It’s the festive season and that usually peace and goodwill to all, but there are times to make exceptions and they’re for merchants who send out emails like this:

I am writing to you as you have not delivered many clicks for this programme over the last 6 months. If you are planning to promote this campaign and would like to remain as a live affiliate please reply to this e mail. If I do not hear from you by Friday 19th January then you will be cancelled from the campaign. You are of course welcome to reapply for this campaign at any point in the future.

I read these emails now and think, right let’s not waste any time considering whether to promote you – let’s just remove links now and be done with it. Our systems are such that link removals are but a button away. Yes we could reply and say we want to stay on the program, but the best part of this for me is that in all the time the links have been in place not once has the merchant sent out an email about the program to affiliates.

As an inactive affiliate exactly what harm are we doing? It doesn’t cost the merchant anything to have us active or inactive. This stuff must be in a database so that stats can be brought up to show which affiliates are doing what – the categorisation of affiliates surely isn’t just “active” or “inactive”? Surely a merchant/network must meet and discuss why affiliates are inactive – and from that discussion surely the result should be actually making sure that the program is doing all it can to encourage affiliates to take part and be active? Not “let’s delete the one’s who don’t do anything”!!

For some programs the timescale appears to be (1) Launch Program (2) Wait A While (3) Send Out Email To Inactive Affiliates (4) Close Program – there’s a big step missing though – and that’s put some effort into running your program (also titled encouraging affiliates to promote you) – oh and read my Why Affiliates Are Dormant post from August 2006 before you start removing those who are inactive.

Related Posts... Culling Affiliate Emails – How To Respond – If You Can! Purge Inactivity To Get The Best From Your Affiliates! Ineffective Affiliates Fail to Satisfy and Perform!