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Looking for one or multiple affiliates can take a lot of unnecessary time, money, and energy. That’s why the better alternative would be to work with an intermediary that will connect you to partners willing to advertise for you. A company that specializes in this type of work is called an affiliate network.
Joining one of these organizations can be a quick and easy way to get your product advertised by multiple, relatively-known individuals. However, that doesn’t mean that you should sign up for the first affiliate network you come across. There are several factors you must consider before choosing the right company.
Costs to Join
The first thing you want to do is set aside a budget and determine how much you’re willing to spend on affiliate marketing. Once you decide what the prices are, you can adjust your financial plans accordingly.
It’s essential to keep in mind that there are multiple ways you can get charged, depending on the company. Each organization will have a single integration fee. The next cost to take note of is a monthly fee.
You finally have to remember a company’s override fee, which could sometimes be a percentage of the affiliate’s commission.
Technological Features
The tools a company gives to you can heavily determine the quality of that company’s capacity to connect you to advertising partners. More specifically, they could provide you with the technology to track specific stats.
Monitoring details, such as how many returning customers you get or how much your links are getting clicked, could tailor your strategy further. It could also let you know whether affiliate marketing works or which individuals are helping you the most.
You can discover new target audiences in places that you probably wouldn’t find otherwise. Tools like these could vary by company, and some may have packages you can choose based on which of their technology will help you the most.
Watch Your Competitors
Other popular businesses in your industry are most likely using affiliate marketing tactics. As such, you must see which companies they’re working with for this advertising strategy. You probably can’t get the full details of their results, like how much money they’re spending or what percentage of the affiliate’s audience turns into their customers.
If you know that many well-known companies in your industry are all a part of the same network, you know that it should be the same business you should consider. Don’t sign up for an organization with the least amount of your opponents because you think it will reduce competition. Not only will that not work, but you might end up with a lower-quality affiliate business.
Type of Advertising Partners
Each network has its separate set of affiliates that’s a part of their companies. Some have partners that specialize in specific categories, like fashion or outdoors. Some organizations have a strong presence in other countries. Establish your target audience and use that to do further research on which companies tailor to that factor the most.
If you’re promoting a product, you should probably determine its demand on an affiliate network. You can use tools out there to find out how many people within these programs want your product.
Support Network
Especially if you’re not used to technology, it’s significant to have easy access to the company’s support. You’ll need help right away if something goes wrong. Your business could risk losing money if you don’t get this assistance soon.
So make sure to work with an organization that is guaranteed to give you quick and sufficient support. You don’t want a company that takes too long to respond to an email. An excellent way to check is to see how fast they come back to you when you ask them to be an advertiser on their network.
Credentials
One way to check for a company’s quality is to see what accomplishments others recognized them for in their industry. The Performance Marketing Awards is known for praising various corporations in the affiliate marketing community for their accolades.
There are multiple kinds of awards, such as best advertiser support or best network overall. You could accumulate a list of winners from previous years to give you a head start on which companies to look at first.
Keep in mind that awards alone aren’t enough to determine whether an affiliate business is the best choice for you. However, it is one way to build up your options if online lists seem too biased towards individual companies.
What Other Affiliates Think
You might already have some advertising partners who also happen to have experience with one or more of these networks. Be sure to ask them what they do and don’t like working with some of those companies.
Some might have good reasons for why they left specific affiliate networks. There are numerous ways to ask, like during an individual interview or conversation.
You must be open to feedback from your partners. That could mean that you’ll have to change some of your business tactics to adapt to their recommendations.
Credibility
It’s a good idea to run a background check on the companies on your list. Even with some popular ones, they might regularly implement controversial business practices you want to be aware of.
Many affiliate companies claim to be huge, but their client list might not reflect that. Beware of the networks that don’t have a public catalog of partners. Make sure the business is not in debt and has all of their financials in order. If not, then try to find someone else.
Entity Qualification
Some affiliate networks avoid dealing with details required to manage private persons, like control information or preliminary tax. That’s why many of these companies will only allow those who are publishers entry into their organization. You might find this as troublesome if your business doesn’t specialize in issuing books or other varying types of media.
There’s an interesting loophole to this rule that affiliate networks are aware of; some companies can register as publishers. If your business creates videos, recipes, and other written works or media that are a part of your product or service, then you could qualify for this technicality. You must also consider that bloggers or other particular types of publishers might not qualify at all.
Conclusion
Considering these factors will help you find a good affiliate network. Rather than just sign up, you should interview them and ask them questions involving the topics mentioned above. You don’t want to settle for less, and you don’t want to waste your money on a platform that doesn’t give you as many resources as you need. Leverage an affiliate management agency to dial in the right affiliates regardless of the network that you choose. We are here to help you choose the right network based on your current footprint online and target market.
It’s okay if an affiliate network that works great for your competitors isn’t a good pick for you. Do what you can with your budget, but don’t aim for the cheapest option because of its low prices. Establishing your company’s needs will make it easier for you to find the affiliate network you want.
