How to run your own affiliate program

How to run your own affiliate program

So, you want to run your own affiliate program with the following provisos:

• You want to sell a product or service or both.
• You want to earn money using the affiliate marketing channel.
• You don’t want to advertise other peoples products or services.
• You don’t want to spend a small fortune setting the system up.

First the good news, there’s nothing to stop you. You don’t need to have a large budget and you don’t have to be a large company with oodles of resources. You can setup your own affiliate program for just a couple of hundred pounds (GBP).

Now the bad news. If you’re not going to use one of the affiliate network setup programs, which can cost thousands of pounds (GBP) in setup and monthly running fee’s, then you are going to have to invest your time and do some work. Sorry about that, but that’s life.

Do you need an affiliate program?

Affiliate marketing is a pay per performance business. It is one of the most cost effective marketing channels available. Other possibilities are, pay per click advertising (e.g. Google AdWords) and display advertising (e.g. banner ads). In general affiliate marketing will bring the best returns with a set cost per action (CPA) being determined by you. As you will always know your return on investment (ROI) you can ensure each sale will be profitable.

You need an affiliate program to:

• Increase your catchment area.
• Keep tight control of your ROI.
• Keep performance levels high.
• Target specific markets.
• Target specific requirements.

How to implement an affiliate program?

The first thing you need to do is a little research. Search on Google for “affiliate software” and “affiliate management software”. Get a cup of tea and a biscuit before you begin because this may take you several hours. This is a big market, so expect quite a few hits.

After a little research you will soon discover which affiliate programs have the most comprehensive features, which are the best value and which are the most adaptable.

You might like to begin your research with, Post Affiliate Pro4. This site also has some nice videos on affiliate marketing to view. Post Affiliate Pro runs your affiliate program from top to bottom, with the exception of processing the financial transactions which is not a problem as most payment processors and shopping carts can be fully integrated with Post Affiliate Pro anyway.

Another well know piece of affiliate/membership software is, WishList Member. WishList Member is a WordPress Plugin which turns your existing blog into an affiliate/membership site. It’s the easiest way I’ve ever seen the affiliate/membership process accomplished. Once again, the WishList Member site has some nice videos on marketing to view. WishList Member is a powerful solution for creating an online affiliate/membership site using WordPress as the core content management system.

The advantage of WishList Member, particularly if you need the affiliate/membership type of arrangement, is:

• The software is easy to install.
• There is no need to purchase expensive software, hosted on a different domain. If you don’t have a domain name or web hosting provider you might like to read this article.
• Uses the familiar WordPress Admin panel options.
• Secure content.
• Configurable access and membership levels.
• Integrates popular payment gateway.

The key features to look for in your affiliate research are:

• Adaptable payment options.
• Tiered affiliate performance grouping.
• Unlimited text links, banners, text ads etc.
• Integrated Anti-fraud solutions.
• End user customisable.
• No ongoing monthly fees (if hosting it yourself).

Now the work begins

Every affiliate you recruit will have their own unique website. To help them keep that unique feel you will need to provide a very good selection of banners and text links. Text links allow more integration in to the affiliates website and typically have a greater CTR than banners.

When designing the banners I would advise providing at lease one banner selection with a white background plus a selection of banners in the most common banner sizes. A list of recommended banners sizes can be found here. Recommended common banner sizes.

Commission Schedules

Deciding upon your commission schedule is probably the most important decision you are about to make. How much are you going to pay out per action completed, i.e. a sale, lead, download etc.?

My advise, don’t be stingy. You need to make your offer attractive to affiliates. Make it worth an affiliates time to promote your product on their website whilst providing you with an acceptable ROI. Research what your competitors pay and aim to at least match their payments.

Remember, 100% of nothing is nothing. You need to decide, for example, if 100,000 sales at 50% is better than 1000 sales at 90% ROI.

Getting and keeping your affiliates (Publishers)

Recruit existing customers

The best place to start getting your affiliates is with your existing customers and your mailing list (if you have one), hence my recommendation above of the WishList Member software. Send a dedicated email announcing the affiliate program’s launch, why they should sign up and how they can be part of this grand opportunity.

Dedicated affiliate pages

Place a dedicated affiliate page on your website. This is a great way to promote the advantages of joining your program and how easily your publishers can make a good profit.

Place a text link or banner ad on your home page, linking to your affiliate program pre-sales page to drive traffic to your affiliate program and increase recruitment or even sales.

Build publisher relationships

Your affiliates are people trying to make a living, just like you. Develop trust with your affiliates, show your affiliates they are not dealing with a faceless company. The better the relationship, the better the sales.

Send a welcome email giving your name and contact details and if they reply give a prompt, personal reply rather than an automated response. Provide a publisher forum is possible. A forum can solve a lot of problems you might not even realise you had and provide your affiliates with helpful hints and tips for promotion.

You will probably find that 10% of your affiliates contribute to 80% of your sales, so it’s important to keep that 10% happy. Make an extra effort with this group, but remember, everyone started as a newbie so also keep a eye out for this group as well.

New product launches and promotion details should be sent to your affiliates well in advance. This will enable them to drive sales to you with the minimum amount of delay.

Promotions

Once you see a steady flow of sales coming from your affiliate program, consider running a promotion to increase sales by persuading your affiliates to display your banners more prominently and release more advertising material.

Possible incentives include an increase in commission, bonuses for hitting a sales target, tiered commission (the more you sell the more you earn per sale) and bonus prizes based on performance.

Top tips and hints

• Do your research.
• Take the time to make sure you get the right affiliate software.
• Ensure your commission rates are competitive.
• Carefully control who joins your affiliate program.
• Constantly analyse the programs performance.
• Develop a good relationship with the affiliates on your program.
• Keep affiliates up-to-date with products and promotions.
• Last but not least – make a profit.

Follow-up

If you have experience of running an affiliate program and have any suggestions or tips you could give others then please do leave your suggestions and tips below.