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Common Mistakes Stagnating Your Affiliate Program’s Growth Presented by: Geno Prussakov CEO, AM Navigator LLC affiliate program management, audit & consulting URL: www.amnavigator.com Tel.: (+1) 888-588-8866 Email: [email protected] .

Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

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Page 1: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Common Mistakes Stagnating Your Affiliate Program’s Growth

Presented by: Geno Prussakov

CEO, AM Navigator LLCaffiliate program management, audit & consulting

URL: www.amnavigator.com

Tel.: (+1) 888-588-8866

Email: [email protected]

.

Page 2: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Using Good Building Material?

Page 3: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Afraid to Get Hands Dirty?

Page 4: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Outline

1. Merchant essentials (7)

2. Management components (7)

Page 5: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Merchant Essentials

Page 6: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

1. Leak-free website

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Leaks - Definition

Leaks – external links within your website that lead to sites which do not credit your affiliates for the work they perform.

Page 8: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Leaks - Types

1. Telephone number / Live chat

2. AdSense units

3. Amazon widgets

4. Links to “network” stores/sites

5. Affiliate links & links to other merchants

Page 9: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Leaks – Example (type 1)Telephone Number

Page 10: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Leaks – Example (type 1)Live Chat

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Leaks – Example (type 2)

AdSense (Google ads)

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Leaks – Example (type 3)

Amazonwidgets

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Leaks – Example (type 4)Links to

“network”stores/sites

Page 14: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Leaks – Example (type 5)

Affiliate& other links

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1. Leak-free website

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1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

Don’t confuse with affiliate network’s agreement!

Page 17: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

Page 18: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Merchant naïvete -- loss of defensive behaviors and adaptations needed to deal with “predators”

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

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Program agreement

What to Cover?• Coupon & discounts policy• Trademark policy• Policies on loyalty affiliates• Disclosure recommendation

Page 20: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Program agreementWhat to Cover?

• Coupon & discounts policy• Trademark policy• Policies on loyalty affiliates• Disclosure recommendation

How to Word It?1. Foreword2. Summary3. Agreement itself

Page 21: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Program agreementWhat to Cover?

• Coupon & discounts policy• Trademark policy• Policies on loyalty affiliates• Disclosure recommendation

How to Word It?1. Foreword2. Summary3. Agreement itself

“How often do you read TOS?”

Page 22: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Program agreement

Get your free sample:

www.AMNavigator.com/TOS.html

Page 23: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

3. Dedicated landing pages

Page 24: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Dedicated Landing PagesWe’ve analyzed 50 randomly selected merchants

(from Internet Retailer Top 500 list) on 3 major affiliate networks (CJ, LinkShare, GAN)…

Page 25: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Dedicated Landing Pages

4 Points to Cover:

1. Reinforce promo/campaign's details

2. Provide detailed instructions (if customer needs to do something)

3. Spell out any restrictions

4. Have clear calls to action

Page 26: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

3. Dedicated landing pages

4. Competitive commission

…and performance incentives too!

Page 27: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

3. Dedicated landing pages

4. Commission

5. Fair cookie life

Page 28: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Short Cookie Life5 hours or under

•Sephora.com (4 hrs)•Toys R Us, Babies R Us•eToys.com•Miles Kimball Company•ShopNBC.com

12-24 hours

•Nordstrom.com (12 hrs)•Enterprise.com (23 hrs)•Chase.com (23 hrs)•Amazon (24 hrs)

3 Days

•Apple iTunes•Champs Sports•Dell•ESPN Shop•Foot Locker•Walmart

Page 29: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Return Days Analysis

Page 30: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Cookie Retention Data

1 day – 85%

2 days – 75%

3 days – 70%

4 days – 63%

45 days ~ 50%

340 days ~ 20%

Source: Web Analytics Analyzedblog by Paul Strupp

at blogs.sun.com

Page 31: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

3. Dedicated landing pages

4. Competitive commission

5. Fair cookie life

6. Safeguarding tracking code

Page 32: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

3. Dedicated landing pages

4. Competitive commission

5. Fair cookie life

6. Tracking code

7. Advance notifications

Notify affiliates at least one month

in advance

Page 33: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Management Components

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1. Managing affiliates

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1. Managing affiliates

… when, in reality:

we’re notaffiliate managers

but affiliate program managers

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1. Managing affiliates

2. Failing to police compliance

Page 37: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Monitor Trademark Use

In Paid Search Campaigns:

• iTrademarkBidding – www.itrademarkbidding.com• Brandverity PoachMark – brandverity.com/poachmark• SearchMonitor – thesearchmonitor.com/affiliate_monitor• AdGooroo Trademark Insight – www.adgooroo.com

In Domain Names:

• CitizenHawk – www.citizenhawk.com.

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1. Managing affiliates

2. Failing to police compliance

3. Approval email

Page 39: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

1. Managing affiliates2. Failing to police compliance3. Approval email

Pattern to Follow1. Remind them of your program details 2. Include an activation promo3. Enclose performance-based incentive4. Pre-coded affiliate links (incl. coupons, feed, etc) 5. Detailed contact information

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Create a Sense of Urgency!

Page 41: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

“What’s the maximum acceptable affiliate program application response time?”

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1. Managing affiliates

2. Failing to police compliance

3. Approval email

4. Hard-to-reach goals

Page 43: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

1. Managing affiliates

2. Failing to police compliance

3. Approval email

4. Hard-to-reach goals

aka performance-based incentives

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Unrealistic/Demotivating Goals

Important details: AOV ~$650 So, for 0.5% increase - 31 orders/mo …and for 1% bump - 91 such orders

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Swimmer (illustration)

Page 46: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

1. Managing affiliates

2. Failing to police compliance

3. Approval email

4. Hard-to-reach goals

5. Commission drops

Page 47: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Commission Drops

Page 48: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Commission Drops

As a valued [Merchant Name] affiliate partner, I wanted to let you know that we are currently working to make our program, and our partnerships, as successful as possible.

In order to continue to support the success of our current partnership we are unable to continue to offer you a flat 4% commission on all goods. Starting at the end of February, our new offer will be lowered to 1.5% on all goods.

Page 49: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Commission Drops

Page 50: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

1. Managing affiliates

2. Failing to police compliance

3. Approval email

4. Hard-to-reach goals

5. Commission drops

6. Split-testing of landing pages

Page 51: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

A/B Split-Testing

What to Test?

• Headlines• Calls to action• Page style & layout• Images• Descriptive copy• Pricing & promos

Page 52: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

A/B Split-Testing

What to Test?

• Headlines• Calls to action• Page style & layout• Images• Descriptive copy• Pricing & promos

Tools to Employ

• Google Website Optimizer• Visual Website Optimizer• LiveBall• A/Bingo• PickFu• Vertster• Unbounce• Sitespect's A/B Testing• Five Second Test• Vanity

Page 53: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

1. Managing affiliates2. Failing to police compliance3. Approval email4. Hard-to-reach goals5. Commission drops6. Split-testing of landing pages7. Proactive management

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Proactive Management

Proactive – “Acting in anticipation of future problems, needs, or changes” (Webster's Dictionary)

Page 55: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Thank you!

Got questions?

Merchant Manager

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

3. Dedicated landing pages

4. Competitive commission

5. Fair cookie life

6. Safeguarding tracking code

7. Advance notifications

1. Managing affiliates

2. Failing to police

3. Approval email

4. Hard-to-reach goals

5. Commission drops

6. Split-testing of landing pages

7. Proactive management

Page 56: Common mistakes stagnating your affiliate programme's growth - Geno Prussakov

Got questions?

Merchant Manager

1. Leak-free website

2. Program agreement

3. Dedicated landing pages

4. Competitive commission

5. Fair cookie life

6. Safeguarding tracking code

7. Advance notifications

1. Managing affiliates

2. Failing to police

3. Approval email

4. Hard-to-reach goals

5. Commission drops

6. Split-testing of landing pages

7. Proactive management

www.amnavigator.com/blog | 1-888-588-8866 | [email protected]