Choosing the Right Affiliate Network for Your Business

An affiliate program is a great way to generate more sales for your business, but it can also generate more headaches. For many businesses, using an affiliate network is a great solution, but it does have potential problems and benefits.

When shopping for the right solution, consider:

Fees
Most networks charge you a fee to get started. This can be as low as $50 or so, or up to several thousand dollars for the larger networks, just to get started. Then there’s the percentage of each sale or commission the network takes out, monthly maintenance fees, renewal fees and so forth. You need to know what is reasonable for your business to pay in fees. If you’re a smaller business, it is often reasonable to shop for the lowest fees, but remember, the smaller networks have fewer affiliates, so you may not get the results you want for your money. You need to strike a balance between saving money and the potential to earn money.
Reliability of tracking technology
Expect excellent tracking technology. You should be able to get detailed reports on the traffic you receive, just as the affiliate should be able to get details on the traffic they sent you. Another problem is that some programs now block ads from certain affiliate networks, so completely that your ad may not be seen by the end consumer. You need to know what problems of this type exist.
Safeguards
How does the network protect you from the various kinds of fraud that can be present online? If you’re paying per click, this is a major concern, but don’t think you’re off the hook if you pay per sale. If a network has no problem with affiliates who install parasitic programs on users computers, especially without their knowledge, you may end up paying an affiliate even for the traffic you received naturally through the search engines. Find out the network’s stance on parasites and spyware.
Reputation
Check out affiliate discussion boards such as ABestWeb and see what affiliates and other merchants think of each network. Just about every network will have problems sometimes, but some have problems consistently. You want your affiliates to be happy so they’ll stick with your program and make money for you. You don’t want to have to change networks later on if you can help it.
Exclusivity
Are you restricted to just the one network? Some networks require that you sign up only with them. Others allow you to sign up with multiple networks. The advantage to multiple networks is that it allows you to reach affiliates who prefer different networks. There are plenty of affiliates who will reject your program simply because they don’t want to join or don’t trust a particular network. Starting with just one network is a very good idea, but as your business grows you may want the ability to join another without dropping your current program.
Customer Service
If you can’t get a company to give you the time of day before you sign up, how do you think they will treat you after? Find out if you’ll have an account manager to help you with any issues.
Affiliates
Smaller networks are often cheaper, but they also typically are not as well known among affiliates, and so offer fewer affiliates to join your program. This is not necessarily a bad thing. A large number of affiliates doesn’t mean they are all active, and it only takes a few good affiliates to make a network worthwhile if they sign up with you. You want to know that you can get quality affiliates. As I said above, however, watch out for parasitic affiliates, as they’ll steal sales from other affiliates and from your sales that should have come from natural search results.
Can you contact affiliates?
There are two kinds of affiliates you want to know if you can contact: Those who are in your program and those who are not. You definitely want to be able to contact those in your program. Some merchants like being able to contact affiliates they think would be a good match for their program as well, but this approach can annoy affiliates, particularly if you are too persistent. You need to be aware that many affiliates would rather contact you than be contacted by you. On the other hand, a monthly newsletter telling affiliates of deals they can offer to customers is not a bad idea for most businesses.

Choosing the right affiliate solution can mean a great deal to your business. You need to balance costs with benefits. Success with affiliates may catch you off guard – some businesses react poorly when their affiliate marketing budget skyrockets as affiliates start making sales, but remember – affiliate sales mean you earn more money! If your business takes off beyond your expectations due to affiliates, that’s a GOOD thing!

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