How To Promote A Retailer Properly
Posted under: One of the networks recently launched a programme that is more than ideal for Fight Climate Change provided it can generate interest and traffic of course. In the acceptance on to the program email the following was included …
We’re keen to help you promote this retailer properly, so please do contact us if you think we could help you with understanding the consumer proposition and the target audience. We are keen to talk you through this as it should give you a higher conversion and therefore lead to a long and fruitful association!
“Great” I thought, given this is a newish product I’d take them up on this offer! So I sent in an email to see if I could get help understanding the proposition and target audience so that my efforts would lead to a higher conversion.
Here’s the genuine reply from the network …
The best way to promote the programme would be to give it a good position on your site and really keep up to date with any offers, promotions or incentives they run to keep your audience interested whilst increasing your traffic and ultimately opportunity to make commissions at the same time. To insert the banners simply copy and paste the banner code into the back area of your website
Well I never!
All these years in affiliate marketing and I never knew that … thanks for the help!
How about naming the network?
You were lucky (well not really), most networks don’t seem to even acknowledge emails.
When will networks get their act together?
I feel your pain Jason. Every time I want to stick a new offer up on one of my sites I go digging around for something that tells me who it appeals to, and why they should choose this merchant over any other so can write a bit of copy to entice the reader into clicking.
I’d say I find the answer about 10% of the time. Even when I get hold of the network account manager or the merchant I still come away with the info I need less than half the time.
So, here’s a tip for all you merchants:
- Buy a copy of Steve Krug’s “Don’t make me think” (2nd edition)
- Turn to page 99
- If you can’t answer all four questions on that page, go and find someone who can, then tell your affiliates the answer.
Thats cracking advice!!!!
Is it really that simple?
Geeeeee thats where I’ve been going wrong all these years. Had I received advice like that, I’m sure I’d be a millionaire now
Keep me posted, let me know how it goes and whether you see any increase in sales if you implement their advice
Fantastic, one of those ‘we want to look pro-active and help but when you follow it up we probably wont’ emails. In this sort of situation where the network it would seem doesn’t really know that much about the product they could forward the query on maybe? Im sure you wouldn’t mind waiting an extra day or two for a reply if it came from someone at the company, with an understanding of the product and was able to share that with you.
I guess this does raise questions about how often the merchant and network do talk? Is it a case of endless sales calls then one signed up the only network to merchant communication is a monthly invoice?
What also made me chuckle was the ‘copy and paste the banner code into the back area of your website’ – back area? Im sure if the network staff who wrote this had taken 5 minutes to look at your site, or even look at your account with the network they’d realise you’re a pretty competent affiliate and didn’t need telling how to copy and paste, again raises more questions about how much training network staff get, or need.