Help me now fail my new job as an Affiliate Manager.

November 13, 2009 7:29 PM

Help me not fail my new job as an Affiliate Manager

Starting a new job on Monday. Yea! It uses a lot of the skills I've used in my career, but puts them toward a new objective - getting other people to sell your product for you. Since my bonus is based off revenues from affiliate links, I need some strategies to help me maximize that.

Do you make money using affiliate marketing? What is your idea of an ideal Affiliate program and what can the Affiliate Manager do to help you? How do you decide which affiliate programs to join and where do you find them?

Are you an Affiliate Manager? Where did you learn your skills? Who do you read today to keep up with the industry? What is the first thing I should do on Monday at my new job?

Thanks!

posted by IndigoSkye to work & money (3 comments total)

This is a really difficult question to answer because you want a lot of information...and I'm not entirely sure that your business model is a model that I am comfortable discussing, but if had to do this TOMORROW (I've never worked in marketing by the way), this is what I'd do.

Monday morning, I would become very familiar with your product lineup and sales team, to the point of obsession, because when your affiliates start asking you questions (where do these shamwow-knockoffs come from? what fabric are these duvet sets? where are these hand lotions made, and what chemicals are in them? are these coffee tubs free trade? what's the difference between this blog software and wordpress?) you should immediately know your affiliate's name and the answer. You should endorse and approve of your products fully. This must include using it/them in your own life, so you can properly explain when asked, "what will this thing do for me?"

You will have to turn into a bottom-liner, setting targets for your employees and rewarding good effort. I am really not familiar with payment schemes or reward ladders and in my opinion those are outdated methods of reward. More sales=more money is the gist of it. I assume you've done this kind of thing before.

Be strict on expectations and paradoxically understanding of your sales teams' needs. It's a crappy market right now, and they're selling toasters that might not have a brand name, or selling novelty items like knife sets, or trying to do the Avon thing and burning through friends who may resent them for their sales pitches. It's also nearing the holiday season; the Christians/Catholics will be out buying toys and electronics and gifts, the other religions may not, but they will certainly be interested in discounts.

I would outfit the team with uniforms and professional sales kits (business cards. professionally designed brochures. dossiers and shoulder bags.) if they are physically selling your product. If they already have them, ensure that their appearances are ALWAYS neat, tidy, and professional. Stress this point! For god's sake have the men clean shaven with clean work pants!

If you're doing digital affiliate or something, I have no idea. Honestly it sounds like a scammy business model to me..."here, sell this for me and reap only a percentage of the reward while I get the rest."

And if you're part of a pyramid scheme, or referral sales, or "I made $10,000 in 3 months!" "Affiliate Manager"... ...

...I'm still pretty unsure as to what kind of business you're running and uncomfortable going any further so I'm going to stop here. Just use common sense and have a decent product and you'll be okay.
posted by Khazk at 12:11 AM on November 14

I have not worked in the affiliate industry but I have been working in search engine marketing professionally, that is buying google ads for companies.

Some observations.

A good brand is worth a lot. As a general rule go with the best known brand if you can choose what to promote.

Get to know your clients and try to get to know as much of their plan as possible. Build long lasting relations. Some affiliates may be newbies that need a lot of handholding as well as suggestions for what to do. Other may be more experienced and will care more about what deal you can get them. Expect that experienced people will not give up their game plan to you since you easily could steal it.

In general, never promise anything you can't deliver. As in any business relationship people may accept giving up some extra money if they know they can trust you.

The products that sell the most are in general the most shady.

For every 100 accounts you get maybe ten will do any volume and one of thoose will do good number of sales. Do anything to make that guy stay with you.

Expect to always be sandwitched between your affiliates and the advertisers. As soon as someone makes real money both sides will get greedy.

Best luck.
posted by ilike at 3:57 AM on November 14

I'll just start by saying that there's a lot of misinformation in Khazk's post, most of it centered around the idea that you'll be dealing with "toasters that might not have a brand name, or selling novelty items like knife sets, or trying to do the Avon thing". For the record, a huge portion of online retailers have affiliate programs -- Amazon, Zappos, Dell, Victoria's Secret, the Gap, Steve Madden and Apple to name a few. Obviously these companies are selling completely legitimate products and when an affiliate generates a sale, they get a commission. There's no ladder or payment scheme or scam involved.

What I want out of an affiliate manager is complete mastery of the affiliate network and the tools it provides. I don't really need you to tell me anything about the product (Gap khakis are 100% cotton ARE YOU KIDDING ME????). I do want to be able to make product-specific links and category links and I want to be able to do so easily. I might want a coupon code that is branded with my publication name -- do you know how to generate that? I want a user-friendly interface to track my sales. A full (and functional) product catalogue is a must. If I have a question, I would like a timely response.

As to how I decide which programs to join, it's really about what's a good fit for our sites. I look for new programs within affiliate networks, and if there's a new retailer (or one I have just become familiar with), I will write and ask if they have an affiliate program.

What network are you working with, IndigoSkye? CJ, Linkshare, Google Affiliate Network, ShareASale? They all have pluses and minuses (except for Linkshare which is kind of an unadulterated headache).

Please feel free to MeFi Mail me if you have any questions.
posted by kate blank at 5:45 AM on November 14