Give Affiliate Marketing a Chance
You may have given affiliate marketing a try in the past without return or you may currently have an affiliate program running and aren’t impressed with the results. Either way, there are several reasons your program may have failed, but even more reasons that justify giving this lucrative marketing channel another shot.
For starters, affiliate marketing is a proactive approach to brand growth and customer acquisition. In the same way that building a website doesn’t guarantee visitors, hiring an affiliate or joining a network doesn’t ensure results. The key is finding an affiliate manager that will fully commit to developing your campaign and maximizing ROI. Whether you hire someone in-house or work with an OPM (Outsourced Program Management) team, an experienced affiliate manager that can provide both the tracking tools and industry know-how to optimize traffic quality could make all the difference.
Once you find the right affiliate manager, you can decide which actions justify paying out a commission and the amount that payout will be. Many companies struggle to effectively market their brand due to a lack of knowledge and resources. Fortunately, with the right management team and a reliable tracking system in place, you could experience significant growth without exhausting your advertising budget. You’ll have control over how funds are allocated, which in turn will alleviate some of the stress that comes with establishing a healthy ROI. If your ultimate goal is to generate brand awareness and extend your consumer reach, affiliate marketing is one of the most cost-effective options.
Another perk of advertising with affiliates is the ability to develop your brand image through the quality of your campaigns and the channels they’re published through. It’s your job to give your affiliate manager a run down of your company’s overarching goals and to pinpoint your do’s and don’ts for achieving them. Some companies are unsatisfied with their affiliate program because their ads end up on an inappropriate sites or are delivered to the wrong pool of consumers. If you outline the ideal customer and define the values you want to portray, your manager will have an easier time seeking out new partners and channels that will align your brand and meet your expectations.
One last (but not final!) advantage of participating in the affiliate marketing space is the ability to start slow and grow your program over time with companies you can trust. Before signing a contract or joining a network, vet the company’s traffic providers and ask for testimonials or references. Brands that take pride in their work and are confident in the quality they provide won’t hesitate to offer assurance of their qualifications. Similarly, their clients will likely offer insight as to whether or not they’re the kind of company that will truly acknowledge your goals and focus on reaching them.
If you’ve had a bad experience with an affiliate program or tried to manage it yourself and couldn’t produce the results you wanted, you owe it to yourself to try again. And the Madrivo team is happy to help. Whether you’re an affiliate manager who needs more quality traffic or a marketer who needs a top-to-bottom outsourced affiliate management program, we can help. Just give us a call or drop us a line at office@madrivo.com and we’ll get your program growing in the right direction.
