Affiliate Marketing Blog by Geno Prussakov » affiliate software

Run Affiliate Program In-House or on Affiliate Network?

Geno — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:13:32 +0000

A merchant who is planning on starting an affiliate program, has studied my Online Guide to Affiliate Marketing and emailed me this question:

Can you please give me a quick overview of the pros and cons of running our program in-house or going with a network like Google’s Affiliate network?

Good question. There are indeed these two platform options: either (i) run the program on an in-house based software, or (ii) on an affiliate network. If you decide to use an affiliate network [see this comparison and this compilation], you do not need to worry about any tracking, reporting, or manually cutting payments to your affiliates, as the network performs these tasks for you. For their services, networks charge either a percentage of what you pay your affiliates, a monthly fee of some sort (many have monthly minimums too), or a combination of both [more here]. If you decide to run your program in-house, you would need to obtain tracking software, hosted services, or a shopping cart with affiliate features [see your options here]. Running reports, being accountable for all technical issues, and paying your affiliates would then be done by you alone.

I also addressed a very similar question in my A Practical Guide to Affiliate Marketing where on pp 21-22 you can read:

Question: Why pay a network when you can do it all in-house?

Answer: From first glance, it may seem to be more effective to run an affiliate program in-house. There are pros and cons to both methods of running an affiliate marketing program. In-house affiliate programs help you save money on network fees, while network-based affiliate programs allow for a broader exposure to an already-existing base of affiliates. It also allows for numerous affiliate recruitment opportunities. As mentioned above, networks also take away the burden of check-writing, banner serving, reporting, and affiliate technical support. However, some networks spell it out in their TOS that the relationship with all affiliates is property of the networks (regardless of the fact that many of your own affiliates will be recruited by you, personally). The advantages and disadvantages of having a program on the network or running it in-house must be carefully weighed, and the decision be made according to your individual need.

To add to all of the above, I normally recommend launching your very first affiliate program on a network, adding an in-house option in the future (if/when it makes business sense to do it).

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Free Affiliate Tracking Software

Geno — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:35:39 +0000

Many people come to my blog searching for “free affiliate tracking software”. There are a number of free (and inexpensive) scripts that merchants can install on their server to start an affiliate program. Here’s just a brief list:

Additionally, some shopping carts offer free affiliate program plug-ins. See a list in the second half of this post of mine.

Finally, there is also a number of affiliate and CPA networks that charge merchants no setup fee for joining them. These are:

Click2Sell
clixGalore
CyberBounty.com
DirectAssociate
e-Affiliatez.com (looks almost identical to DirectAssociate)
Paydot.com
Profitistic

I would caution affiliate program managers and merchants from using anything that is marketed as a free product. I personally have never tried any of the above (so, in no way does this post constitute any kind of endorsement), and one of my favourite sayings — which comes from Benjamin Franklin — goes like this: “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.” No, don’t take this as any kind of conclusion. Just be cautious, and do a thorough due diligence prior to starting using any of the free affiliate tracking solutions.

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Affiliate Program Software – Options to Consider

Geno — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:49:45 +0000

In my post on the affiliate program setup expenses to be aware of I have mentioned that not all affiliate programs are based on affiliate networks. Many are being run in house: on self- or remotely hosted (and sometimes even internally-developed) software. Amazon and eBay, for example, run their affiliate programs in house and on their own software. While larger brands can afford to build their own affiliate program platforms, most of us would be looking for a software package to purchase and get going. It is with these merchants in mind that I have decided to put together a list of software options to consider. The below lists is 100% endorsement-free, and is arranged solely in an alphabetical order:

Shopping platforms and shopping carts with affiliate program support options:

If I have missed an option that should be included above, please post about it below, and I will add it to the appropriate list.

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Cookie-less or Cookie-free Affiliate Tracking Solutions

Geno — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:37:48 +0000

I have blogged about the problem of disabled cookies, and how situations when the end users refuse to accept cookies may hurt the affiliate tracking. In my response I have mentioned that there is one “if” and that is “if the platform chosen by the merchant relies on cookies for tracking” then the tracking will be affected.

There are, on the other hand, platforms — and by “platforms” I mean both affiliate software, and affiliate networks — that do not depend on cookies for tracking. Tracking may also be based on the end-user’s IP, or be URL-based (when affiliate IDs are being embedded in each URL), or incorporate a number of other solutions that aren’t tied to cookies.

Here’s a brief list of software providers and affiliate networks that support cookie-less affiliate tracking:

Software:

Affiliate Networks:

If you know of any other cookie-less (or cookie-free) affiliate tracking solution providers, feel free to mention them below, and I’ll happily add them to the above lists.

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