Advertising in BCL - Performance Marketing

Merchant Checklist - How to get good affiliates

So, you have an online shop and an affiliate program and want website publishers like BCL to start promoting you... but for some reason they seem reluctant to do so.  What's going on?

First, they need to know about you. Even if you are on a network, a personal approach by email or phone can make all the difference.

Second, you need to fit their audience. If their audience and your target market don't match, it's a waste of their advertising space promoting you. The closer the match between their audience and your target market match, the better for both of you.

Third, you need an adequate website. When publishers/affiliates send traffic to your website, you need to convert that traffic into sales. Listed below are some of the factors that we take into account when assessing merchants websites. Some will seem all too obvious, but we get all sorts of applications.

Merchant Checklist - Your website and online shop

1. Your website must work. That means no broken links, broken images, dodgy servers, script errors etc. Please don't expect us to start promoting your website when it's only half finished.
2. The products or services must be attractive, well priced (not necessarily cheap), with good descriptions, photos etc and suited to our audience.
3. Your product or service has to be different. If your product is common (flowers, hampers, etc) then there must be something else that makes your site worthwhile eg better website, better service, niche market, good reputation or brand.
4. Trackable actions - sales and leads need to be trackable. That means an online shopping cart for % of sale or online contact form for payment per lead.
5. Track both sales and leads. If you sell products and also take enquiries for larger orders (eg. corporate orders, flowers or wine for functions, group bookings) then both should be tracked. This may mean that they need to be set up as different programs and promoted accordingly.
6. Good conversion techniques. Your website should be designed to encourage lookers into becoming buyers - even if you don't have an affiliate program.
7. No prominent encouragement to order by phone. While it's good to have your phone number available for customer service, encouraging phone orders prominently will mean that you get sales that aren't tracked.  That includes having the phone order option promoted as an alternative within the shopping cart process. If you must take phone orders, you need to find a way of tracking them - simply asking people which website they came from does not work.
8. No traffic leakage. If you have a links to other websites, or even worse links to other shops, online shopping malls or affiliate programs, then you are giving away or selling the traffic we send you. If you have two online stores and want to link between them, then the affiliate tracking should cover sales from both stores.
9. Adequate compensation. Most Australian gift and hamper stores pay commissions of 8% to 15%, adult products can be 25% to 50%, tours and accommodation 3% to 20%, computers 1% to 2%. The level of compensation will combine with other factors to determine your suitability. 20% commission on a site that converts poorly is not necessarily more attractive than 10% on a site that converts well.
10. Adequate compensation period. Cookies that track sales should have a life of at least as long as most people take from their first visit to the site to making a purchase... at least 30 days. Commissions should be made for multiple sales within that period as many shoppers make a small purchase to test the service before returning for their main purchase.  

Merchant Checklist - Your affiliate program

Whether you use a network or your own software, you need to provide easily accessible, online information to your affiliates, including statistics, commissions and account balances. This information not only allows affiliates to monitor their sales, but also to build on successful strategies. At a minimum we require:

1. Basic traffic data - number of clicks, number and value of sales on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.
2. Basic transaction data - transaction amount, commission amount, reference number
3. Option to deeplink to pages within your site.
4. Option to add affiliate reference number so we can track individual links to successful orders
5. Prompt payment - it is common practice to have a minimum payout of $50 or $100.

Additional information or features that help make your program attractive:

1. Additional traffic data - eg referring pages, invalid links, average conversion rates across all affiliates 
2. Sales information - what products our customers are buying
3. Performance incentives to reward higher sales.

Merchant Checklist - In-house, network or OEPL program

Advantages of network programs

1. The software is already developed and ongoing features are being added regularly at no additional cost to you.
2. Additional affiliates - many smaller affiliates prefer networks that combine merchants to get over the minimum payout levels each month. Networks can promote you to affiliates. Affiliates can check their merchants using one interface.
3. Combined payment - you pay one lump sum to the network, who distributes that amongst your affiliates

Advantages of in-house programs

1. Save on network costs - typically 25% to 40% of commission paid out and some network have a sign-up of annual fees. Note: This saving needs to be weighed against the cost of having your own software, promotion of your program and dealing with and paying affiliates individually.
2. Individual features, reporting and control for major online businesses.
3. You know who you are dealing with. You get full details of each affiliate.

Advantages of OEPL programs

1. The software is already developed and ongoing features are being added regularly at no additional cost to you.
2. Combined payment - you pay one lump sum to the network, who distributes that for each website.
3. You know who you are dealing with. You get full details of each affiliate.

 See the BCL Affiliate Marketing Blog for more.