Below are 15 things that I look for in an affiliate program.
1. Show me the money. Let’s be honest, although being able to help people by pointing them to a quality product is the icing on the cake, the main reason we are marketing is to make money. So the question is “How much will I make per visitor I send?” You have to take into account BOTH earnings per sale and conversion.
2. Will my list love me or hate me for promoting this? If you’re sending them to quality free content, they will love you for it. If you are sending them to a sleazy sales letter, it will cost you brownie points.
3. I want my money back. A high return rate can do more harm than just to your commissions.
4. Reciprocity. Are you able to get them to promote your product?
5. Continuity. I love the thought of continuing to earn monthly for every sale.
6. Upsell, downsell, crosssell. Does the program offer an upsell? What about a limited version to scoop up some extras… or a crosssell? More importantly, do the affiliates get a percentage of these sales?
7. Advertising materials and copy. Call me lazy, but I have enough to do without having to write copy for other people’s campaigns. I like to have them say “cut here, and paste, click send, collect the money”.
8. Support /Contactability. Is the staff available through, Skype, phone, email, AIM, Twitter, Facebook, or all of the above? Are they easy to reach? Do they speak your language?
9. 2nd tier program. A great way to make a little extra on a campaign is by contacting other affiliates you have a relationship with, showing them a product or service they might want to promote as well.
10. Does the product or service provide value for its price? This point was originally going to be about the quality of the product, but let’s face it; you can’t expect the same quality product for $27 as $2700. So, is the value for money there?
11. Have all the materials been field tested? Ideally, split–tests should have been done on the campaign to ensure the highest conversion possible.
12. Cookie duration. How long does the cookie last? Obviously, the longer, the better.
13. Click and sales tracking. Do you have real-time, instant-access to click and sale reports?
14. Competitions and prizes. I admit it, I am a little competitive. While it’s not exactly a make or break factor, I like affiliate programs with competitions and cool prizes.
15. The last (but not the least) Minimum payment, payment method, payment frequency.
While it is difficult to find programs that include all of these features, the more the program offers, the better.
Dan Leman is CEO of TheBossBuster. More information can be found at affiliate.thebossbuster.com.
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FeedFront issue 6 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2009/06
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Excellent post. Hit it right on the head!
Very nice presentation, you have covered almost everything needed to know before joining an affiliate program. Thanks