Affiliate marketing don’ts

Long ago I created a post on affiliate do’s, now I tried to put together a list of don’ts.

1) Do not think Affiliate is a cheap media: Merchants seem to think affiliate marketing is a miraculous media that does not need investment and will get you a great ROI in no time. Well, guess what you cannot expect something for nothing! AM is a great media and it does deliver fantastic results but you have to invest to get something back. I am not talking only money but TIME. Affiliate need to be motivated, informed, they need to be in a competitive position so all their efforts are worth the pain.

2) Do not overpower your network: Networks are great and in 99% of cases the people I worked with were top consultant who were taking really good care of my programs.  BUT I will say the brand is yours and you can sell it to your affiliate better than anyone else. No matter how good the network is, it cannot substitute for commitment and involvement from your company.

3) Affiliate are business partner: Not treating them as such is a mistake. Give them all the tool they need just like you’ll do with other partners.

4) Do not think short term: A good affiliate program reaches maturity in the first year. You have to give your program the time to grow and think about it as a long term investment. This will need you may have to fight internally as the media can potentially be ROI negative (if you add setup fees, amangement fees, network access fees, internal resources…) in the first 3-6 months. 

5) Do not throw the all catalogue to affiliates: You know your product better than your affiliates or your Network, if you have hundreds of products, how do you want affiliates to know which one to promote? The best is really to categorise your products and let affiliates know what are your best sellers, top deals and hot items. 

6) Do not let the program take care of his own: Affiliate program and management is not something you can implement and then let go expecting the program to take care of itself. COMMITMENT is the word when starting an affiliate program.

7) Do not let issues ruin your program: Be grateful for your affiliate to come back with issues or problems as if they report them, it also mean they care. Make sure all affiliate queries are top priority on your list. If you don’t it is going to be harder to get affiliates back and program on the right track.

Don’t let the cost be out of your control: Affiliation is not only about commission and incentives. True, if your program is good money, affiliates will be more than happy to join. BUT make sure you are not throwing the cash, affiliates would rather go for a good program in the long run rather than a program that pays LOADS but is not viable for the merchant.

9) Do not let the program fade away: by allowing stagnation. It is tempting but affiliates should always get something to talk about and fresh creative. If you do not make the choice to grow your program it will eventually die and affiliates will move on.

10) Don’t make your affiliates work too hard: The only thing affiliate should have to worry about is PERFORMANCE and nothing else. If you ask them to be copy writer, brand managers, content manager and web merchandiser you are asking them far too much. By providing the right tools to affiliates you will have them concentrate on what is best for you (ie Conversion). 

HAVE FUN and make sure you team up with a great network that delivers to expectations rather than selling you services you won’t need

PS: Sorry I messed up a bit with this article, I have now amended it to what it was supposed to be