What is a Sub-Affiliate?
Sub-Affiliates partners are essentially a mini-network of affiliates. Sub-affiliates maintain partnerships with a wide array of affiliates including content, deal, coupon, and loyalty. There are many sub-affiliates but the top partners in AvantLink include SkimLinks, Sovrn (formerly known as VigLink) and Flexoffers.
Why do Affiliates Join a Sub-Affiliate Network?
Partners tend to lean towards a sub-affiliate network over a direct partnership, as their editors know the dashboard, can load links and search for merchants that sell brands while comparing commission rates, EPC and other metrics.
Why Should an Advertiser Include Sub-Affiliate Partners into an Affiliate Strategy?
Working with a Sub-Affiliate partner casts a larger net of potential partnerships to help scale your program quickly and cost effectively. Because sub-affiliate partners maintain a large network of partners - including top content and media publications - they can drive a significant amount of traffic and revenue.
Large media outlets may not have the staff to add affiliate links so they use a sub-affiliate network.
Affiliate partners that are associated with sub-affiliate partners often include large publications such as Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith Corp., among others.
How Does a Sub-Affiliate Partnership Work?
Starting a sub-affiliate partnership works just like any other affiliate partnership in the AvantLink network. A merchant advertiser can recruit a sub-affiliate partner to join their program (note: when recruiting, you can search by Affiliate Classification>Sub-Affiliate Network) or you can receive an offer from a sub-affiliate partner.
When a sub-affiliate partner drives a sale, the merchant advertiser pays the sub-affiliate partner via the AvantLink interface and the sub-affiliate partner gives a percentage to their driving partner. Brands do not pay twice.
Sub-Affiliate Partnership Best Tips & Practices:
- Identify Partnerships: Since sub-affiliate partners offer a wide variety of partnership, you can request to be removed from certain types of affiliate relationships through sub-affiliate networks.
- Review Performance: Request reporting of who is driving performance. Top sub-affiliate partners such as Skimlinks, Viglink, and FlexOffers now offer this data in the AvantLink dashboard. Review the support article: Performance Summary by Sub Affiliate Partners. For any other affiliates, you can contact them directly to request partner performance.
- Update Promotions: Ensure that the sub-affiliate partners are notified of upcoming or current promotions. You may need to check with them individually to figure out the best way for you to send in your offers. SkimLinks, in particular, asks that you complete a form for every sale/discount.
- Strategize Commissions: A high commission rate of 10-20% is recommended to attract the top publishers in a sub-affiliate network.
- Optimize Exposure: Inquire about any opportunities to increase exposure among strong partners performing for your program. You can find these opportunities in AvantLink’s Media Kits page.