David Fiske Affiliate Marketing & Web Development

I've spent the last week creating a new Wordpress based website together with a couple of custom plugins, one to automatically post some content from a merchant (hopefully more to follow) and one to manage all the deeplinks and banners.

In doing so though, it's amazing to see how radically diverse the affiliate program landscape is. Jason's post about the 'interesting' reason for being kicked off a program got me thinking why is this so? Why are affiliate programs so diverse? Surely they should all be built on the same model?

Let me explain.
 
Banners

Starting with the most basic of affiliate tools, the humble banner. I've come across some programs that have gone a bit over the top and have hundreds of 468x60 banners, half of which are out of date. The other side of that is one that only offers a very outdated banner featuring their old logo. Thankfully though they do offer the most general of sizes, the 539x81 banner :-(

Ironically, the latter merchant is also the one most likely to moan about using out-of-date creative.

The best programs I've come across are the ones that offer rotating banners (one's that update throughout the year), as well as ones that display live and current offers. Banners should be relevant and up-to-date. A stagnant range of banners demonstrates a stagnant program.

Content

I'm not the kind of affiliate that asks affiliate managers to write content for me, unlike some in the industry. I also rewrite most content offered to me. That doesn't mean, however, I do not want content. I'm after news, deals and special offers. It's surprising how many merchants don't offer this out. Their website is a simple e-commerce platform with no blog and they rarely send out information.

It's also these types of merchants that then cause a big fuss at Christmas (not long to go now!), demanding to know why they are not being promoted.

The best programs I've come across are the ones with proactive managers, who'll bend over backwards for you even if you aren't responsible for 99.99% of the group sales. I have worked closely with a couple of managers over the past year and have seen incremental sales increase for those programs. They saw potential and I was grateful for their help, thus keeping the relationship close and functional.

Twitter

I'm quite surprised how many merchants actually have Twitter accounts. It also surprises me that some have a weird and wonderful way of using them. One has constantly posted messages (twice a day for the past month) about how many followers they have got thanks to a particular company.

Others have opted for the personal touch and spend their time Tweeting about what's on the TV. I can see why this would be a plausible tactic but there is a risk of taking the befriending process too far.

The final bunch never Tweet or decided late last year it wasn't for them. They still have banners on their website for it but no fresh content.

The best programs I've come across are the ones that Tweet regularly about relevant things to their brand and company.

Questions

Occasionally I have questions. I try not to have them as I hate wasting the time of my managers. Sometimes, though, they are necessary.

If they can send out emails through network communication centre's, why can't they reply. I'm still waiting for a couple of answers several months on from merchants on a couple of networks.

The best programs I've come across are the ones that actually answer questions, in a timely manner. Enough said.

Is There A Perfect Affiliate Program

Yes. I work with a couple but will not name names. They are a joy to work with, never cause a fuss and are always bend-over-backwards helpful. They offer intelligent banners, RSS feeds, regular email offers, regular incentives and above all a very helpful affiliate manager who takes the time to help me out (if needed).

It's a shame that sub-standard affiliate programs exist. They are the one's with a lack of content and communication who just 'exist' in the affiliate program arena. I've never spoken the the managers of a few programs I generate revenue for (I accept it's a two way street) and don't receive any communication from them about any offers deals or even just plain old news.

Anyway, back to work....