If I still blogged, this would be a blog post, but I dont so...
Recently I have had quite a few conversations with people at different levels of the affiliate industry and it shocks me how little many of them understand the businesses they are representing and how they are focused on only their needs.
They all seem to want to focus on their payout and their metrics without concern for the metrics of the advertiser who pays them. I am not talking churn and burn guys either, these are guys earning hundreds of thousands a month in commission checks and who should know better. The important thing for any long term relationship is that it is beneficial to everyone involved.
If you are a lead gen guy, then you should care about the quality and source of your traffic and how many leads turn into actions. If you are selling subscriptions (think ringtones, blockbuster or diet pills) then the retention of the customer matters more than anything else. If you are repping physical goods, are your customers returning a lot of product or do they turn into long term customers or are they focused on lowest price only?
The reason this matters is that most advertisers have evolved past the stage of a transaction and now are looking at relationships. Lifetime Value of a customer is now much more than a buzzword it is how decisions are made.
If your leads close more loans, or stay on more billing cycles or otherwise are more profitable for your advertiser then that advertiser can and will reward you. Volume is important, but quality is a close second.
Too many guys tell me they cannot affect quality. That is because they are too lazy to try. Just like testing ad copy for the best CTR does not always generate the best conversion rate, the best conversion rate does not always mean the best value for your advertiser. It can be influenced, and thus should be measured and tested.
Ask your advertisers to share retention or lifetime value data with you. If you are important enough they will work with you. Ask for bonuses or revshares or other compensation above and beyond your current deal based on performance. When you share some of the risk of the value of the customer, you can share in a lot more of the upside.
In addition to increased payouts, it will get you firmly aligned with the interests of your advertiser which will lead to other things like first crack at marketing new products, or maybe the ability to harvest email addresses of your customers (not spammed, but lightly cross marketed to), or possibly receive additional revenue from cross sales (maybe the cross sale is another product you rep?). By aligning the relationship, you expand it and open up possibilities that never were available before.
Some of the guys who are making bank now are doing this, but many are not. The ones who are have a huge long-term advantage in terms of payout and relationship that the guys who are not will learn in time.
To date we have all been in the Wild West of internet marketing, but I am starting to see a shift where long term relationships matter, where the short sighted tactics of many affiliates is more harmful than helpful. A lot of people are making a lot of money, but what happens when the gravy train ends, you are a few years older and your marketable skills qualify you for an account managers job at an advertising agency making $65k.
Are you going to bank enough before the rules change? Think long-term, plan long term and then you will be in it for the long-term, rather than being a flash in the pan.
Just something I have been thinking about based on conversations at conferences and with other super-affiliates.
Recently I have had quite a few conversations with people at different levels of the affiliate industry and it shocks me how little many of them understand the businesses they are representing and how they are focused on only their needs.
They all seem to want to focus on their payout and their metrics without concern for the metrics of the advertiser who pays them. I am not talking churn and burn guys either, these are guys earning hundreds of thousands a month in commission checks and who should know better. The important thing for any long term relationship is that it is beneficial to everyone involved.
If you are a lead gen guy, then you should care about the quality and source of your traffic and how many leads turn into actions. If you are selling subscriptions (think ringtones, blockbuster or diet pills) then the retention of the customer matters more than anything else. If you are repping physical goods, are your customers returning a lot of product or do they turn into long term customers or are they focused on lowest price only?
The reason this matters is that most advertisers have evolved past the stage of a transaction and now are looking at relationships. Lifetime Value of a customer is now much more than a buzzword it is how decisions are made.
If your leads close more loans, or stay on more billing cycles or otherwise are more profitable for your advertiser then that advertiser can and will reward you. Volume is important, but quality is a close second.
Too many guys tell me they cannot affect quality. That is because they are too lazy to try. Just like testing ad copy for the best CTR does not always generate the best conversion rate, the best conversion rate does not always mean the best value for your advertiser. It can be influenced, and thus should be measured and tested.
Ask your advertisers to share retention or lifetime value data with you. If you are important enough they will work with you. Ask for bonuses or revshares or other compensation above and beyond your current deal based on performance. When you share some of the risk of the value of the customer, you can share in a lot more of the upside.
In addition to increased payouts, it will get you firmly aligned with the interests of your advertiser which will lead to other things like first crack at marketing new products, or maybe the ability to harvest email addresses of your customers (not spammed, but lightly cross marketed to), or possibly receive additional revenue from cross sales (maybe the cross sale is another product you rep?). By aligning the relationship, you expand it and open up possibilities that never were available before.
Some of the guys who are making bank now are doing this, but many are not. The ones who are have a huge long-term advantage in terms of payout and relationship that the guys who are not will learn in time.
To date we have all been in the Wild West of internet marketing, but I am starting to see a shift where long term relationships matter, where the short sighted tactics of many affiliates is more harmful than helpful. A lot of people are making a lot of money, but what happens when the gravy train ends, you are a few years older and your marketable skills qualify you for an account managers job at an advertising agency making $65k.
Are you going to bank enough before the rules change? Think long-term, plan long term and then you will be in it for the long-term, rather than being a flash in the pan.
Just something I have been thinking about based on conversations at conferences and with other super-affiliates.
