Conversation with a Not-So-Successful Affiliate Program Owner
Conversation with a Not-So-Successful Affiliate Program Owner
You have the product or service, you set up the affiliate program, you even got yourself a nice little group of affiliates and gave them all the tools they need. Or did you?
Yep, I sure did. I gave them everything they could possibly need. They have ten different sized graphic ads, five reports, three press releases, a ton of signature ads, classified ads of all sizes, blog posts, personal letters, and even a bunch of articles. They have everything they need.
So tell me then, if they have everything they need, why aren’t they making many sales?
When was the last time you contacted your affiliates?
Oh, that’s easy - my program is on auto-pilot! I have an email that automatically goes out to them as soon as they join. It’s a personalized welcome letter from me and it includes all the creatives I just mentioned. Other than that, it was about two months ago. I sent out a last minute free shipping weekend announcement.
That’s a pretty good start - but not good enough.
When was the last time you held an affiliate contest or another form of motivation?
Well, I’m so busy writing articles, creating new ad campaigns, updating my blog and taking care of my customers that I don’t usually have the time to do this. But, about six months ago, I did contact my top affiliate and raised her commission.
Good idea - but not enough.
When was the last time you held a special on your product or service just for your affiliates to promote?
When I held my free shipping weekend, I almost forgot to tell my affiliates but I did send them out a quick email first thing that Saturday morning.
Too little - too late.
Did you offer a new creative for your free shipping weekend?
No, I didn’t have the time so I told them just to use one of the creatives in their welcome email.
Nice reminder - but not enough.
Does any of this sound in the least bit familiar? Something tells me if you’re struggling with affiliate sales, it just may so. Long gone are the days that just setting up an affiliate program and offering some links is enough. Affiliate programs are no longer meant to be a ’set it and forget it’ program. Otherwise, you’ll be sitting there wondering what went wrong.
You have to be a constant reminder to your affiliates.
You have to train your affiliates how to sell and give them the appropriate tools to do so.
You need to create new creatives and promotions regularly. Give them something new to look forward to on a regular basis. Give them a reason to contact their customers.
You need to keep them motivated with contests and some form of recognition. Let them know they’re doing a good job.
You need to create a “one stop shop” to host all their affiliate needs such as all creatives, training materials, frequently asked questions and a way to keep in contact with you. Don’t make them dig out that welcome email - give them the link where they can find everything they need.
These people aren’t “just affiliates”. They are your partners in business, your personal sales team. Essentially, they are a part of a team - your team - so be sure to treat them as such.
Doing things such as what’s been mentioned are sure to transform you from the not-so-successful affiliate program owner to the I-can’t-keep-up-with-all-these-sales affiliate program owner.
Increasing in Him,
Anita
Topics: Affiliate Marketing |
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:52 am
Excellent discussion Cindi! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I left a comment on your blog as well.
Readers - here’s a link to Cindi’s post:
No More Small Potato Affiliat Marketing Companies
Cindi shares some very valid points as to why she doesn’t want to work with “small wahm affiliate programs”. I shared my thoughts as well. It’s a great discussion and I believed it needed to be added to this article.
The only other comment I would make is - YES - create an affiliate program for your products/services. If you don’t, you’re seriously (literally) leaving money on the table.
Having your own affiliate program is like having your very own sales force. A sales force that you don’t pay for until a sales is made - it doesn’t get much better than that.
However, you must know what you’re doing. Otherwise you’re going to invest a lot of time with very little in return.
If you don’t know what you’re doing - hire someone who does. You’ll get your investment back ten fold.
Thanks for the great discussion Cindi!