At a recent networking event, a panel of the ecommerce industry’s top affiliate marketers and affiliate managers engaged in an open discussion, fielding an array of tough questions gathered from software vendors interested in optimizing their affiliate programs.
The panel discussion included representatives from Download.com, TopTenReviews.com and PC Antivirus Reviews. These affiliates used the discussion as an opportunity to educate ecommerce professionals on important topics that ranged from how to effectively initiate and nurture relationships with affiliates to strategies and tactics for increasing conversion rates and revenue.
The video below shows the full panel discussion. Below the video is a summary of the key questions and take-aways from the panel.
1. What do affiliate programs look for when partnering with a new vendor?
When affiliates vet software vendors, some begin by reading reviews of products from tech savvy users. This investigation demonstrates the usefulness of a given product to consumers which provides affiliates with insight into the viability of that product.
Additionally, affiliates are attracted to companies willing to work on a risk/reward basis. For example, if the product is associated with high-quality keywords, it is assumed that organic traffic will pour in. The publisher then invests in the building of an affiliate site for the product. That means the publisher aka the affiliate, must hire people and spend time and money to promote the product through content and SEO. Of course, they expect proper compensation for driving the increase in sales that the advertiser would otherwise not have seen.
For a partnership to flourish, the publisher must drive results for the advertiser, in this case the software manufacturer. When both parties are invested in the others success, the parties are more likely to create a win-win situation.
It also means that affiliates have little interest in becoming just another faceless source of revenue for the publisher. They want genuine interaction with the company whose products they are promoting. Ultimately, this results in the best possible experience for the consumer. The most efficient way to create these types of relationships is to have someone on the vendor side dedicated to working hands on with affiliates.
2. Should affiliate links send traffic straight to the checkout process or first go through a vendor’s landing page?
The answer to this question depends on the circumstance. According to one panelist, affiliates should always send traffic straight to checkout. Typically, if a consumer is in “Buy” mode then sellers should just get out of the way. Don’t put up another impediment.
Another panelist supported the idea that the traffic source plays a role in the decision. If the visitor arrives by way of search engine and is a new visitor to the site, it’s best to send them to a landing page with further product information that highlights the benefits of the product. However, when it comes to newsletters and email blasts, tests have shown that it’s better to send click-throughs straight to the shopping cart.
A third perspective is to look at the product or service itself. If the vendor is not a big name brand, consumers might need reassurance before they decide to purchase. In this context, some additional marketing content on landing page set-up between the affiliate site and the vendor’s checkout is helpful for conversion.
3. What type of marketing material do affiliates need from vendors in order to be successful in promoting the vendor’s product?
Affiliates like to know why a consumer needs a product and what differentiates that product from its competitors. Clearly, a whole bunch of antivirus products are sold in today’s market, so successful affiliate marketing depends on the affiliate understanding what is so exciting about that product that makes it superior to similar products.
Affiliates are interested in showing their audience the best deals out there. To do that, affiliates need to have a close, working relationship with the vendors and not have to research product information on their own. Affiliates don’t necessarily want all their information to come strictly from the vendor’s marketing materials either, which can be very “rah-rah” without being useful to consumers. In fact, some affiliates would rather create their own marketing materials from raw information they have gathered through their own conversations with vendors. The affiliates understand their visitors better than the vendors, and are able to create content that caters specifically to their audience’s tastes.
It is also important for vendors to showcase compelling products with statistics. For example, how many people are using the product, who are this company’s competitors, and any miscellaneous information regarding a strategic edge this product may have over its competitors, such as local support or refund guarantees.
4. What are the most important stats for affiliates and vendors to monitor on a daily basis?
The panelists each gave varied responses to this question.
For one panelist, the single most important metric was earnings-per-visitor (EPV). If this metric is consistently paid attention to, affiliates and vendors can look back over the months and years and immediately tell whether their site is healthy or not.
Another panelist suggested monitoring whether visitors choose to download or choose to buy. The one situation you don’t want to encounter is a bunch of people bypassing the download in favor of the shopping cart and then abandoning the shopping cart.
Other important metrics to look at include visitors, clicks and conversions. Depending on how these three elements correlate affiliates will know how to focus their optimization efforts. If traffic is low, then the affiliate invests in SEO. If clicks and conversions are an issue, the affiliate and vendor must discuss landing page optimization.
Which model do affiliates prefer: media buys (CPM) or profit share (CPA)?
In general, affiliates prefer a profit sharing model. It’s simply not exciting to sit back and wait for visitors to show up. Especially when the conversion is a payment transaction, it is much more exciting to test and optimize processes in which both parties have a serious investment.
Keystone
What emerges from this panel discussion is that affiliates, like all other channels of online traffic, need to be handled differently depending on how their affiliate site is structured, and the one-size-fits-all approach does not work. This new information helps show why a dedicated affiliate manager is needed more and more in affiliate marketing.
Watch the entire video for additional answers to questions like:
- What mistakes should vendors avoid while working with affiliates?
- What is the best way for vendors to contact affiliates about new products?
- How can software vendors effectively work with coupon affiliates without cannibalizing sales?
Thanks for the useful summary. It always amazes me how many retailers set up programs only to let underperform through lack of attention after the initial affiliate recruitment drive.