OVERVIEW

As a Merchant and supplier or manufacturer of product who is looking to sell to the online masses, then having affiliates to do the job is one of the best ways to achieve this for you. These affiliates are individuals who are website owners, bloggers or publishers who promote and sell products in return for commission and other rewards.

Lots of Product at Cheap Prices

It is not enough to have a wide collection of different products at the cheapest value if the affiliates do not find value in your product/s.  They won’t buy the product/s themselves or recommend the product/s if they don’t find value in them.

Money alone is not Enough

Paying cash alone to affiliates for promoting your product/s may work for a little while, but affiliate programs who also offer incentive rewards on top of cash will do better. For marketing benefits, giving product to proven affiliates will help push their promotion of the product – of course it could also have the opposite affect if they find fault with the product.

Types of Incentive Marketing

1. Tangible Rewards –  You can get your affiliates excited by giving them free iPods, super bowl tickets, airline tickets, etc. If they complete the incentive checklist program, apply for an insurance quote, sign up for a trial, complete a survey, and a lot more.  About 39 of 50 respondents (78%) perceive that travel is remembered longer than cash; about 42 of 50 (84%) agree that merchandise is remembered longer than cash. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (62%) feel that cash is remembered for the shortest time.” – 2005 Incentive Federation Survey. By giving non-cash rewards, it can give you three times the return on investment. Wealthy Affiliate offer a qaulifyer incentive reward over and above any commission – a free trip to Las Vegas for their annual conference. It keeps their affiliates motivated and target driven.
2. Cashback programs – You can also offer cash back for loyal affiliates for every purchase that they make. One good example is the Airline companies that give miles’ points once a flyer purchases a product from an affiliate link.
3. Pay-to-complete – You will need to pay every affiliate that completes the program. This system is banned by some affiliate networks but other affiliates still use it.
4. In-game rewards – You can reward your audience with an in-game purchase or currency if they sign up for an affiliate online course, books, movie rentals, and other affiliate programs that you are offering.

It is better to stick to an active 30 affiliates that draw traffic and sales to your website. Eventually, these affiliates can grow over time. All you need to do is be consistent, know your affiliates, offer good products and provide incentive reward programs to entice them.

The importance of incentives

If a long-term incentive program is not moving forward, there’s a big chance that you will lose your top affiliates.

There’s an 80/20 rule that applies to all affiliate marketing programs. The 80% of your sales comes directly from the 20% of your affiliates. To reward these rock stars, an incentive program is needed. The program should have attainable and realistic results. Incentive programs can help revitalize your affiliate network.

According to the statistics:

46% of sales are from the top 5% of their active affiliates

64% of sales are from the top 16% of their active affiliates

73% of sales are from the top 26% of their active affiliates

The top performers in your affiliate network will provide a huge impact to your success.  It is essential to make them feel valued.

Reenergizing your affiliate network

• Improve ties with the publishers – You should communicate with the publishers directly. Improve your sales performance by fostering close ties with publishers in your marketing program.
• Constant communication with your publishers will help you understand their needs. Keeping the lines open will help solve the challenges ahead on the road.
• Exclusive Affiliate Offers – by steering customers to great offers would make it an all-exclusive channel for your affiliates, sales will pour in, and you’re giving the impression to the publishers that you are committed to them. It will motivate them to perform and improve sales performance.
• Affiliate channel is a great place for trial and error. If you want to increase sales with the new products or brands, the members of your affiliate network can help.
• Publishers will be truly motivated by valuable customer offers; let them have the information of the latest deals and hottest products within your affiliate channel.