Post on 15-May-2015
AFFILIATE RECRUITMENT & Management
Sudhanshu Kapoor
Affiliates Types
Affiliate Recruitment :Dos and Don’ts
Best Practices -: Recruitment Tools/Resources
Managing Affiliates
Q and A
Offer discounts Vouchers/coupons from all popular stores
Utilize email database effectively to drive broad reach
Coupon/Voucher Sites
Recruitment -: Search engines ( Any Brand name + Coupons )
e.g. Myntra Coupons, Myntra Vouchers, Myntra Voucher Codes
Affiliate Types | Cashback
Pass some or all of their commission back to the user
Require robust tracking to ensure no sales get missed.
Payments to affiliates must be timely
Recruitment -: Search engines ( Any Brand name + cashback )
e.g. zovi cashback, Myntra moneyback,
Promote products from different websites along side each other in table format.
Affiliate Type | Price Comparison
Recruitment – : Keyword + Compare
e.g. Compare price for Samsung galaxy
Generate high volume
Have high conversion rates (PPC affiliates )
Low conversion Rate ( Ramanant Inventory )
Payments must be timely to ensure continued and consistent investment
Robust Ts and Cs can ensure no brand bidding wherever not allowed
Media Buyers -: • PPC Affiliates• Facebook Affiliates • Ramanant / Raw Inventory
Extensive reach and large databases|Can target specific customers very effectively|Generate high volume, with strong consumer offers|Can require an increased CPA to use segmented data|Require html creative to be provided
Affiliate Type – Email
Affiliate Type Content
• Deal Websites • Blogs • Data Feed affiliates
Some more Examples of Content Website
Wordpress Blog
Data feed Affiliate
Do• Recruit relevant affiliates (e.g. coupon ,
deal, price comparison, category specific blogs)/ campaign specific
• Take time to Review Affiliate site• Initiate contact via email / phone• Have a defined follow up schedule
Don’tLimit your recruiting to only one type of affiliate or keyword .Don’t compile a list first.Don’t sell
Best Practices and Resources
Search Engines
Fish where the fish are.
Google Keyword Tool
Give you idea of importance of keyword term/phrase and help you in finding other important Keywords.
You can do search for both keywords and key phrases.
Advanced Options • Countries • Languages • Broad match • Exact Match
To Find fishes , use following tools
• LinkedIn is one of the easiest affiliate recruitment tools in social media. Use
• LinkedIn Groups, Facebook groups etc. • Follow Affiliate marketing Blogs, forums.
Social Media – Use LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook
Affiliate Forums and Affiliate directories.
• http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/• http://forums.digitalpoint.com• http://www.warriorforum.com/forum/• http://forum.abestweb.com• http://www.ewealth.com/• http://www.associateprograms.com/discus/• http://www.revenuesource.com• http://www.wickedfire.com• http://www.earnersforum.com• http://affiliate-marketing-
forums.5staraffiliateprograms.com
Blogs
• Amnavigator• Zacjohnson.com• IDR, Next big what,medianama, iamwire
Mistakes to Avoid
1. email length ( no one like big emails be precise 150-200 words will do)
2. Lack of Personalization ( use affiliate name and url in your email )
3. Give them something exciting initially ( e.g. a startup Bonus, special commission structure )
4. Don't miss on your USP's for e.g. for OMG India we have following
• Discover Top Campaigns In Every Vertical• 100% transparency• Save time with a speedy and easy to use interface• Track conversions and get detailed reports• Best Payouts in market for most programs• Most robust tracking Technology • Dedicated Account Management• Regular updates on best offers, deals and coupons.
5. In case affiliate don't respond ,Try, Try and try again. (at least 2 times )
Educating Affiliates
• What their Competition is doing • Best converting offers• Where to Focus• New Ideas• What's new in Market
95 – 5 Rule ( like the famous 80-20 rule of life )
95% of your sales will come from 5% of your Affiliates. ( as per OMG India stats )
Moral of the story -: Try to focus on Big Boys also Known as Super Affiliates.
How to Identify Super Affiliates
Whenever you recruit a new affiliate ask him for• Traffic stats ( Avg monthly page views, UV etc )• Sources of Traffic
Some Characteristics • Affiliate marketing is their Fulltime Business • They are Professional companies • Check Alexa for Traffic • They rank good on search engines • They spend money on media buying ( Facebook, PPC ) • Their websites / newsletter / applications usually have good
professional UI• They do Brand Bidding ( wherever allowed or sometimes
wherever not allowed ) • They are already working with Multiple networks
• Keep them Happy with your services.• Give super affiliates a quick start – e.g. Apply and
approve all programs for them. • Keep them updated with all offers, TnC (no
communication gap )• Provide transparency • Built good business Relations• Timely Payments • Ask Merchants for special Bonuses or Inhouse Bonus• Try them to start as many programs as you can
( especially coupon, cashback and pricecomparison )
Managing Super affiliates
Motivate Affiliate to make things happen
• Pay them well. Money motivates • Pay them on Time. • Bonuses, Prizes, Contests - Motivates Affiliates • Focus on Mutual Benefits • Technology is Key ( be one step ahead e.g. updated feeds,
banners, deep linking tool etc.)• Timely Communications
• Deal with disputes in a timely manner and be fair• Keep them updated on new offers and new ideas• Give suggestions ( Only if you can )• Have a Bonus Program • Be transparent • Provide superior free resources as affiliate promo tools
e.g.. API’s, Research reports , video training etc. • Appreciate their work • Imbibe best practices• Don't ignore the smaller ones
For any questions feel free to get back to me • Email : 24.sudhanshu@gmail.com• Skype : sudhanshukapoor