Re: Should programs be allowed to be on more than one network?
As someone who ran a programme on three major UK networks at one time, I can honestly say that we saw enough incremental sales from each one to make it worthwhile from a financial viewpoint.
Even if you keep your promotions and commissions the same, the networks own terms (including payment timings) can make a difference to the programme. A fair few jumped ship to AF with their guaranteed payments and quick turnaround when we started with them.
The downside is less obvious and includes:
1) More work in managing all three programmes means you are less able to come up with good ideas and act on them really quickly. Deduping sales and generally monitoring the programme adds to the workload.
2) A network getting 1/3 of your sales is going to put less effort in than one getting 100%. That's not laziness, it's just business unless you are a multi-million pound account. A fourth network was honest enough with me to say that we wouldn't get the attention we deserved unless we were exclusive with them or at least one of two. This was despite having some unique technology that would have brought us even more incremental revenue.
My best advice is that one network is the way to go, but that you could consider moving beyond your first network if another one has something genuinely unique to offer that will bring new traffic to the programme. If you ever swop networks, make sure there is as big an overlap as possible.
__________________
Stephen Pratley
Shine Marketing Affiliate Programme Management
|