Inhouse or Adnetwork

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vortal

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www.policeauctions.com
Question for all ye affiliate gurus.

Do you prefer working with adnetworks such as CJ and Azoogle or do you prefer working with the actual company that has the affiliate program?

The reason why I ask is because we currently do our affiliate program inhouse. We're on the fence about taking it to an affiliate network.

Thanks,

Vortal
 


I am not an experienced affiliate marketer so take this with a grain of salt.

One issue might be exposure for you. The one thing I like about the affiliate networks is I can test out a lot of different offers. If something does not work then I will try something else.

I know some of the bigger affiliate marketers might pick up a product on a network and then do really well with it and try to work the vendor directly. If you are not on any networks, you have to hope that people find you. The networks help you connect with the marketers. Otherwise you have to hope that the people you want as affiliates find you or you find them and set up deals. There is no guarantee of success, so in some cases it might never get off the ground.

I would say it also depends on your staffing. If you have quality people who can succesfully recruit top notch affiliates then it might be fine to keep it all in-house. If someone is doing it part-time when their other job responsibilities don't need them, then considering distributing with networks might be a wise decision.

For me the only reason I would care about working directly with the actual company is if they had superior payout and/or payment terms. Otherwise I would rather they just filter through one of the networks I belong to, so I can test them out.
 
Determing which way to go is really on a case-by-case basis.

What things are you trying to alleviate by crossing it over to an affiliate network?
 
in house or out house

Thanks for your response. That does help. Currenty, I am having an issue finding quality affiliates inhouse. The reason why the company isn't so sure about going to a network is the cost.

I've checked out a few and they want 5k-10k just to get the campaign going then some sort of monthly minimum.

However, there are benefits of network since there is that level of exposure that I we don't have right now.

But I would think...correct me if I am wrong, but wouldn't affiliates rather work with the company directly to strike up the best commission rate?
 
I think most would.. but the problem is them ever finding you in the first place or testing you out.

If you are going to aggressively go after affiliates yourself, it might not be an issue at all.
 
There is also the issue of trust. A publisher is taking quite a bit of risk by selling your products, that risk is minimized by going with a network that has a track record of paying on time.
 
Paying on time

Does getting paid twice a month sound appealing? The reason why I ask is we do offer bi-weekly payments or we can accumilate your funds to a certain dollar amount and then pay you.
 
vortal said:
However, there are benefits of network since there is that level of exposure that I we don't have right now.
Click to expand...
This is a big mistake many companies make. They thing dropping themselves into a highly recognized affiliate network will instantly grant them huge affiliates.

You're still going to have to do recruiting, no matter what network you are with. But don't get me wrong, you will get extra exposure and can count on some affiliate sign-ups, just don't rely on it for overnight success.
 
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