How to Read Climbing the Affiliate Management Wall: How Merchants and Managers Find Growth Through the Affiliate Marketing Channel RTF
Affiliate programs don't manage themselves. They need a dedicated manager that has relevant experience or is willing to put in the time to learn how to do it right. This book, Climbing the Affiliate Management Wall, offers best practices for all aspects of management. The titular wall affects new programs as well as established ones that could be years old. Stagnancy happens when proactive management is suspended or never existed at all. Too many programs are launched with no strategy, no tools and no technical support. Merchants expect these programs to magically generate sales for the company but they don't always know what else they should be doing to help themselves. The first thing they should understand is their own onsite conversion and how this directly impacts the future of the affiliate program. The next basic component they lack is knowledge of how affiliates promote products and how to build relationships with those publishers to supplement existing sales and grow together in partnership.The author, Greg Hoffman, is an award-winning outsourced program manager with more than a dozen active affiliate programs on the ShareASale and CJ Affiliate networks. Hoffman brings more than ten years of experience as an affiliate manager and a “tell it like it is” attitude. His strategy is not one-size-fits-all, but what he asks of other managers is that they think differently and weigh all the options. The book gives practical step-by-step strategies for managing expectations, structuring the programs inside the network, using programming staff to enhance capabilities, and educating the program manager on how to evolve as new information comes in. There are six case studies ranging from good to bad that will highlight real world situations. Readers will also learn about reporting, recruiting and testing promotions. The questions & answers section covers some hot topics: network choice, super affiliates, getting content affiliates active, manager fees and revenue sharing, voiding sales from repeat customers, client-to-manager ratios, resources for affiliate marketing news, and education and advice to newbie affiliates. The following is a letter Hoffman wrote to merchants summarizing his thoughts on how they can climb the wall. Dear merchants,At some point during the life of your affiliate program, it’s going to hit a wall. Your affiliate manager is going to have to think differently. They are going to have to seek out new ways of recruiting and getting affiliates active with promotions. If you haven’t already examined your product line from pricing to distribution to landing page optimization, don’t rush to judge the affiliates for low conversions or sales numbers. Make sure you and your team are doing everything you can to increase conversion.Send your manager to Affiliate Summit, ShareASale ThinkTank or CJU— or whatever relevant network conferences are available, ideally. Find other conferences your affiliates attend. Find out where your affiliates meet other affiliates and managers. Have your manager think like an affiliate and understand the issues they face every day in this industry. Listen to what they need and try to accommodate them as best as you can.Review your program structure on a quarterly basis and keep things fresh. Never stop recruiting or communicating with affiliates. Stay on top of mind with them as often as possible. Hire a programmer and make sure they dedicate time to the affiliate program. Don’t let things go undone for months at a time or let them get to the point where affiliates have to bribe them with donuts to get new features created. Never stop learning or teaching in the affiliate industry. You can become the next great case study or mentor. Finally, keep the programs clean. Understand how affiliates impact your other channels and other affiliates.Sincerely,Greg Hoffman
