As a merchant account manager, It is important to periodically review your program and implement optimization opportunities. Below are a few ideas to help critically review and breathe new life into your program.
1. Focus on Current Partners
- Contact your current partners that have secured content/placements in the past. Explore opportunities to engage them again to continue growing a long-term partnership.
- Send your top content partners product to review before a product launch or before a big promotion. Having new product or product in hand before a promotion/sale could help with new content creation. Most publishers ask for a 2-4 week period to be able to properly review a product.
- Offer exclusive codes for partners and have them promote through social media or blog newsletters.
- Plan sponsored content with a partner that directly aligns with the products you are trying to promote. Ask them to share insights for the campaigns you plan with them. You can find opportunities here: https://www.avantlink.com/affiliate-partner-media-kits/.
- Optimize your loyalty partners.
- Increase cashback with top loyalty partners for key promotional periods (especially in Q4).
- Conduct a competitive review of loyalty sites - making sure your cashback is on par or higher than your closest competitor.
- Reach out to Loyalty, Deal, Coupon partners to discover upcoming promotional opportunities that may only require a commission increase to be included. (especially Q4).
- Offer performance incentives in the form of a bonus of a CPA increase if a certain sales threshold goal is met.
2. Recruit + Engage New Partners
- Ensure that you continue to identify new affiliate partners in the AvantLink network.
- Identify partners not in the AvantLink network and invite them to join your program using a private recruiting link.
- Perform a keyword search of your top products to identify websites that are already promoting your brand but not joined to your AvantLink program. Research those sites to see if they are linking to competitors. If so, reach out to have them join the Avantlink Network / Your Affiliate Program. (Note: you can locate contact information using tools such as Hunter.io or LinkedIn)
- Confirm that an affiliate program sign up page is on your public website. If already created, ensure it is updated and promoted effectively among your audience.
3. Perform a Program-Wide Analysis. Fully optimize your program by asking some important questions:
- Is your program’s overall commission competitive? You can review the program details for all merchants here: http://avantlink.com/programs.
- Is your datafeed updating properly?
- Are your program’s email templates up-to-date?
- Review your standard recruiting email template to make sure it provides a call to action.
- We suggest once communicating with affiliate partners at least once a month. You can announce new products, promos, sales, general ideas, etc.
- Are communications to affiliates sent regularly?
- Are your banner and text ads updated regularly with upcoming seasonal events, a link to your brand’s homepage, or links to sales/discount pages, etc.?
A successful affiliate program involves building long term partnerships with the affiliates promoting your brand. Keep in mind that affiliate marketing takes commitment and consistency to really build your program and show results.