- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
Very good thread Satya, thank you.
Of course I would have to agreed with the opinion of the rest of the affiliate managers here and mostly with David’s.
When I started working in this field (quite a few years back), all affiliates were treated the same, support was not separating “big” from “small” ones as the market was a bit different and more relaxed in most companies (very little competition back then). As competition started growing, affiliate sites started growing as well, some more, others less (by the way, who’s defining a small affiliate? My small affiliate might be a VIP at a competitor’s site and vice versa. It’s not something that you can count and define) and some companies decided to start working with their top/VIP/Super affiliates only so that they could save time, give quick results to their FD’s and concentrate on the short-term impact.
It’s true that you might have 5-10 guys that are bringing the majority of your traffic, however, in your “pile” on the other side I bet there are ‘diamonds’ that you have yet to discover and this will happen in the long term.
There might be affiliates that cannot work out how to download your banners or how to create banner tracks. The “two-way communication” is the key here. Your ‘diamond’ might not be discovered unless both parties (AM’s and affiliates) work together on this.
I have to add also that apart from some really brilliant friendships I’ve done with affiliates throughout the years, some of my “competition” (other AM’s) are great mates as well!
Thanks again:hattip:
Small affiliates depend on the importance the affiliate programs give to them in matters of marketing material and good deals besides tips to become big affiliates.
We all have to start by something right? and starting in a new industry means to be small at first, therefore I believe Small affiliates are important and we should give the attention they demand.@Toweraffiliates.com 211991 wrote:
Dom
Could you elaborate on doing research, on the affiliate program of choice?
I think payment reliability is #1
affiliate management contact is #2When you first started out – what mistakes did you learn from?
First of all, I didn’t do my due diligence and promoted some fly-by-night outfits. It wasn’t as easy then to research as it is now – now, search CAP for the name of the program, go to AGD and search there and go to Casinomeister and make sure the place is not on the rogue list there. I almost quit after the first 8 months or so because I realized some of the places I had on my site did not and would not pay me or my players. Lots of lessons learned there.
So payment reliability and research goes hand in hand. Although I have to say that nowadays I allow a lot more late payments than I tolerated initially after learning my lessons – because of the political climate and real issues that may exist from time to time in getting payments out.
Responsiveness of the program is key for a new affiliate who needs to learn and can use help getting ahead, and it’s key again for larger affiliates who are busy busy and don’t have the time to visit some 40 program sites a day to look for news. As a busy affiliate, I love new offers and the proper banner codes for them in the mail – places that send these always end up doing better with me because they are attended to promptly and don’t sit there waiting for me to get around to collecting new stuff from their site.
“Ready to go” offers in the mail may also wake up that dormant larger affiliate you have signed up and don’t even know about…
And you won’t believe the number of mails I get that do not have a link back to the program site… you see a link, you click it. You don’t see one, you think that you will go there after finishing your mail – and then other things happen and the thought gets lost in the shuffle.
There are a lot of simple things that add up to a program not getting the attention it may deserve…
You also won’t believe how often I simply do not get a reply to a query. This more often than not results in removal of the program – if I can’t login or can’t get specific info about a promo that may be running. I have little tolerance for places that simply don’t reply to mails.
A good aff manager needs to understand what affiliates do and how the web works in order to give newbie support. Often managers just have no idea and they simply can’t answer questions. As small affiliate I would ask myself: does s/he know what I am up against? Can s/he advise on why banners or links are not being clicked on my site? Is the only answer I ever get:”put us on the index page” or “give us more exposure and you will make more money”. That just simply won’t do, aff managers need to be prepared to actually go and look at the site and give some constructive criticism. Do you see how many requests for site evaluations there are here? Are you prepared to provide that sort of help?
Again, if you can help new affiliates grow, you are growing nice future profits, friendships and loyalty.
Mate
Agree with everything that Dom says – plus I had made check list for affiliates some time back which is a good reference.Have a look – http://www.casinoaffiliateprograms.com/bb/26746-2-really-really-important-question-.html#post161553
Plus follow AGD and APCW
@Toweraffiliates.com 211991 wrote:
Dom
Could you elaborate on doing research, on the affiliate program of choice?
I think payment reliability is #1
affiliate management contact is #2When you first started out – what mistakes did you learn from?
Great stuff I hope all new affiliates will read those posts. A lot of great information – I always learn new things from affiliates too :hattip:
Was out with a guy yesterday and he has just started going FT as an affiliate – He used to be an affiliate manager and he told me I was the first person to agree to meet him since switching to being an affiliate!!! Unbelieveable since he actually has a great concept, some money behind him and I am sure will do well as he is keen as hell to be massive – Just goes to show not all AM’s agree with the opinions in this thread.
He also told me a story about how when he was an AM for the ticketing market he had an affiliate that was doing average numbers but had potential so with some help from his end this guy ended up being his third biggest affiliate making some serious numbers a couple of years later.
In connection with this he made an interesting point that rather than offering astronomincal rev share, lower it slightly and with the money saved use that to invest in more staff that can help develop the small to medium affiliates as that will pay out a lot more in the long term fo the affiliate and op. The op will have a better affiliate and a more realistic % and the affiliate will make a lot more with that kind of support as opposed to that extra % of rev share and no support/help at all.
Alex I 100% agree
The issue come down to having a fair balance on all sides. I know some affiliates get caught up in super high commission rates – then to find out that the % is not a true commission rate.
I think having a team is very important – there is no way one person can handle a full fledged affiliate program and be able to give the best possible service. Being transparent keeps everyone honest.
BTW Tower Affiliates – Index Page just made some exciting changes to our members area. We added a full resource library and transparent break down of all the affiliate revenue.
Would love to hear some feed back – since we are going to add more resources on a monthly basis – so if you see anything you want to see please PM me and let me knowThis is very true and I have seen this happening on multiple occasions. That’s the whole point of the thread – if you take good care of your small and medium affiliates in addition to the big ones, they graduate to being a big affiliate and stick with you forever.
@alexpratt 212042 wrote:
He also told me a story about how when he was an AM for the ticketing market he had an affiliate that was doing average numbers but had potential so with some help from his end this guy ended up being his third biggest affiliate making some serious numbers a couple of years later.
QUOTE]It sounds corny but it’s true, ‘From small acorns grow big oak trees’. Whilst I wouldn’t complain if every new affiliates I worked with gave me 100 players a week, I find it really rewarding working with someone and building things up. It’s good to see the numbers build up and also to build a nice relationship with them.
This is a business, not a game. You have to look at the entire field, and think long-term. Short-term, today only thinkers, may make money in the short-term, but will be out of business in the long-term.
Poker Dude;212090 wrote:This is a business, not a game. You have to look at the entire field, and think long-term. Short-term, today only thinkers, may make money in the short-term, but will be out of business in the long-term.IMO – The only issues affiliate Ams and affiliates ever have – are people who have a short-term plan. These are the affiliate programs and affiliates that think this is a game and are looking to take as much money as possible with out re-investing. I think most affiliates would agree. It would be one of the criteria of joining a program:wink-wink
Great point Alex. It does sometimes seem like rev share is a short term game. There was even a big debate in the poker industry about rakeback and how it attracted short term players but did not help the industry long term. The affiliates that focus on long term usefulness to players will be rewarded though, just look at pokerlistings and what they have created.
Gregger, you can’t compare revshare with rakeback, that’s like comparing oranges with towel racks – nothing in common at all.
Rakeback is and always has been a short sighted, predatory way of doing business. There is no such thing as loyalty, brands are irrelevant and there is no one recruiting newbie players. It’s just a shuffling around and around of bigger players.
Rev share on the other hand is all about building a player base with the brand of your choice and there is a lot of loyalty involved. That’s why affs get so upset at retrocative changes to contracts – they built a player base on the basis of their original contract, and suddenly the carpet is yanked out from under them.
I’m a new gaming affiliate but I’m not new to building websites and driving traffic. I get respect and support from most affiliate programs but there are some bigger programs that make me jump through hoops just to join their program. All I can say is I’ll be forever grateful and loyal to those who helped me out through my earlier stages. I’m not going to be bitter but I don’t really want to work with programs who don’t give me the time of day.
However, I will say that the amount of support we have is a blessing that we have in the gaming industry. Most other industries, have hardly any affiliate support let alone decent affiliate programs where you don’t have to go through networks like CJ.
Great thread!
At my former employer my biggest affiliates first month with me was a commssion of about 300 bucks. 1 year later, the amount had grown to about $70,000 in one month! You never know what seeds you might plant, what they might gorw into will shock you.
I feel every affiliate gets the same attention, ALL affilaites get my cell number, and many points of contact. Great thread, Looking forward to following it some more.
