, or a number of campaigns. Regardless of whether you're selling tangible or virtual goods, service or anything else, if you have an affiliate program, it must be managed. The key components of affiliate management are recruitment of new affiliates, activation of recruited but stagnant ones, monitoring affiliate activity and policing compliance with your affiliate program's rules, maintaining a constant and consistent communication channel, and optimizing your program (from landing pages to creatives, and from affiliate-geared motivation campaigns to customer-oriented promos... all based on ongoing testing, as well as competitive intelligence).

Website Magazine: Tell Website Magazine readers about the ecommerce industry's need for a conference such as AMDays.

Geno Prussakov: According to the findings of Econsultancy's Affiliate Census 2011, among the main reasons for not promoting merchants after signing up for their affiliate programs affiliates highlighted: poor commission potential (20.7%), poor quality links (18.7%), slow acceptance to program (14.8%), and bad follow-up communication (8.4%). All of these are connected with the larger problem we have in the industry -- abundance of uneducated merchants and, as a result, numerous un- and mis-managed affiliate programs. There is a tremendous need for an ongoing merchant and affiliate manager education, and Affiliate Management Days is here to fill this need.

Website Magazine: So this event is primarily targeting e-business owners and affiliate managers?

Geno Prussakov: Yes, we're we are positioning ourselves in a very targeted way: the event on all things affiliate management. The main goal of the conference is to make more educated merchants and affiliate managers -- equipped to manage and run successful affiliate programs. Hence, also our choice of location here -- San Francisco, CA.

Website Magazine: How has affiliate management changed over the past few years? What challenges and opportunities are present now which affiliate managers may not be aware of that they would discover at an event such as AMDays?

Geno Prussakov: A few years back we didn't have efficient platforms to affiliate-track phone calls, we had no developed (and rapidly-growing!) mobile, social wasn't here, we didn't engage in re-targeting, and didn't have platforms to track multi-channel performance marketing activity (including the offline). The face of affiliate marketing, and conjugated affiliate management, is changing together with the transformations in the surrounding digital marketing landscape. And you're right, the resulting opportunities, as well as challenges, will be the subjects of our discussions at the Affiliate Management Days professional forum.

Website Magazine: Where is fraud most prevalent in the affiliate marketing industry today? Is the fraud issue more about affiliate managers recruitment strategies or their approach to compliance policing and enforcement?

Geno Prussakov: Whether you call it "fraud" of unethical activity (some prefer the latter due to the very specific connotation of the word "fraud"), I'd say that the top five areas for it are: (1) paid search and (2) domains (trademark violations and brand hi-jacking), (3) email and (4) social (lots of spamming), as well as (5) adware.

To answer your second question: you can prevent much on the recruitment/approval stage, but things do slip through the cracks on continuous compliance policing is a must. Thirdly, you also want to stay on top of things by self-educating (via blogs, podcasts, online forums, and events like AMDays), as new threats spring up regularly.

Website Magazine: Is it easier or more difficult now to motivate affiliate marketers than in years past? Should there be different incentive strategies for those just starting out versus the super-affiliates?

Geno Prussakov: Affiliate motivation is one of my favorite topics. There's a whole chapter in my newest book on it. But I'll try to stay brief here... Individualized consideration and affiliate categorization are the two keys to keep in mind when approaching the subject of motivation. Some of your affiliates will be willing, but not able; others -- able, but not willing... yet others, like the "super-affiliates" you've mentioned, know exactly what they want to do with your affiliate program, and don't require much extrinsic motivation at all. So, first, categorize affiliates by the primary method of promotion that they use. Then, segment them by what situational theorists call "maturity level", and tailor your incentives accordingly. Be creative, interesting, contagious and also remember, that your final goal is to develop more super-affiliates -- or go from extrinsically motivated affiliates (which is good for beginning ones) to those who are fully intrinsically-driven, or motivated from within.

Website Magazine: Legislative issues continue to plague the performance marketing industry. What would be one thing that you'd advise merchants to do here?

Geno Prussakov: The "one thing" that I'd advise is comply. There are several legislative challenges that we're dealing with, and the two that cause the widest resonance now are: (i) the affiliate nexus tax laws that have been ratified in some states, and are being considered by others, and (ii) the Federal Trade Commission's rules regarding testimonials and endorsements, which view merchant-affiliate relationship in sponsor-endorser light. With the tax laws, I encourage merchants to be affiliate-friendly, and do everything possible to collect the tax in the affected states, keeping affiliates from those states in their programs; and lobbying in states that are only considering. With the FTC's endorsement rules -- educate your affiliates on the necessity of displaying the necessary disclosures, and then police compliance.