Classes VII and VIII in December gave a lowdown on the biggest US and UK affiliate networks. Alongside the basic information we provided about the major networks, you will need to gather knowledge from other sources to be able to determine which network(s) to go with. This week’s class will provide tips on where to look for information about each network and how to go about launching your affiliate program..

Researching Networks

As well as using our recent lowdown on the networks and ebooks such as E-Consultancy’s Affiliate Marketing Networks Buyer’s Guide (2006),you should use the following sources to get as much information as possible about each network and appraise their suitability:

• each network’s website
• each network’s print literature (can ask for this to be mailed to you)
• affiliate marketing forums
• contacts in the industry
• trade fairs such as Ad:tech and Affiliate Summit

Once a few networks begin to stand out from the others, if they have offices not too far from you, invite them to tell you more about what they have to offer. This is commonly known as a ‘pitch’.

The sales team of most networks are notoriously slick and hungry. You should be aware that they usually earn commission for each client they bring on board.

In most cases, they will not be your point of contact once you have signed up their network and some sales staff have a reputation for not caring too much what happens to your affiliate program once you have signed on the dotted line. They are also known for being quite liberal with the truth, as the boxed quotation demonstrates! So have your wits about you, don’t be reluctant to ask penetrating questions, and never sign up on the spot.

“I’ve witnessed several pitches from affiliate networks and have been surprised at how economical they can be with the truth. For example, a few networks have claimed to be the biggest in the UK, when both they and I know that it is not true. Sales people will say ‘we have 90,000 affiliates’ and neglect to point out that only 300 of them earn more than £1000 commission from them a month.” People who are not knowledgeable about affiliate marketing may get duped by swarmy sales people, but I know the industry well and will not work with those who make blatantly false assertions.” Affiliate Manager, London, UK

 

Number of Networks

How many networks should you launch on? Large companies like Vistaprint and Purple Parking can afford to be on several networks, but smaller businesses don’t have the time and resources to manage programs on many networks.

Most Affiliate Managers recommend launching an affiliate program on two or three networks. It means an advertiser is not dependent on any one network, while also having a manageable affiliate program and giving affiliates a choice.

Affiliate Managers will often select a large network to spearhead the main thrust of attack and then a smaller network should things go awry with the main network. The ‘back up’ network is sometimes referred to as a parachute network.

Launching on a Network

Once you have selected your network(s), you will be given guidelines on how to get the ball rolling in terms of launching your affiliate program with them.

We’ll use PrimeQ’s procedure to launch a campaign.
Once your Insertion Order (IO) has been completed, PrimeQ will send you a document called ‘Campaign Requirements – Ad Network’. It provides detailed guidelines on everything required to kick-start an program.

The information you will be asked to provide includes:

• short and long merchant description
• commission payment structure
• incentives for affiliates
• PPC and SEO rules
• target audience
• HTML and text email creative

You will also be asked to send a selection of banners for affiliates. These range from 88 x 31 button size ads through to 728 x 90 leaderboards. The most popular ones in affiliate marketing are 468 X 60, 120 X 60, 120 X 600 and 88 x 31.

PrimeQ’s documentation also recommends you provide banners in the other standard sizes on the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s site.

“It can take a few hours to get together everything required by PrimeQ, but it is worth taking the time and trouble to get everything right the first time. It saves me having to email you back and, the more effort you put into providing us with everything affiliates need to market a merchant, the more likely you are to be successful." Josh Reams, Production Manager, PrimeQ

Once you have sent off everything to PrimeQ, the production team starts setting things up and, within a few days, your program will be live on the network.

Then begins the next step in getting the word out about your program, the subject of the next Master Class for advertisers.

 

Nadeem Azam, PrimeQ
Public Relations Manager
nazam@primeq.co.uk

Google AdSense – Google’s Billion Dollar Ad Baby 

Google’s Fourth Quarter And Fiscal Year 2006 Results demonstrates that the company’s Adsense program, which pays website owners revenue each time an advert on their website is clicked, is growing from strength to strength.

Data published by Google has revealed that webmasters hosting Adsense adverts earned just short of a billion dollars, $916 million, in the fourth quarter of 2006.

The report states, “Traffic Acquisition Costs, the portion of revenues shared with Google's partners, increased to $976 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. This compares to TAC of $825 million in the third quarter. TAC as a percentage of advertising revenues was 31% in both the fourth quarter and the third quarter.”

In terms of Google as a whole, net income for the fourth quarter grew to $1.03 billion, or $3.29 per share, compared with $372.2 million, or $1.22 per share in the year-earlier quarter.

Major Affiliate Networks Get a Makeover

Two networks in two weeks have launched new logos in order to freshen up their image. Buy.at and TradeDoubler, two of the best known networks in Europe, announced on January 22 and January 30 respectively they had upgraded their branding.

Alongside new logos and site designs, both networks have introduced new straplines: “More profitable growth, faster” and “Market like you mean it” respectively.

The rebranding has generally been welcomed in the affiliate community, though the slogans less so. Super affiliate Jason Dale writes in his blog: “Neither strapline particular excites me. ‘Market like you mean it’ sounds like something you’d say to a fed up teacher (say it out loud), and ‘More profitable growth, faster’ sounds, well, odd in a grammatical sense.”

Headquartered in Newcastle near Scotland, the buy.at affiliate network was launched in 2002, and has grown rapidly since then.

TradeDoubler is pan-European digital marketing company with local offices in 14 countries throughout the continent. As revealed in the January 25 Weekly Q, a recent AOL bid for the network was turned down by one of the major shareholders, pensions company Alecta.

 

We are pleased to announce the next PrimeQ University will start on March 12 and take place in Covent Garden, London. If you are interested in working in online advertising and wish to find out more about the groundbreaking course, please contact PrimeQ UK’s Receptionist/Administrator Michelle Birkett on mbirkett@primeq.com or call her on 020 7061 3190 during office hours.

Got any affiliate jokes? Later this month, the Weekly Q will publish the best jokes we receive about affiliates. Send your favorite rib-ticklers to nazam@primeq.co.uk

Finally, would you like to contribute to the Weekly Q? With a fast-growing subscription base of thousands of readers, we have become one of the world’s leading publications on affiliate marketing and online advertising. Email Nadeem with examples of your writing and what you feel we can do to make the Weekly Q even better!

 

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