Affiliate Management – Added Value?

Further to this thread on the forum I thought I would write a quick article about the added value of a good management agency. role of an agency within affiliate marketing

We all know that in the past and currently that there are certain agencies that have accorded little importance to affiliate marketing both internally and with clients. Given the growing importance of affiliate marketing this is clearly a very naive approach to affiliate business.

So we at Optimus Performance Marketing looked at this 18 months ago when we first launched and noticed that there was a gap in the market place for a dedicated affiliate marketing management company. From personal experience and research we concluded that interested merchants and affiliates were not being given the best possible service by some larger companies. We came to market with a clear view on what should be delivered by a management company :-

What should a merchant look for in an agency:-

Relationship management
Honest Advice
Timely response to questions
Benchmarking
Affiliate marketing strategy
Commission structure & incentives
Network selection & management
Affiliate recruitment & management
Reporting & analysis
Communication: newsletters, forums & events
Affiliate policing

A good affiliate management agency should be pro-active in understanding the precise nature of the merchants products or services and have a proper understanding of any current merchant news topics, seasonality and top selling products.

Affiliate perceptions of an individual management agency are very important to any client merchants. The industry forum is a place find feedback about management companies and agencies – www.affiliates4u.com.

If you are considering contracting a management company or agency then there is a shopping list of considerations that affiliates look for that we have set out below :-

- Offer transparent, timely and honest communication
- Work to increase conversions at all times
- Offer personalised incentives and rewards
- Be responsive to individual needs
- Treat you as a key member of the online sales team
- Encourage open communication between all parties
- Make you more money!
- Offer personalised advice to maximise your conversions
- Provide your feedback to merchants and networks

The final important factor is how well a management company or agent works with all the major UK networks. This is of benefit to make sure that all parties get the correct information quickly and efficiently as well as ensuring that merchants work with the best network for their needs.

What should a network look for in an agency:-

- Increase sales for your merchant
- Improve CTR
- Monitor commission structure & incentives
- Create newsletter creative for merchants
- New affiliate recruitment
- Communication: newsletters, forums & events
- PPC brand policing
- Make you more money!
- Increase merchant understanding
- Provide additional feedback loop to merchant

I think from the above you can see that working as a management agency is not easy and does take a lot of hard work. For anyone to make a successful management agency you have to build strong relationships based on respect, understanding of all competing interests. It also helps to maintain a presence at the different industry events to maintain client merchant profiles.

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Management Companies should also not be afraid to introduce affiliates and networks to their clients as this is very important in the building of any affiliate programme. We have found that far from being any threat – this reinforces the relationship that we have with our clients and affiliates.

We are very proud to have a good relationship with many top affiliates and networks.

I also think that the dedicated affiliate management companies like Optimus Performance Marketing, Total Search Solutions and various others are working very hard to make sure that affiliate marketing keeps growing and seen as a key pillar of the online marketing world for many years to come.