|
13 Best Practices For Affiliates
The following are 13 "Best Practice" tips for
software developers wishing to be successful in
the affiliate sales channel...
1. Coupons
Offer discounts for specific products. The minimum
discount should be 10%, and the discount coupon
should be valid for a minimum of 3 to 6 months.
According to recent statistics, affiliates that
own/manage coupon websites account for 7 of the
top 10 affiliates in Digital River's "oneNetworkDirect"
system. Cash in on their traffic!
2. Define Policies
Clearly define a paid search policy that will
encourage affiliates to use their search engine
expertise in promoting your products.
3. Landing Pages
Quality landing pages are a key component to
converting clicks into sales. Be sure that your
landing pages are optimized for the single purpose
of converting visitors into buying customers;
otherwise, you're letting your affiliates down,
and allowing potential profits slip through your
fingers.
4. Communications
Develop effective channels of communication with
your affiliates. Consider implementing a monthly
informational newsletter that details product
releases, affiliate incentives, contests, etc.
Make every effort to approve new affiliates within
48 hours of applying to your program, and answer
all affiliate emails within 24 hours of receipt.
5. Sign-Up
Create a customized affiliate sign-up page on
your website, and promote your affiliate program
to your website visitors.
6. Commissions
Setting a commission rate of 25% or higher will
usually attract a better quality of affiliates,
and those affiliates are better able to effectively
drive sales.
7. Creative
Have a variety of banner graphics and text links
available to affiliates. If requested, consider
creating custom banners and links for top-performing
affiliates.
8. Flexibility
Be willing to work with aggressive affiliates,
and consider increasing their commission rate
if they prove that they can significantly generate
a higher volume of sales.
9. Trending
Communicate with your affiliate program provider
about which marketing efforts have proven successful
for specific software applications in the past,
and which ones have not. This will help program
managers develop their promotional plans.
10. Email
Provide affiliates with quality email templates
that have a proven track record for effectively
selling your software.
11. Trials
Using an evaluation version is an excellent
way to sell software. There are a number of affiliates
who will only promote trial versions. They receive
their commissions when the customer converts the
trial version into a fully-licensed version. Provide
affiliates with customized trial versions, so
they are properly credited for any referrals that
result in a sale from those trial versions.
12. Exclusive Offers
Provide your top-performing affiliates with
exclusive opportunities, coupons, and bundles.
Affiliates will usually work harder to promote
their own exclusive offer than they might for
one that is open and available to all other affiliates.
13. Free Copies
Provide Digital River with free copies of your
software that can be distributed to review sites
and top-performing affiliates. By following the
above steps, you should be able to improve your
affiliate sales.
Related Articles:
How
to Keep Affiliate's Attention
Affiliate Tips
More Affiliate
Benefits
Affiliate Options
Define Affiliate
Terms
What are Affiliates?
|
Developer
101
13 Best Practices for Affiliates