Some networks sell the myth that the minute you set up an affiliate program, affiliates will be falling over themselves to promote you. Even if you are a brand name company paying a generous commission, it will take graft to hunt out affiliates who will put serious effort into promoting your wares. For non-brand name companies, the task is all the harder as affiliates are more eager to work with well-known well-resourced brands rather than smaller operators.

When your affiliate program launches, a good network will dedicate at least one staff member the task of finding affiliates for you. PrimeQ, for instance, has a team of Account Managers with different areas of expertise who spend hours every day proactively finding affiliates for advertisers.

However, most networks don’t devote so many resources to digging out affiliates for advertisers, and so, unless you have an Affiliate Manager or agency to do the task for you, you should dedicate some time to ensuring affiliates become aware of your new scheme.

	Create an Information Page about Your Affiliate Program

You should create at least one page which highlights the benefits of your affiliate program and provides your partners with as much information as possible about your products and services. A blog would be even better. You should give up-to-date news about your company, products and industry, and at least two means for affiliates to contact you. Your affiliates are your online sales team and you must arm them with the best ammunition possible to ensure both they are you gain maximum benefit from your affiliate program.

A regularly-updated information page will serve three purposes: (a) it will encourage affiliates to market your company as opposed to others which can’t be bothered to provide information to their affiliates, (b) when affiliates partner with you, they are more likely to be earn money and continue promoting you because they have been provided with necessary information and resources to ensure they market you in a profitable way and (c) it will cut down on the number of affiliates emailing you with the same basic questions (though the lazier ones will still contact you when their questions have already been answered – be tolerant).

An example of a brilliant info. page is here and Amazon also really know what they’re doing.

	Find Existing Links

Why would you dig out sites which are already linking to you? Because you can see if the links are favorable to you, see how much prominence they are giving to your site, and see if you can encourage them to give your business more exposure. They will have an incentive to give you more/more prominent coverage if there is a financial reward and so you should encourage them to join your affiliate program.

Make sure your emails are personalized and always say something about nice about the site.

There are arrays of free services to help you find inbound links to your site. The best ones include LinkPopularity.com, WhoLinks2Me.com and Yahoo! Site Explorer (click Inlinks on the results page).

Alexa and its smaller rival Ranking.com will help you dig out sites to join your affiliate program. Alexa ranks sites by popularity (Yahoo.com is currently number one, followed by msn.com, google.com and youtube.com) and not only provides you with a list of sites that link to them, but quite often the contact email address and telephone number. You can even find sites by category. For example, here are Pilates sites in the UK ranked by popularity. Alexia Arrizabalaga, Affiliate Manager at PrimeQ, explains: “Alexa has been my friend for many years: is an invaluable resource and provides all kinds of data not readily accessible in any other single location (except Hitwise which costs a bomb). As well as using the Alexa.com portal, you can download the Alexa toolbar and it will allow you to instantly see all kinds of information about the site you are visiting.”

 

	See Who is Linking to Your Competitors

Use inbound link tools and competitors’ names/URLs to find out which sites are linking to other businesses in your niche. Look in both organic and paid results. You can then send the sites a polite email telling them you provide similar products/services and telling them they may find it rewarding to link to you via your affiliate program.

Don’t say anything negative about your competitor or ask the site owner to replace your competitor’s link with yours. It’s bad form.

	Discover Which Sites are Ranking High in Your Sector

Look in the main search engines and directories for sites in your niche. Do a search using keywords relevant to your site. The top results will usually be sites belonging to rivals, but your job is to hunt out the ones that make their money being affiliating with others. These sites will usually rank below e-commerce sites selling their own wares - and also usually look inferior!

Once again, fire off an email telling them about your affiliate program. You should use a template outlining the benefits of your offering but make sure you personalize it with the name of the site owner if you can find it and at least a couple of tailored sentences.

If there is more than one email address on a site, then write to two separate people. You’ll increase the likelihood of getting somebody to action on your request.

	Search for your URL

Search for your URL, business name and even products in Google, Yahoo etc. You may come across sites which are mentioning you but not linking to your site. Contact them.

	Search Engine Marketing

It’ll require quite a bit of work, but you can create Search Engine Optimized web pages to ensure you appear prominently for relevant search terms. For example, if you are a  furniture store with an affiliate program, you could target terms like “furniture affiliate program”, “furniture partner programs”, “home decor affiliate program” etc.

You should also target appropriate keywords via Pay Per Click advertising.

	Submit to Affiliate Directories

You need to submit your affiliate program to directories to spread the word. A spate of directories were set up at the turn of the millennium and most are now defunct, so you’ll have a job and a half finding the ones that are still being maintained. But it will be worth the effort.

Submit your details to the as many directories as possible here and here. They are ranked in order of popularity and, at the very least, you should try to submit your affiliate program to the top ten.

There is a time-saving service called Affiliate Announcement which submits your sites to dozens of affiliate directories. However, we wouldn’t recommend it as the submission prices are steep and the customer service, in our experience, not existent. There was not a single response to our seven phone calls and emails over a period of three months.

	Post on Affiliate Forums

The success of affiliate marketing has spawned countless forums dedicated to the industry. Try to set aside at least three hours a week to participate in a couple of communities. Not only will you learn more about online marketing, but posting regularly will build your presence in the affiliate space.

As the Bible says, you must give in order to receive. Share your knowledge freely and help others. Not only will you be practicing the gospel, but affiliates are much more likely to promote an advertiser who regularly engages with the community.

Some forums have a section where you may post announcements about your affiliate program such as here on eWealth, but the majority will only allow you to refer to your offering in the context of a relevant discussion initiated by somebody else and in your signature. Your forum signature should include a link to your program information page (point 1).

There will be a specific Master Class devoted to affiliate marketing forums as they are a critical marketing tool.

	Attend Affiliate Events

As you may have read in last week’s Q, there are regular affiliate industry gatherings and you will find it beneficial to attend them. Not only are they great fun, but they will give you an opportunity to meet affiliates face to face and tell them about your glorious affiliate program.

A word of warning: don’t pounce on an affiliate you’ve spotted downing a Bud Lite at the bar and start telling him about how your affiliate program is the answer to all his prayers. It is considered bad etiquette and you will be hated ‘til doomsday.

Get to know affiliates. Have a laugh with them. Once you have built a rapport with them, you can mention your affiliate program or, even better, wait for them ask you!

	Advertise on Affiliate Newsletters, Forums and Blogs

If are serious about growing your affiliate program then you should consider buying exposure to spread the word.

Most forums will sell advertising, though you should be wary of buying banner space on a CPM basis which they often will try to coax you into; people generally ignore ads on message boards. Many forums show Google Adsense ads and so you can target them via Google Adwords’ site targeting feature.

In terms of spreading the word on blogs, you can use services like ReviewMe, PayPerPost and Blogvertise, as well as directly contacting bloggers. You can find a comprehensive list of affiliate marketing blogs on this page at BUMPzee.

There is a dearth of quality affiliate marketing newsletters. This best one by far was Allan Gardyne’s, which launched in 1998, but it is now filled with so much advertising and advertorials that it is a pale imitation of its former self.

Affiliate Classroom’s online magazine may be a worthwhile place to advertise. . . as well as yours truly! The slots in the top right-hand corner of the Weekly Q (currently being used by DFDS to promote their affiliate program) are available. You can see the rate card here.

Google CPA Ads Could Be Expanded To Search Platform

Google announced on 20 March that it is expanding its beta test of cost-per-action (CPA) advertising on its content network.

The internet giant has been testing CPA-based advertisements in its content network on a limited basis since June 2006, but plans to expand the test to additional US-based advertisers over the next few weeks. If the experiment is successful, there are predictions that Google will allow Adwords advertisers the option to market themselves on a cost-per-action basis.

The gradual encroachment into the CPA space is pitting the company squarely against affiliate programs.

Under the new pricing model, advertisers will decide what kind of action they are willing to pay for, such as a sale, newsletter sign-up, or other conversion. The advertiser can set a value for that action that publishers will be paid. Google will monitor the conversions through tracking codes on the advertiser's site.

Although a pay-per-action model shifts more risk to publishers, since they don't get paid unless a visitor clicks and completes the pre-defined conversion, the payoff will usually be higher than CPC commissions, said Rob Kniaz, product manager for Google's ad products.

"It does shift the burden of conversion to the publisher, but it's a higher value ad unit," he said. In addition, publishers have more flexibility in encouraging users to take advantage of the offer being presented, by recommending or describing the advertiser's service, he said.

AdSense publishers can select individual ads, a "shopping cart" of ads, or search for ads by keyword. The new ad units are separate from the CPC and CPM ads Google offers, and must be selected and placed separately. Publishers can review the details of the offer from the advertiser before agreeing to show the ad on their sites.

Advertisers can create text or image ads, or use Google's new text link ad format to create brief text descriptions that appear in the style of a publisher's page.

JPMorgan Equity Research Analyst Joseph Okleberry's predicts: “we believe the company could quickly become a significant affiliate partner for e-retailers and publishers. We believe the affiliate business is a natural extension for Google, and one which would help the company gain additional online ad share.”

 

Controversial UK Affiliate Code of Conduct Announced

The IAB Affiliate Network Council (ANC) has announced it will draw up an affiliate code of conduct before the summer. The announcement follows last week's appointment of David Hall, Affiliate Window’s Head of Communications, as its Chairman.

The ANC was set up in March last year to, in the words of New Media Age magazine, “represent the interests of IAB members in affiliate marketing, offering advice and information”. However, little headway has been made in twelve months.

Launching the ANC this week, the IAB is attempting to set up some rules to a largely unregulated industry. There was been talk for years of an Affiliate Association being set up but nothing has got off the ground. The sudden illness of Keith Budden, who had devoted considerable time and resources to setting up a body, put plans on the back burner.

Paul Wheatley, Director of ShopperUK.com, muses, “I think it illustrates that affiliates have been maybe a little slow of the mark in establishing their own affiliate association with a code of fair and best practice.”

The respected super affiliate who airs his often-outspoken views in the Moose on the Loose blog, went on to tell the Weekly Q: “it could have been foreseen that an outside body may attempt to regulate the affiliate industry without any progress from the insider. However, without direct input from affiliates themselves, I don't think what they are offering is a viable solution.”

“If it’s a genuine attention to bring all parties closer together, then it's warmly welcomed. However, I am not aware of any consultation with affiliates and, in that case, it could become like a bully yielding a big stick. It’s amazing how outsiders think they know best…”

Next week in the Weekly Q there will be an exclusive report on the biggest UK affiliate marketing get2gether of the year which started off on March 28 in Newcastle and ended in Amsterdam! The Affiliate Marketing Master Class series continues with more tricks and tips to help you succeed in a ferociously-competitive industry. And, also something to look forward to in a forthcoming issue of your favorite newsletter, is a no-holds-barred interview with the CEO of PrimeQ.

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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