Okay, so you just inherited your company’s Affiliate Program. While it may feel like you are standing on the edge of a huge cliff, soon enough you will be balancing it all. So, take a deep breath, you’ve got this – and I am here to help!
Since having a checklist is always smashing, I made you one for your first day as the new Affiliate Manager:
Find out what network my program is in
Your network is your missing piece to connecting with the affiliates, checking data, and managing your program.
Reach out to the previous team member or someone in your organization to find out which one you are in. Your network is your missing piece to connecting with the affiliates, checking data, and managing your program. Some options could be: Partnerize, Commission Junction, ShareASale, Pepperjam, Rakuten, Impact, Awin, Avant Link, Commission Factory, etc. Once you have this information you can start on the next task!
Check on current program metrics
In case you are unsure of what these metrics may be, you should make sure to check out the below sub-tasks:
- Current Commission Rate
- Total Revenue per Month
- Total Revenue for the past 12 Months
- Number of Sales per Month
- Number of Clicks per Month
- Conversion Rate – sales/clicks = CR%
- Total Number of Affiliates
- Total Number of Affiliates Driving Sales
Find your Top 25 Affiliates
These are the people that you will want to be sure to reach out to ASAP! They will become your new best friends. They will be who gets the news out about your program and will make sure your offers are up.
Find your budget or top commission rate
As you work with your affiliates you are going to want to make sure you know if you have a budget in place for flat fees or if you are only going to be able to work with commission increases. There is plenty you can do with both, but if you don’t know what you have to work with, you aren’t going to get many projects off the ground.
Check that your creative is up to date
You are going to want to make sure that any creative assets that are provided to the affiliates in the network are as up to date as possible. This way you know that anything that the affiliates are using to promote your brand and products are putting out the messaging that you want. If it is not, now you have a project to start working on to make sure that your program is updated.
Get ready to be humble
One of the greatest things you can do, and the reason I put it last, is to get ready to be humble.
One of the greatest things you can do, and the reason I put it last, is to get ready to be humble. There may be plenty of times that you run into a word, phrase, or idea that you aren’t familiar with. Try to avoid being prideful and not asking. Affiliate programs are built on relationships and partnerships. Make sure to ask the questions, get to know each person and organization you are working with. You never know, they may spark ideas that you hadn’t even thought of.
While the checklist above may not be exhaustive, it will definitely set you on a path to success. Affiliate Programs are such a fun and diverse way of reaching your customers. This will surely be an adventure for you, and I am so glad I can be one of the first to welcome you to our industry!
