Guide to getting the most from affiliate managers

[Mogga]

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Thought I would start a postive thread about affiliate managers - cos there are some stars out there who are just really helpful and useful. (PS: Sorry if this increases your workload!)

My hints for getting the most out of affiliate managers:

1. Ask for help.

2. If something isn't working how you'd like it to, then ask if it can be changed.

3. Offer feedback on innovations - when it works say Thanks!

4. Suggest things which would make your life easier.

5. Ask for banners in a particular size if they're lacking - they might say no, or they might get them sorted for you!



I hope other affiliates (and affiliate managers) can offer some more hints etc.

[Markup]

Brilliant idea for a thread, and a good idea to look for flexibility in your managers, without it any relationship will eventually break.

[PitBoss]

Can't miss an opportunity like this.

Well, i'm always up for offering help, advice and feedback. Always willing to pass on ideas and suggestions and will try my hardest to get them processed asap.

If anyone has any questions or anything, then please ask away.

[matbennett]

My suggestion :: Just make contact.

We have some interesting stuff going on in the Awin forum, all based on feedback from affiliates. Most of it started from discussions at the get-together, so I guess my other suggestion would be:

Drink with your affiliate managers!

[pistol101]

Drink with your affiliate managers!

Definately!!

Just ask is definately the key.

[BenKowaBunga]

I agree with the other aff managers above - ASK. Hassle us, doesn't matter what it's about, just ask.

[Spreader]

Hello All,

Yep. Couldn't agree more.

If there is anything we can possibly do for you as an AM - be it providing data feed, creative specific to your site or just about anything else for that matter - then just give us a shout.

Also, if there is anything we can do to our sites to help drive sales through then let us know. Sometimes we become a bit 'insular' about what works/doesn't work on our sites. So if something is glaringly obvious that we need to change, let us know and we'll see what we can do.

And if all that fails, simply write to our boss's and try to get us sacked

Cheers.


Zak.

[Spreader]

Hi Fiver,

Yes. I agree - a good affiliate is worth his or her (mogga ) weight in gold.

I don't agree however that all affiliate managers will always know what their affiliates want. True, generally proactive affiliates will want data feeds, seasonal/product specific banner adds, best sellers lists, newsletter templates etc, but I would guess that lots of affiliates have requirements that are specific purely to themselves.

Surely therefore it is important for an affiliate manager to communicate with their affiliates and cater for their wants and needs accordingly. We need to provide our super affiliates with all the info they require, and work with our 'lesser performers' to see how we can improve things.

Good thread Mogga. Keep em coming.

Zak.

[matbennett]

Top SEO's and willing high traffic site owners don't need to ask an affiliate manager anything at all - not about anything which a good affiliate manager should already be sharing and doing with affiliates already - all affiliate managers should know what affiliates are going to need / may need / and do need.

What a happy utopia that would be!

As far as the things that all affiliates will need, I agree that we should know that. It just isn't possible to know what every affiliate will need without some feedback though.

There are a number of reasons for this, but I'll give a couple of examples:

Secrecy :: A significant number of affiliates don't sign up under the name of their main site. Generally the first clue to this is the fact that a site that appears not to have any links on it is sending you sales. Unless you spot this, it is impossible to know what that affiliate will need, as you simply don't have the information to base that decision on.

Differing Abilities :: Our affilaites have a very broad range of technical abilities. I have helped several by going into lengthy detail about some fairly simple tasks (for instance, how to open an HTML file to edit it, then how to upload it). If I went into this sort of detail with every affiliate most of you would think I am nuts and soon get bored of my 80 page emails!

Differing Approach :: Some affiliates work at it full time. They dedicate more time to it and expect more back. Some affiliates just want to put up a banner and hope that it pays for their hosting come renewal time. Many more are somewhere in between. A solution that is right for the full-time affiliate may be completely over-board for the banner poster, and AMs have no way of knowing which end of the scale many affiliates are unless you tell us.


When I first started managing programs every told me that the key to a successful program was to communicate with your affiliates. The thing that they don't tell you is that you really shouldn't expect them to communicate back. The people on this forum are the great exception (although still hard to get a reply out of Matt !), but are not representative.

[Stuart]

Hello All,

I agree - great post.

Communication is key but it has to work both way’s!!!

We don’t always know what you want, every affiliiate is unique and you all have your own ways of doing things.

We are happy to talk with our affiliates, provide banner creatives and data feeds, we can make changes to our site, if it is going to increase sales and make everyone’s life easier. As another AM said we can as a merchant sometimes wear blinkers and forget what our partners need to help increase sales, tell us what you need and provide feedback both good and bad, if we don’t know what is wrong, we can’t fix it.

[aly]

"My hints for getting the most out of affiliate managers:"


Pain, give 'em lots of sharp pain !


Cheers
Aly

[matbennett]

"My hints for getting the most out of affiliate managers:"


Pain, give 'em lots of sharp pain !

ROFL ! Might just print that and put it up in my office.

[Mogga]

Do we have a list of programs with affiliate managers?

[aly]

Originally posted by Mogga
Do we have a list of programs with affiliate managers?

That's quite a good suggestion, I always find a wealth of information and help is available from merchants who have their own mangers or people who multi task the job.

Communication can improve profits for both parties which is what it's all about in the end.

It's not always well publicised, maybe a thread for managers etc to place their contact method would be a help for all of us at times.
Some networks (AW springs to mind) have contact email addresses which are handy. Also would be handy for some of the indies that are not so well known. Could save a lot of time and be a valuable asset to forum users if they were all availalbe in one place.


Cheers
Aly

[Helen]

Wheel manage the following programs:

Marks & Spencer - karen.bywater@wheel.co.uk

Laura Ashley - hayley.read@wheel.co.uk

Dixons - Hayley or helen.porter@wheel.co.uk

Currys - Hayley or helen.porter@wheel.co.uk

The Link - helen.porter@wheel.co.uk or karen.bywater@wheel.co.uk

Carwatchuk (soon to launch on buy.at) helen.porter@wheel.co.uk

got a few more in the pipeline...will update this post as and when

Cheers

Helen