How to Identify, Attract and Retain Super Affiliates
21 April 2010
Having a super affiliate working for your business is like catching the goose that lays the golden eggs. Not only will you have a marketing virtuoso out there trafficking people back to your site, you'll also instantly gain leverage and credibility in your respective market.
Super affiliates are in short supply, so if you want one, you have to lure them in.First up is identifying a top affiliate. Although the best are in rarified air, there are thousands if not millions of hard-working, top-performing affiliates out there right below them. Not that these affiliates are bad to have by any stretch of the imagination, but theyre just not the big dogs that were looking to catch. Truthfully, you won't be handing out applications for affiliates and reading their resumes. You'll have to identify a super affiliate based on their performance. This means, simply, for most, you have to actually attract them to your business before you can identify them.
This might seem like the long way around, but think about it for a second. It's a win-win situation for you and everyone else involved. You'll have affiliates working for you and driving traffic to your site and making sales for you. Because you're giving a commission per sale, the affiliates have to perform, and this means you're getting super quality advertising for a really low rate. Some super affiliates do promote themselves, however, and you'll be able to contact them. These are usually the big affiliate companies that require a minimum of 35% for commission and perhaps even more based on the number of sales they get you. So, you can contact the well-known super affiliates of the business, or you can simply sweeten the pot and let the affiliates come to you and thus identify which are the top affiliates and work from there. These are two ways to meet the same goal, and doing both certainly wouldn't hurt. One thing you could do to make your business super affiliate-friendly is to provide new marketing material for them. If you're reaching out to affiliates, then know that they're receiving offers from merchants every single day. So a good way to stand out above the rest is to really make the presentation material interesting, personal and creative. Try offering multiple networks. It's important to remember that the affiliate needs to be comfortable here. They're the ones out there doing the legwork, and thus they have their preferred networks and programs. By offering multiple networks, you'll increase your chances of landing and keeping a top affiliate. Also, keep open communication in mind. Its important for your business to maintain a presence with forums, blogs and other media. Social networking tools like
Twitter cannot be oversold in this day and age. You can post schedules for your affiliates to read, as well as information about new products, bonuses, and even things like possible contests will be great for affiliates to read. Retaining the affiliates is all about keeping your business fresh and viable. Sure, the affiliates work for money, but if your business isn't creating new high quality products to sell, then the market will eventually dry up enough to where that affiliate wont bother wasting time. They'll move on to greener pastures. It's up to you to make your business enticing enough to the affiliate, not the other way around. Seek out the best of the bunch, treat them well and keep up with the times. Do this and you'll pick up all the advantages of a super affiliate.
