December 11th, 2008
by Lorrie Thomas
The wild web women team host educational workshops, webinars and work one-on-one with patients to empower them with wild ways to rock their web marketing. One of the BEST tools available for companies with eCommerce solutions is affiliate marketing. Most companies get giddy over the thought of affiliate marketing because they only have to pay a percentage of sale = big return on investment (ROI). No risk for me! Wheee!!! But wait…sorry to be the no-fun-lady, but the marketing therapy team of marketing she-geeks sees a dangerous recurring pattern of patients ending up on our therapy couches that have gotten the idea to start affiliate marketing, launched their affiliate marketing program, then….nothing….
“I built an affiliate program, but nobody came” 
You don’t have to be an affiliate marketing victim.
Great ideas are only great if they are executed brilliantly. Affiliate marketing takes hard work and the key to success is building long term relationships. All website owners are thinking is “what’s in it for me?” If the object of the game is to win as much as you can with online advertising, then affiliate managers need to know best practices so they can make their programs matter.
Here are our Top Five Best Practices for Affiliate Marketers:
1. Never, ever, ever discount the power of relationships. Yes, affiliate marketing is about ROI and both the merchant and affiliate need to win big to have a great partnership, however, if there is not a strong connection between the two parties, then the desire to collaborate/strategize when ROI fades (and yield will decrease with the same approach) will kill deals. Relationships RULE affiliate marketing, that will never change. Be a partner to the people in your affiliate program, engage them!
2. You have to give to gain. Merchants enter the world of affiliate marketing thinking they can simply launch a program and magically get a lineup of affiliates dying to assume all the marketing risk by only getting paid per action….how well does this work? Well, it doesn’t. The object of the affiliate marketing game is to win as much as you can. Savvy affiliates want more than a high payout, they want the merchant to link to their site off their website, endorse them on their blog, take them to lunch at affiliate conferences, send holiday gifts for promoting the heck out of their offer or all of the above. Assuming that website owners or web marketers will ante up to promote a merchant’s offer when the merchant offers up nothing to help the affiliate, then there is no dice. Build up your web marketing collateral to support your top affiliates – give them tools to help them gain so your program can gain.
3. Ask your affiliates what they need. Sounds simple, but merchants forget to tap the power of their low hanging fruit (their existing partners!). Send a simple (non generic) email or better yet, pick up the phone and engage partners. Ask, “is there anything that you need from me to help you be more successful?” or “What is the one thing that our program could add that you would really want?” Usually when I reach out to affiliates my patients work with the affiliates are first shocked (nobody emailed them direct for years) and then giddy (and grateful)…reach out, connect, take care of the people who take care of your marketing.
4. Have fun. Everybody wants to play with the cool kids. Be a pleasure to work with, the person the affiliate partners look forward to talking to and the partner who enjoys their job. Enthusiasm is contagious, enthusiasm breeds affiliate marketing success. If you are excited, the excitement and support will follow.
5. Be proactive, not reactive. Check out your affiliates websites, see how they promote your offer(s) and offer advice on ways that they can better promote you to make more money. Send them screen shots of new placement ideas or content they can pop into their blog, make it easy for them to promote you!Creativity is a team effort. Remember, your affiliates can get stuck in patterns, help them think big by doing some legwork with stellar suggestions.
Thinking is the key to web marketing success. Build relationships, leverage the power of affiliate technology and work it….keep the love alive! Happy affiliate marketing!
Web Marketing Therapy Related Links:
- Just because you CAN, doesn’t mean you SHOULD…or SHOULD YOU!?!
- SEO Tips for Blogs Part 2: Search Engine Marketing Best Practices to Boost Your Visibility and Traffic!
- Web Marketing Needs to SERVE to Sell!
- Ask the Marketing Therapist – is Flash Trash??
