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Is your Affiliate Network up to scratch? Put them through a 30 pt. checklist

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Isn’t it time you put your Affiliate Network under the
microscope?
This guide will greatly assist you when deciding which
Affiliate Network to join should you not yet belong to any.

Features and benefits checklist from the merchant
perspective:

Primary:

Per Click, Per Lead and Per Sale campaigns.
Fraud protection that prevents affiliate link hijacking and
eliminates repetitive clicking on PPC campaigns through
unique IP address verification procedures.
Provide targeted media by category, conversion, and even
local geographic focusing.
Detailed post analysis on all campaign performance.
Provide a suite of sophisticated real-time deep statistical
reporting.
Skyscrapers, text-links, banners, co-reg, pops, contextual
and search should be covered in the network – shouldn’t
restrict the type of campaign to be run.
Efficient, reliable third party tracking of all traffic
with ability to detect if tracking code has been sub-hosted
on another domain to rack up false lead/sales figures.
Maximise your ROI with dedicated account management and
support and by avoiding the type of kickbacks that can
result in less optimal media alignment.
Secure live Order logging.
Secure Client Fund management.
Provide affiliate links that are not long, cumbersome,
unsightly and overwhelming; links that won’t be split and
rendered useless by e-mail clients.
Examine the performance of each piece of marketing
material, including information on the affiliates who are
using the links.
Actively seek and recruit new affiliates through allowing
direct contact.
Create links to your latest promotions and specials, new
banners and HTML marketing material.
Multi performance based media channel providing maximum
flexibility.
Should not require exclusive affiliate marketing contracts.

Secondary:

Shouldn’t require an upfront deposit for leads/sales
generated, reducing as leads/sales are generated and topped
up at any time in the secure merchant login area.
Co-branded sign up page. Ability to recruit affiliates from
your site.
Manual or Auto approve affiliate that apply to join your
campaigns.
Network marketing tools and options to maximize Publisher
exposure.
A tiered payout system to help Advertisers drive
performance and reward performers.
Shouldn’t charge a monthly fee to activate merchant’s
account, or charge a fee if your merchant account is
inactive (i.e. not generating any revenue) for a period of
30 days.
Affiliate ranking.
In house design media provided in HTML, RichMedia, and
Email marketing.
Review of your current affiliate marketing model and
affiliate incentives.
Affiliates should not have to link to your home page, any
page within your site (such as specific product pages)
should be linked to directly by your affiliates.
Development of a one page sales guide allowing your
affiliates to learn more about your product and how to sell
it effectively.
Country-wide exposure on websites targeted to your audience.
Create well concealed affiliate links for web pages.
Run multiple campaigns from one account – multiple
campaigns for different URLs under same account.

One of the major drawbacks of Affiliate Networks as opposed
to having your own independent affiliate program is that
you share affiliates who sign up to other merchant
affiliate programs within the network, many of whom may
compete with you thus diluting their effectiveness.

You probably weren’t aware that there is now a new
technology emerging that will reshape the relationships
between affiliates and merchants.

Customer Acquisition Exchanges (CAEs) provide an innovative
service through a process known as Customer Reciprocation.

Compared to Affiliate Networks, CAEs are a much newer
concept and as such require a brief explanation.

According to Wiktionary, CAEs can be defined after
understanding what Customer Reciprocation means.

Customer Reciprocation (n): The process of two parties
(affiliate marketers) partnering to become each other’s
customer. It is largely dependent on the use of affiliate
programs as a primary tool of customer acquisition by
merchants.

Customer Acquisition Exchange (n): The means by which the
process of “Customer Reciprocation” can be facilitated.

Comparing CAEs and Affiliate Networks:

CAEs represent one of the newest and fastest-growing
affiliate communities specializing in cost-per-acquisition
(pay for performance) marketing.

They employ Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA) pricing models for
merchants and affiliates alike. This means that clients
only pay when they acquire a new customer through their
proprietary technology.

This structure provides zero risk for clients while at the
same time guaranteeing a great ROI for their online
marketing dollars. CAEs assume the risk so clients don’t
have to.

CAEs deliver consumers directly to the merchant’s website.
Once the consumer reaches the merchant’s website the
consumer has the opportunity to become a paying customer
for the product or service offered. The client only pays
for customers acquired.

What CAEs offer to merchants that they don’t get using
Affiliate Networks:

A customer/sale each time the merchant intends purchasing
anything online.
A customer/sale each time an affiliate of the merchant
intends purchasing anything online.
The chance to super-leverage their affiliate asset base.
The chance of gaining a customer/sale merely by entering
referral URLs into the database without intending to
purchase anything.

From the affiliate marketer/publisher/webmaster point of
view, Affiliate Networks offer pertinent information about
the advertiser/merchants in their particular network.

CAEs on the other hand, offer a totally unrestricted choice
of advertiser/merchants with which to partner with
(promote) or purchase through.

How Affiliate Networks view CAEs and how they incorporate
it into their merchant solution strategy:

They may realise the advantage they offer merchants as a
way of super-leveraging off the purchase intentions of
their affiliates provided the network allows direct
communication between merchants and affiliates.

They should see CAEs as a complimentary service for their
merchants and affiliates alike rather than a competing one.
This is because CAEs offer new and previously unavailable
benefits for merchants and affiliates independent of
whether or not they belong to any Affiliate Networks.

Because CAEs are non-exclusive entities, there is no
incentive or disincentive for Affiliate Networks other than
to point out to their members the benefits of CAEs as a
tool to aid in their marketing efforts.

By including them in their marketing tools and resources
section they would effectively enhance both their affiliate
and merchant solution strategies.

In summary, being part of one or more Affiliate Networks
will provide a degree of organic growth in your affiliate
marketing results; however by using a CAE as a
complimentary tool, you can successfully take your online
marketing performance to a new level with a greater degree
of confidence.