Factors Directing Corporate Behavior
The business landscape of the 21st century is littered with companies that have failed to keep abreast of the changing trends, ideas and the pace of technological change. In this context it is important more than ever for corporates to practice good corporate governance since an approach that is fair and ethical as well as […]
Buying Behaviour Patterns of Customers
For understanding the buying behaviour of the customers in retail stores it is very important to analyze the customer psychology, the factors which influence a customer for buying certain products/services from the stores and also an analysis of the customer’s response towards a sales promotion is very critical. Before analyzing the customer’s buying behaviour, let […]
Sales Management – An Overview
The art of meeting and exceeding the sales goals of an organization through effective planning, controlling, budgeting and leadership refers to sales management. Sales Management helps the organization to achieve the sales targets efficiently. Process of Sales Management Sales Planning Marketers must plan things well in advance for the best results. It is essential to […]
Types of Marketing Research and their Application
Research can be categorized either on the basis of technique (surveys, experiments, observation studies, etc) or on the basis of purpose. We will look at the techniques in the subsequent chapters. Now let us focus on the 3 methods of doing Marketing Research based on purpose: Exploratory As the name implies, exploratory research is the […]
Strategic Management Process – Meaning, its Steps and Components
The strategic management process means defining the organization’s strategy. It is also defined as the process by which managers make a choice of a set of strategies for the organization that will enable it to achieve better performance. Strategic management is a continuous process that appraises the business and industries in which the organization is […]
Not all affiliate marketing programs are successful. In today’s world we need a robust, well thought out strategy to ensure that the affiliate marketing program is both successful as well as scalable. Affiliate marketing is no longer on the fringe. Instead it is a core sales channel which has tangible and visible effects on any company’s bottom line. Hence, the attention due to affiliate marketing programs must be provided to it.
In this article, we will understand how successful companies like Amazon administer their affiliate marketing programs. An understanding of the best practices is important for both novice affiliates as well as novice merchants.
An affiliate program begins with the recruitment of new affiliates. A new company would have less bargaining power. Hence, it would have to persuade the affiliates to work for it. On the other hand, an older and more established company would have options. They can choose affiliates from amongst the several applications that they receive.
As a result, affiliates tend to pay a lot of attention to the industry the merchant is in. Niche markets are usually left out affiliates want to concentrate on the masses. Affiliates also look at the merchant’s position within the industry to understand the probability that they can make a sale. The website experience is also very important to the affiliate’s business. Hence they thoroughly explore the look, feel, design and usability of a website before they agree to go onboard.
An affiliate marketing program is not a one-time affair. Instead, it is a never ending strategy. Hence, the same merchant will have different objectives at different points in time, It is important for the merchant to clearly communicate these objectives to the affiliates. Some of these objectives can be:
Each of these objectives will lead the affiliate marketing into a different direction. Hence, they must be explained to the affiliates as soon as possible.
Affiliate marketing is not independent of a marketing campaign. Instead, it is the part of a marketing campaign. The job of affiliates is to convert random internet traffic into a targeted stream of customers for you. Hence, for them to perform their task, there has to be some amount of internet traffic. The affiliates are reliant on the merchant to indulge in advertising or such other activities that generate online traffic. Merchants must therefore co-ordinate with their affiliates and provide them information about when media activities are planned. This will help affiliates to streamline their own effort and ensure that the entire marketing machinery functions as one cohesive unit. This is because this cohesion greatly increases the effectiveness of the entire campaign.
This is the most important aspect of any affiliate level program. After all the affiliates are in it for the money. Hence, the way commissions are structured can have a huge impact on the behavior of the affiliates. The key here is to think long term. The commission structure must be such that it appeals only to genuine long term affiliates. Merely adding more and more affiliates to show numbers is counter-productive. It causes tremendous losses in the long run. Also, the commissions must engage the affiliates to actively participate but they should not encourage excessive activity. Hence a top limit has to be set on the amount that will be paid out. Also, the commission structure must have separate parameters for quality as well as quantity.
Affiliate recruitment is just the beginning. What truly ensures long term success is the affiliate support program! Affiliates must be paid on time. Also, there must be clear and transparent mechanisms to review their performance. An online sales validation program is one such endeavor and it helps remove the ambiguity regarding the number of sales made by the affiliate. The feedback provided must be constructive. Also, they must be provided certain creative help that will enable them to create engaging content.
To sum it up, a lot of different factors need to be modified to make the affiliate program a success. Simply adding a link to your website that says “Affiliates please click here” will not do the trick. The change is fundamental and strategic in nature.
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