Advertising, especially on digital media, is by and large a question of trial and error. In other words, you will test out several variants of project budget, ad copy, and all the other elements that make a campaign. At times you will find that your efforts are successful, and at other times, metrics, observation, and strategy will point you into another direction altogether. The same reality holds for most brands trying to raise awareness and increase visibility on the world wide web. In a field where everyone seems to be guessing their way to the top, how does one go about putting in place a successful affiliate relationship?
Obviously, there is no clear-cut, single answer to this question, but one thing that is often true is that affiliates will hold back on disclosing all the results of their findings with one another. Most of the time, this attitude is fueled by the fact that an affiliate is also a competitor in some way, be it obliquely or rather more overtly – by accessing the same channels that you had done before them . And no one in business ever wants to give their competition an edge. However, mediating a relationship between affiliates through an affiliate agency will ease your mind of some of these worries, while also allowing you to see why some information sharing could benefit both brands involved, as well as the venture as a whole. Here are some pointers to how an efficient information exchange ought to be carried out.
- Decide what to share before meeting with your affiliates. It’s often safe enough to disclose information of your less than successful promotional endeavors. Run them through the entire repertoire of the failed campaign, including metrics and an analysis thereof, ROI, and copy. This way you’ll be making sure your affiliates are on the same page with you.
- Create a standard for sharing. Clearly laying out from the get-go that a specific format needs to be followed in exchanging information that would otherwise be treated as confidential. This way you are effectively safeguarding against subsequent claims of breaches in procedure, as well as dodging the bullet of a non-reciprocal exchange.
- Don’t disseminate information indiscriminately. Brands that go in for affiliate marketing usually have more than one such relationship in place with other brands. However, not all affiliates were created equal: some have a better history with you than other, some have brought in more money, and some business connections are simply more profitable to foster than others, in the long run. Choose what you share with specific affiliates very carefully, as not everyone should have access to the same level of information.
