What do affiliates mainly need? I think you’ll agree with me that this is a question with many possible responses. But, as you will see, there’s one thing it really matters to affiliates and that is the involvement of the software vendors.
In April 2009 we did our annual Avangate Affiliate Survey and we got interesting feedback from our affiliates. Here are the main conclusions that stand out from the survey from the publishers’ point of view:
- The affiliates think that more discount coupons from the software vendors would help them sell more;
- They find it rather difficult to cope with the fact that some of the software vendors aren’t more helpful – offering unattractive affiliate commissions, lack of marketing materials, no commissioning schemes to stimulate competition.
Some of you software vendors will probably think – Well, that’s no surprise at all… who wouldn’t want to earn more without moving a finger? And that’s true for some affiliates. But, from my experience so far, I can tell you there are also affiliate marketers that really want to build a successful business online and actually act to accomplish this.
So why not help them as much as you can from your position? Here’s a thought: if affiliates see you are involved in this channel and you offer them the things they need which are up to you, not only they will be able to sell and promote your products better, buy they will also have a stronger motivation to do that.
I’m not just blabbing here – I saw a real example of this: one of the vendors I contacted in order to optimize his affiliate channel added a sign-up page for affiliates on his website, with details about the affiliate program. After just a couple of weeks, the number of click through generated by affiliates increased dramatically, bringing more exposure to his products, thus, generating more sales.
Some time ago I wrote a post in which I advised software vendors to help the affiliates help them. Things changed for the better in these few months that have passed and I’m really glad I can say this. But let me re-iterate it: get more involved with your affiliates and you will benefit from this. You can see some best practices on how to be efficient about your affiliate channel and you can also check out the free whitepaper on this matter.
If you feel like talking to somebody about your affiliate strategy, don’t hesitate to drop me a message. After all, two brains are better than one:).
