Affiliate Marketing 101

Affiliate Marketing 101
Davinci Institute
Jeannine Crooks
February 20, 2010

Learn basic terms
Review the requirements for an acceptable site
How to find merchants
Choosing the right merchants
How to use PopShops
Working with Affiliate Networks
Broad Networks
Specialty Networks
Today’s Goals

Working with Affiliate Managers
Learning More
Q&A
Today’s Goals

Definitions

A website owner who sends traffic from their website to another website in order to generate a desired action. Upon completion of this desired action, the website owner will receive compensation.
AKA – Publisher, Media Partner
Affiliate

Affiliates do:
Attract traffic originating around the globe
Actively promote their websites
Encourage site visitors to take action – buy something, fill out a form, etc.
Affiliates do not:
Know the person who has come to their site
Know what product the person buys
Process any financial transaction for the customer
Assist in the delivery process of the product
Affiliate

A website owner who facilitates a specific action on their website such as:
Purchase a product
Completing a lead form
If the site visitor originated via a link from an Affiliate site, the merchant is obligated to pay a fee or commission to the affiliate for successful completion of the action.
Merchant

Acts as liaison between merchants & affiliates
Investigates both merchants and affiliates before allowing them into the network.
No cost to join.
Hidden Affiliate Information
All traffic flows through the affiliate network
Affiliate > Affiliate Network > Merchant
Merchant > Affiliate Network > Affiliate
Responsible for ensuring Affiliates are paid for successful actions.
Affiliate Network

Usually has 100’s of merchants and 1000’s of affiliates
Source of merchant banners and links
Best known:
Commission Junction
LinkShare
Google Affiliate Network
ShareASale
Buy.at
Affiliate Network

Usually works for Merchant
Works with Affiliate Networks and/or managing In-House Affiliate Program
Recruits affiliates
Affiliate Retention, such as day-to-day affiliate activities
Affiliate Manager

OPM for short
Manages affiliate program for merchant who has chosen to outsource this function.
Usually manages multiple programs
Charges a monthly fee and a portion of commissions.
Recruits affiliates and handles day-to-day affiliate activities.
Outsourced Program Manager

Cost Per Action, CPA for short
Broad term, could mean:
Sale
Registration
Inquiry
Commission can be percentage of sale or flat amount
Cost Per Lead, CPL for short
Completes lead form
Usually fixed payout
Cost Per Click, CPC for short
Clicks on ad
Google AdSense
Usually fixed payout
Actions

Site Requirements

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Sites
MailOrderShoppe.com
PPC (Pay Per Click) Sites
Coupon Sites
Shopping-Bargains.com
Lead Generation Sites
InsureMe.com
Incentive Sites
Hard Incentive – Memolink.com
Soft Incentive – FatWallet.com
Types of Sites

Network/Affiliate Manager Review
Requirements
Active URL
Site Description
Category
Children, Home & Garden, Gifts
Unique Visitors/month
Quantcast.com
Business Tax ID number or SSN
Site Requirements

Site topic
Promotion method
BrightestCandles.com is a one-stop online candle store, offering a wide selection of products including scented candles, decorative candles, soy candles, and candle holders. Site promotion is primarily SEO though PPC may be used in the future.
Site Description

About Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Footer
Overall design
No typo’s
Site Requirements

Finding Merchants

Niche Merchant – only offers one product line or category of products.
Broad merchant – Amazon, eBay, Wal-mart, Target – can find various types of products
Trial & Error – part of the process.
What Type of Merchant Is Right For Your Site?

Search by Keyword
Use PPC results
Google search “___ affiliate programs”
Check footer of favorite merchants for affiliate program link
Study competitor’s sites
Search affiliate networks
Use PopShops.com
Ways to Find Merchants

Easy way to find merchants with your desired products.
Fast way to build a datafeed for your site, without technical knowledge.
Free to join – 4 free “shops”
Find the design that best fits your site.
Review the copy
Not “set it and forget it”
PopShops.com

Guaranteed payment
Merchants have been vetted
Merchants know affiliates have been vetted
Apply to Merchant’s program through network; Merchant has right to accept or reject your application.
Standard banner selection process
Affiliate Network Merchants

Run by Affiliate Manager or OPM
Payment direct from Merchant
Affiliate Forums may have info about programs
Ease of application process
Interface
Creative selection
In-House Program

Products
Site design – would you shop there?
Quantcast.com – evaluate traffic
Shopping process – easy or hard
Creative available
Evaluating Merchants

Affiliate Networks

www.cj.com
Known as CJ for short
Largest network
Merchant list hidden
Commission minimum requirement
No affiliate support
Keyword search tool
Charges for datafeed
Uses EPC ranking
Commission Junction

www.LinkShare.com
2nd of Big 3 Affiliate Networks
Requires Merchant exclusivity
Hidden merchant list
Low acceptance rates
LinkShare

www.google.com/ads/affiliatenetwork
Formerly Performics
3rd of Big 3 Affiliate Networks
Merchants hidden
High acceptance rate
Only shows merchant one URL
Hard to search for merchants
Google Affiliate Network

www.ShareASale.com
Largest of smaller networks
Some affiliate support
Smaller, specialized merchants
Decent interface
Keyword search tools
ShareASale

www.Buy.at
Newer Network, growing fast
Some good exclusives; Ticketmaster, Discount Tire
Quirky interface – requires practice
Good affiliate support
Buy.at

Digital Downloads
Digital River
Name Brand Software products – Norton, Hallmark Cards
Clickbank
Lesser known software products, ebooks
Primarily promoted through PPC
Specialty Networks

Primarily promote health & beauty products, insurance leads, Dish Network, etc.
Smaller, newer networks
Dozens of them!
CPA Networks

Good for blogs with many entries on variety of topics.
Searches site copy to turn into links to merchants.
Matches can be questionable.
Epicenter.net
Text Link Networks

Joining Affiliate Networks

Identify the merchant programs appropriate for your site.
Use PopShops OR
Visit merchant sites and determine the network they use.
Visit the network’s website and go through the application process.
Joining Affiliate Networks

Related site, well designed
Promotion description
Reputation within network
Good EPC
Traffic sources
Incentive vs. non-incentive
No Typo’s
What Merchants Look For

Consider them a resource
Recommend keywords
Restricted keyword list
Best selling items, seasonal sellers
Special links
Customized banner ads
Okay to call, but don’t be a pain
Super Affiliate – when ready, special deals.
Working With Affiliate Managers

Websites & Blogs
AffiliateTip.com
AffiliateMarketingAnswerBook.com
Problogger.net
Forums
Affiliate-Marketing-Forums.5staraffiliateprograms.com
ABestWeb.com
Learning More

Events
Affiliate Summit
Affiliate Summit.com
Twice each year, 4000 attendees
Follow @AffiliateTip, can win free Gold pass
Commission Junction University
CJU
Open Attendance
Learning More

LinkShare Symposium
Open to all LS affiliates
ShareASale Think Tank
By invitation only
Affiliate Convention
AffiliateConvention.com
In Denver
Learning More

Jeannine Crooks
jcrooksdenver@gmail.com
AIM: jeanninecrooks
Yahoo: JeannineCrooks
Twitter: @Jeannine_Crooks
303-841-0987
Thank You

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Affiliate Marketing 101

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