Who manages your affiliate program?

Alright, so you have launched your affiliate program last month and you were expecting a massive uptake by affiliates which was going to result in sales flying in. Rather, quite the opposite has happened. There has been little-to-no uptake from affiliates and as a direct result the sales figures are as unflattering as an elephant in a Speedo.

The answer to the question in the title is very simple – someone! Your affiliate program needs somebody to run it. The real question to ask is should we manage the affiliate program internally or outsource it to a firm that specialises in managing affiliate programs. Both answers are right, depending on your circumstances.

Everyday new affiliate programs are being launched, making it easy for your affiliate program to work its way down a networks list of campaigns and become lost and forgotten about. A successful program needs someone to work closely with the campaign managers at the networks. The main aim here is to get as much publicity for your campaign as possible. Try get the networks to do features on your campaign, get them to include your campaign when they send out notices. Campaign managers are constantly getting asked by affiliates what campaigns they should run. If your campaign is fresh on their lips (because somebody is constantly in communication with them) then they will most likely be recommending your campaign.

Just as there are thousands of campaigns out there in the market, there also are thousands of affiliates that are running campaigns within the niche that your campaign falls into. Competition is stiff, and you need to bring your brand to these affiliates. It is highly unlikely that an affiliate will come knocking and find you, especially if you are a small unknown brand. You need to give them a reason to test out your campaign. You can only do this by reaching out to them, striking up a conversation and get chatting with them. A conversation goes a long way and you may just find they will be willing to test your campaign because of it.

Now back to the question – Who manages your affiliate program? If you have the knowledge, resources and skills to run it internally then go this route. You can get magnificent results by managing your own affiliate program in house.

However, if you lack just 1 of the 3 above mentioned requirements (knowledge, resource and skills) your affiliate program is more than likely going to fail. Not having the correct knowledge will result in someone being on a steep learning curve. To obtain this knowledge from outside your firm will take years. If you do not have the correct resources, you will most likely end up with resources with diluted focus. They will not be performing their current functions optimally and will not be able to focus 100% on the success of your affiliate program. Skills goes hand in hand with knowledge, it is costly to get these skills if you do not currently have them.

If you are missing 1 of the above requirements, OfferForge can assist you with this function! We have been in the game for 15+ years and with that comes the necessary knowledge, resources and skills needed to make your campaign a massive success!

If you would like to speak to us about your affiliate program, please visit our website and get in touch https://offerforge.com/advertisers/#contact-form