Jan
19

Broadcasting Versus Two-Way Communication

Geno on January 19th, 2010

The very last Affiliate Summit West 2010 session that I have attended has been the “Creating Lasting Publisher & Advertiser Relationships” panel. It was a good and well-balanced panel — with three publishers (Offers.com, FatWallet, and Cashbaq) and two advertisers (Target.com and Overstock.com) participating. One thing that especially did my heart good was the emphasis [...]

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Affiliate Program Management, General Discussion No comments »
Jan
8

Birthdays and Manager-Affiliate Relationship

Geno on January 8th, 2010

We hear it being repeated time again: affiliate marketing is a relationship industry. But how do affiliate program managers build the relationships? One way is by attending events like the upcoming Affiliate Summit, or other affiliate gatherings where you can meet affiliates face to face; another one — by participating in affiliate marketing forums where [...]

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Affiliate Program Management, General Discussion 3 Comments »
Dec
15

Poor Affiliate Communication: AJ Madison Case

Geno on December 15th, 2009

Let me start by saying this: I admire AJ Madison’s customer support, aggressive pricing, and marketing methods. What follows in this post stems from an unfortunate affiliate experience that serves as a vivid illustration of the affiliate communication channel breakdown. While it may in no way be characteristic of the overall brand, it must be [...]

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Affiliate Program Management, General Discussion 4 Comments »
Dec
7

Affiliate Newsletter: Format is Important

Geno on December 7th, 2009

A solid online retailer, voted one of Internet Retailer’s Hot 100 Companies of 2009, visited by over a million of unique visitors every month, has sent out their affiliate newsletter. It was written well, but some of the things could certainly use some improvement. Here’s a screenshot of a part of that newsletter:

Good style, but [...]

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Affiliate Program Management 6 Comments »
Dec
3

How Often to Send Affiliate Newsletters

Geno on December 3rd, 2009

In my previous posts I have spoken about the structure of the affiliate newsletters, the three Ps to remember at all times, the necessity for clear distinction between customer-oriented vs affiliate-geared promos, the art of getting attention, and other things. Today I would like to address a basic, yet very important question — that [...]

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Affiliate Program Management 5 Comments »
Oct
23

Do Affiliate Program Managers Open Emails?

Geno on October 23rd, 2009

In a reply to my recent “Most Affiliate Newsletters Never Get Opened” post a super affiliate and good friend of mine, Mike Allen, posted:

I know affiliate managers likewise don’t read all the email messages they receive from affiliates. And I have the numbers to prove it.

I thought: “I’ll bite!” And sure enough, Mike did have [...]

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Affiliate Program Management 3 Comments »
Oct
19

Most Affiliate Newsletters Never Get Opened

Geno on October 19th, 2009

Not many affiliate networks provide you with such data as an open rate for your outgoing affiliate correspondence (such as approval emails or newsletters), and this is really unfortunate. Commission Junction does provide merchants/advertisers with such important information as a part of the Email Campaigns reporting:

Looking at the data for the last five pieces of [...]

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Affiliate Program Management 6 Comments »
Jul
8

Amazon.com Fails to Adjust Affiliate Program for New Technology?

Geno on July 8th, 2009

Joshua Odmark has published a post on A Disconnect Between Social Media Marketing and Amazon.com where he talked about posting an earnest product recommendation via Twitter, using an affiliate link condensed with a URL shortener, generating sales for Amazon.com, yet receiving no commissions for the customers he referred. “After realizing Amazon was not going to [...]

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Affiliate Program Management, General Discussion 7 Comments »
Jul
6

Communication with Affiliates

Geno on July 6th, 2009

Some view the communication channel as “the means by which messages get from one individual to another” (Rogers, E.M. (1983), Diffusion of Innovations, p. 17). To me, such a definition allows for a one-way street scenario — when the messages do get announced, but the feedback/cooperation component is lacking. I personally believe that an effective [...]

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Affiliate Program Management 1 Comment »