 | Take a Ticket & Get In Line - You Can’t All Be No.1! |
Every merchant thinks their program is the bees knees and because of this they automatically expect that an affiliate is going to be bending over backwards to get links, banners and copy onto their sites Tommy Cooper stylee… “just like that”! However, that’s not quite how it works affiliate wise in duckland.
As we work with a multitude of merchants, run a time intensive website, do other sites etc. that means your “bees knees” program is not always our priority - put simply, take a ticket and get in line… we’ll be with you shortly!
Promotion may happen, but in our time and our way….
Like all affiliates we have our favourites and established partners. These will usually get our top priority and attention. The reason for this is quite simple - they convert, they pay, they provide us with methods to promote them and they also have affiliate/merchant partnership history.
That’s not to say there’s no room at the inn, new merchants can come along and depose established encumbants in the prime positions.
So How Can You Climb The Charts & Head Towards No.1 (ish)!
1. Convert at Lower Positions!
A merchant might not get high priority on our sites until it’s shown life in a lower position. Put simply, if you convert then you will get more promotion. (Also see Flogging Dead Horses)
2. Tell Us About Your USPs!
Tell us why we should be promoting you and give us an angle to promote you. Perhaps you have a discount code, a competition, a freebie or a special offer?
3. Be In The Right Place at The Right Time!
This is pretty much out of a merchant’s hands, but sometimes you just get lucky and we might be looking for something to update on a particular subject for one of our sites. So make sure you’re posting on Affiliates4U or using blogs/emails to tell your affiliates what’s going on!
4. Send Us Content!
Press releases, content units, articles, links to items that might be of interest. That may sound lazy, but time is short and we’re busy, so it saves time if you actually highlight things about your program/merchant. Any headstart you can offer may be useful and get you noticed.
5. Don’t Hassle Us!
As mentioned earlier I’ve had a some emails asking about promotions - none particularly polite or inspiring a desire for a working relationship I must add. One, from a major bookmaker with a bingo site, even asked “when are you going to start promoting us”, even though they’ve been sending us cheques for the last 12 months. (Also see Are You Happy To Be Bought…)!
6. Do Hassle Us
But this contradicts (5) doesn’t it? Yes, but hassle us in a polite way and perhaps mention those USPs as in (2) or send us content as in (4) and it becomes a different kettle of fish. A few words of encouragement and information can make a lot of difference to any promotion you may get… and if you earn us commission, you’ll get more exposure!
7. Be Realistic!
If you have no promotions, competitions, discounts, offers or content… don’t expect to jump the queue ahead of other merchants that have them. Likewise, if we’ve only ever earnt £5 from you, the chances of getting favouritism over a merchant who’s earnt us thousands are quite slim.
8. Remember You All Can’t Be No.1
As much as it would be nice if we could fit everyone in the top spot, it’s just not possible. We have our priorities and they relate to us actually trying to earn a living.
Finally, don’t be upset that you’re not No.1 and that your banners are not plastered everywhere! That’s how it is, but do all the above and at least you’ll be noticed & noted, giving you the chance to be heading up the charts.
on May 19, 2008 at 9:47 am Jim wrote:
Raises an interesting point I have often wondered about. Who needs who more? I often notice that it is the affiliates that seem to be in control (or think they are!) which suprises me because without the merchants surely the affiliates can’t exist. However merchants can exist without affiliates, there are plenty of other marketing opportunities out there and some of the strong brands will have no trouble getting traffic anyway.
I guess actually what is required is a symbiosis between the two parties. I would have thought that if I was a merchant and my affiliate asked me to bend to their needs Id probably move onto the next guy - merchants are busy too! Id want to work with someone who seemed excited about taking up my deal and working with me. This seems to be the attitude of my employer - but then as a bigger player maybe the marketing team can afford to chose (im an IT chap, not on the business side!).
It’s interesting to read the above as I am in the “affiliate dreamer” stage! I cant comment from my own experience. Id be interested to know who you think has the most power? Or does it depend on the size of the affiliate site vs the size of the merchant?! As a starter I imagine having to take any scheme that would have me!
on May 19, 2008 at 10:19 am jdmobile wrote:
Balance of Power… initially it’s with the affiliate, they decide if they want to join a merchant… then it’s with the merchant as they (where needed) accept/reject.
Then it’s with the affiliate again in deciding how/when/where to promote.
As you do more in AM (and hopefully earn more), you get to be more selective in what you do - but at the same time trying not to burn too many bridges (just in case).
However, no matter you can’t place every merchant at the top of the pile… some have to be lower down the pecking order.
on May 19, 2008 at 12:33 pm How to create the perfect Bingo affiliate programme and sign up new Bingo affiliates wrote:
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on May 19, 2008 at 2:58 pm Lies, Damn Lies & Conversion Rates | One Little Duck - Affiliate Blog wrote:
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on May 21, 2008 at 12:29 am Joe Connor wrote:
The relationship between merchant and affiliate is really interesting, there’s always a push/pull undercurrent to contend with. Recently I’ve noticed one network in particular being a lot more savvy asking for x/y/z in return for a/b/c and the balance of power is always shifting - you’re right though, there’s only one number one slot on our sites (and on google).
Merchants also often ask for the wrong things - being on our home page isn’t really going to make a big difference to sales - being on the right internal page or featured in our newsletter would often be a lot better.
on May 26, 2008 at 5:59 pm How To Push My Buttons And Get Me To Promote Your Wares wrote:
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