Affiliate association aims and objectives

[drivetowin]

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OK - you've asked for it so here it is (can one of the mods make this thread a sticky please)

Please use this thread to put what you think the aims and objectives of the affiliate association should be - what should it be doing for you and for the affiliate industry as a whole

I want this to be a real open think tank so no flaming please - if you think an idea is wrong then say so but no personal insults or mud slinging - and please try to keep your ideas concise - I've got to try and collate this lot at the end!!

It would help me if you could put an indication in your post whether you are an affiliate, a merchant or a network - I know that I know most of you but it will still make it easier for me and everyone else to know which viewpoint you are coming from.

I will take all of the ideas a week from today (Monday 20th June) so get your points down here before then.

I am going to try to avoid commenting on this thread until then (difficult for me I know!!) but I dont want to influence anyones ideas.

Thanks in anticipation

Keith

[Qui Gon Jinn]

As an affiliate, i suggest:

1.) Firstly collate the various code or practices from each of the networks & any guideline requests from merchants which they feel affiliates should adhere or would like.

Draw up a list of unacceptable practices that are frowned upon in the industry & incorporate these

Then, precis all the reasonable suggestions into one reasonable affiliate membership guide which is workable for affiliates to adhere to closely.

Get overall approvable from mebers & recommendations from networks / merchants on any possible changes

In other words lets make sure we have the necessary guidelines to keep our own house in order.

[Rich]

Ok this probably isn't quite what your looking for but I've been thinking about it for a while and this seems the best thread for it.

I think, if the association is going to come up with guidelines/rules for affiliates to stick to, with them being removed from the assoc if the don't comply, then it also needs to provide them with individual benefits of membership that mean it is in their interest to stick to the rules.

For example, assume the association works to ensuring fair terms from merchants and networks. Say I decided I want to use spyware and was found out and thrown out of the association, I would still be benefiting from the fairer terms, so there is no downside to breaking the rules.

If the association provided me with some service that I found useful, I would be less likely to be willing to break the rules.

[Qui Gon Jinn]

Re: Spyware

There should be a watermark or logo from the affiliate association which shows that a merchant educates its consumers with regard to spyware & should be fairly visble on the site. Or do they deem this as scare mongering rather than a service which can actually enhance their brand and show that they really care?

Do any merchants actually educate their consumers on is it the ostrich impersonation again? I am quite willing to draw up copy for this, which I have been doing intermittently for a few weeks.

In fact would someone with creative skills like to come up witha logo & some banners to distribute amongst participating affiliates?

[Qui Gon Jinn]

Very simple basics:

Choice of quality creative or variable sizes but much more importantly, no telephone numbers or url's on the creatives, which networks must enforce too. Unless it is a CPM or CPC. No more free branding.

A move away from sterile banners & more towards content units / generators with product offerings, which does exactly what it says on the tin. More interactive content so that the consumer can start to engage with the brand from the publishers site. For example Loan calculators from finance related companies.

[Qui Gon Jinn]

If some price comparison sites can be demanding on the format of these, then so can the affiliate industry. Which will allow affiliates the data to create quality sites in any niche.

Networks have had enough time to sit around a table to acheive a common goal with regard to this. The association could take this bull by the horns and bang ther heads togther to form a log cabin.

[Qui Gon Jinn]

A look into the laws protecting small businesses for late payments by merchants to a network, where an affiliate can levy even an escalating fixed rate or % of sum. (we have done this a few times & got paid without hestitation on direct relationships with merchants)

If the networks collects this levy then it should be passed onto the affiliate.

An open book on which merchants pay networks in escrow too.

For any non payments, the network must prove to affiliates what they have done to try & retreive the debt...not just hearsay.

[Qui Gon Jinn]

For commission decrease changes - at least 7 days notice.

For commission increase this can be immediate.

Since we are not privvy to the third party agreements between network & merchant. Maybe re-examining these that a certain period of notice must be given say 30 days. And that any cookie period must be honoured.

[Qui Gon Jinn]

A body that an affiliate of any size is not intimidated by reporting a problematic merchant or network or unresolved dispute. With the reassurance that it will will be dealt with without the affiliate suffering any backlash.

Once again, how often has a problem been reported on the forum, thinking we are the only ones...only to find others are affected.

Unfortuantely, there still remains the problem, that even if they are...they still don't post..which is very unfortunate to say the least.

[Qui Gon Jinn]

Simple flagging systems to ascertain if a merchants site is up or down...why are affiliates normally the first to detect this.

The same applies to tracking...could a partial remedy be the purchasing of a product on nominal zero value?

[Qui Gon Jinn]

An absolute must is a good tea lady !!

A nice pot of rosie lee & biscuits...for those heavy sessions

[gareth]

As a merchant...

I'd suggest some official guidelines for merchants explaining the basics to them (all the stuff QGJ has suggested), but actually explain why as well.

Too many merchants especially the smaller one-man-band setups simply don't know enough about AM, and end up making simple mistakes which turns off the affiliates.

E.g.
What is spyware and why is it so bad?
Whats so wrong with having my URL/phone number in my banners - surely thats good customer service?
Why do I need to give the affiliates notice when I want to do a promotion?

I know these are very basic, but to the newbie merchant who is learning about AM for the first time, this is all vital stuff.

Should the Networks be teaching them this stuff already? Probably, but when selling AM to a new merchant, naturally the Networks focus on the "more sales for very little effort" message, rather than the "you need to do all this stuff to work well with your affiliates" message.

Just my 2c

[Paul Wright]

Paul Wright
Affiliate Manager by day
Affiliate by night

I'd be willing to get together with other merchants/agencies/networks to draw up what I guess is an "affiliate program check list" which in theory should help get merchants off on the right foot to begin with and eradicate unnecessary problems further down the line.

Some of the programs I've witnessed go live as of late have been far from ready resulting in an immediate backlash from affiliates and probebly left them slightly scorched (and rightly so ). I'm wondering why the network let them go live in the first place too, so let's make sure networks are not let off the hook and are treated in the same manner as they can be as much to blame in some cases.

Paul.

edit: remind me to use spell check

[Spreader]

Hello all,

I'm Zak, and here's my merchant perspective.

Some of the things I think an association will require (in no particular order) are as follow:

A) Panel to head the association

Nice work Keith setting up this thread. However I think there would need to be a panel made up of affiliates, networks and merchants running the body. How they are selected (be it a vote, invitation, the moderators from this forum etc) is another story!.

B) Written Constitution

Nuff said. Every member of the scheme needs to adhere to the Constitution. Make people sign a document if needs be. But again who draws this up? It needs to be fair to all concerned so maybe needs to be put together by the panel above.

This constitution needs to then determine what authority the association has. Can a merchant be blacklisted for late payments? Can an affiliate be blacklisted for 304 redirects? Etc Etc.

C) Grievance Procedure

At the minute it seems that if somebody has a grievane with a merchant they can either take it up with the merchant or post a thread on the forum. Maybe it would be an idea to have an actual grievance procedure with some form of inependant (ish) mediation to sort out any problems between merchants and affiliates.

I think this is a really important point. Affiliate Marketing makes up a large percentage of our sales (and I would suggest a lot of other merchants). So, if we were to do something wrong and lose a lot of our affiliates by being blacklisted by the association this could have an adverse effect on our business.

An independent body of mediators would be a good thing here me thinks.

D) Funding

How is the scheme going to be funded? Ideally by all the members I would suggest. However, if it is too expensive will it exclude people and therefore be a closed shop for the bigger players?

E) Benefits

And then if you do pay to join what benefits are there? As an affiliate I'd like access to a list of affiliates who sell gifts so I can work with them. Likewise would affiliates be 'encouraged' to promote merchants who were part of the scheme? Could members of the scheme get preferential rates with networks with regards to overrides/management fees? Likewise (merchants will love me for saying this ) will affiliates in the association get better commission?

F) Guidelines to work to

As has been said before us affiliate managers are all pretty new at this. So, there must be some guidelines/recommendations to work to with regards to datafeeds, banners, content units, creative etc.

As a small merchant when you first start your affiliate programme you jump in with both feet without a great deal of guidance. A list of do's and don'ts (and perils) would be a godsend. Marketing is all about wants and needs, so lets all tell each other what we want and need.

G) A list of gripes...

This is a bit off the beaten track (I'm good at that!) but a list of 'gripes and their reasons for the gripe' might also work quite well.

For example, as I understand it, it really hacks affiliates off if merchants don't validate orders in time. However, there are sometimes valid reasons why this happens (for example the person who does the validation might be on holiday, ill etc). If there is a list of common complaints and possible reasons for this (from both sides of the coin) then this may alleviate a lot of problems and help merchants and affiliates alike understand one anothers position.

This is just off the top of my bonce so I'll have a good think.

I'd gladly get involved in any way with an affiliate association - be it in a big way or just as a member - as I whoelheartedly feel this will benefit affiliate marketing.

I think we should all make a concerted effort to get this off the ground and hats off to Keith for starting the thread. There has been lots of chat about an association for ages, with little fruition. Lets MAKE it happen this time.

Cheers all,


Zak.

[Mogga]

A full checklist for affiliate programs to meet standards

- Tracking and Validation
-- Confirmation that tracking works
-- date of batch files due to be processed
-- special notes about validation
-- that systems in place to monitor drop off of conversions & other indicators of tracking failure
-- that notice of changes be given well in advance.
-- that changes in validation systems (eg: definition of approvals etc) be notified
-- that after changes in the site are made that tracking is rechecked.

- Banners and links- ppc rules
-- any restrictions be made clear
-- notice given of intended changes
-- notification given on changes to deep link

- Network wide
-- Stats available for conversion, reversals etc
-- no urls, no phone numbers, variety of sizes

- Commission levels
-- levels clearly stated, tiers clarified, bonuses info
-- payment & compensation systems and structures agreed