How to Start an Affiliate Program

As a merchant, there are many benefits to having an affiliate program. Imagine only paying for performance such as clicks, leads, or sales? Affiliate marketing is one of the most cost effective marketing methods and run well, can offer the merchant a very high Return on Investment. (ROI).

When you are in the beginning stages of considering an affiliate program for your company be sure to look at all the aspects involved in running a program. If you have the time or can afford to cost to outsource the cost of running the program, then affiliate marketing is the best next step in your company's success.

Points to Consider:

• Cost

Affiliate networks such as Commission Junction/BeFree and LinkShare can cost up to $30,000 + a year. There is generally a cost to sign up for the program and monthly fees. These networks also charge a percentage of all commissions you pay to your affiliates so be sure to include that in your operating cost as well. For example, CommissionJunction charges 30% of all commissions paid so if you pay your affiliates $10.00 per sale, your total cost will be $13.00. Be sure to factor this extra cost in your monthly cost.

In house affiliate program solutions such as MyAffiliateProgram.com and DirectTrak.com are generally less expensive and range from $7,000-$18,000 monthly. These programs do not charge a percentage of commissions paid to affiliates and are generally less expensive than the affiliate networks.

To learn more about Networks and Private Solutions, visit here

• Recruiting

This will be your most time consuming part of your program. It is also the most important job in running a successful program. Affiliates should be recruited on a daily basis. Plan on spending at least 3 hours a day recruiting for your affiliate program. Depending on the solution you choose to run your program, you may need more or less time daily. Within the network solutions such as Commission Junction and LinkShare, you do not have to spend as much time as you do with an in house program such as MyAffiliateProgram or DirectTrack.

To learn more about recruiting for your affiliate program visit here.

• Technical Support and General Inquiries

It is extremely important that you have someone available to speak with your affiliates. Many affiliates will never feel the need to speak with the manager, but if they do, it is very important that there is someone there to help them. Some affiliates will also need technical support, especially when they are just beginning with your program so be sure that you have someone who can assist them with these types of questions as well.

• Communications

You should have time to send monthly newsletters and general announcements about your program. Keeping your partners up to date on your program is the best way to keep your offers fresh in their mind. Remember that affiliates often promote for multiple programs so anything that you can do to keep your program high on their radar, is good for your company. Participating in the affiliate forums is also an excellent way to let potential affiliates know about your program and inform your existing ones of new campaigns.

To view a list of recommended affiliate forums please visit this page.

• Approval of Affiliates

This can also be a time consuming part of running your affiliate program. Many affiliate program solutions will offer a setting where you can set all affiliate application to be automatically approved. This however, is not recommended. To control the quality of your affiliate marketing campaigns and your brand, it is in your best interest to manually approval and decline affiliates. Be sure to visit their website to review content and quality. Allow yourself at least 2-3 hours weekly to review the applications. Depending on the number of applications you receive weekly, this time may increase or decrease accordingly.

To learn more about how to choose and approve your affiliates visit this page.

• Marketing Materials

Each offer that you run should have a suite of marketing materials available to your affiliates. A general suite should consist of the following materials:

Banners

88x31

120x40 logo non-animated

100x100

125x125

468x60

200x200

120x60

130x500

300x300

234x60

200x100

392x70

120x600

 

Text Links

Offer varying lengths from very short to up to a paragraph in length.

 

Emails

If you plan to allow your affiliates to use email marketing to promote your products, be sure to provide them with a selection of text and html emails of varying lengths. Be sure to clearly explain to them the Can Spam Act. If they do not follow the rules set forth by that Act, you could find yourself in a world of trouble. Also, provide your affiliates with approved subject lines for the emails.

 

Data Feeds

These are generally used by merchants who sell actual products on their website. The feed will allow your affiliate to display your product information accurately at all times and easily notify them of new products available or those that are also out of stock.

• Setting Commission Rates

What can you pay your affiliate to promote your programs? Most affiliates will turn up their nose at programs that do not pay at least 20% commission rates. Offer as much as you can to your affiliates and they will respect your dedication to their success. Once you've set your rates, compare your commission rates with those of your competitors. Make sure you rates are competitive. Although these rates are not the only factor affiliates look at when choosing a program to join, it is one of the first factors they look at so be sure you're rates are at least in the ball park. Be prepared to adjust these rates for certain affiliates and reexamine your rates on at least a quarterly basis to ensure you are still running a competitive program.

To learn more about what affiliates look for when selecting a program visit Choosing Affiliate Programs.

• Incentive and Bonus Programs

Plan to run a new bonus program monthly. This will entail creating the program and promoting the offer to your affiliates.

The most successful affiliate programs have a dedicated manager to oversee the program. If you do not have the time to run the program, consider hiring an affiliate program manager or outsourcing your affiliate program.

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