Choosing an Ideal Affiliate Program – Tips and Advice
Currently, you can find many different partner programs on the Internet. The choice is really different, whether it is affiliate programs for betting, loans, stock exchange, roulette, various info-products, or you can choose to promote the product or service of an e-shop, travel agency and so on. The selection is very various and the choice of the right and appropriate program is sometimes like a rocket science. This article will gradually introduce you to several factors that you should consider when choosing an ideal affiliate system.
I often encounter the question, especially from starting affiliate partners, which program is the best or what affiliate system I would recommend. I always answer that each program is unique and somehow specific, so it is not easy to say which of them is the best one. What seems to be good at one partner may not work with another. In order to choose the best affiliate program for you, you need to consider several factors.
If you are not sure what is this about, I recommend at first to read the article about the basic steps on earning within affiliate marketing.
Decisive Factors for Selecting a Partner Program
1. Selection of Product or Service
Selection of the product plays a key role. In the first place, you should focus on a product that has good reviews and ratings. At the same time, it should be the type of product that is demanded – that is, people are interested in it. These aspects determine the level of your success, and thus the amount of earnings. If you decide to promote a product that is of interest only in a specific or small circle of customers, you cannot expect high rewards.
In addition to the above, you’ll need to choose a product that fits your site, blog, or Facebook group. Simply said, the selected product or service should be matched thematically with your site. For example, if you have a blog about cars, where you publish different news from the world of motoring, tests of individual models and the like, you should definitely not choose a program that is focused on kitchen utensils. If you choose a program that relates to advertising and mediating the purchase of tires or spare parts on a car can get your chance of earnings to the maximum.
2. Cookies
Partner systems have different computer cookie periods of time. Cookies are a temporary text files that store information about who, when, and from where clicked on the page. This means that if a customer clicks on an ad on your site through which he gets into an e-shop and he decides to buy something, the cookie will tell the merchant that the customer has come there from your site and he will credit commission to you.
Some e-shops offer cookies for 30 days, others for longer or shorter periods of time. For you as a partner, it is better if you choose a program with longer cookie times. Do you ask why? There might happen a situation that customer gets to the e-shop via your ad. He browses the products, he likes something, but postpones his purchase for a later date. Let’s say this customer returns to the page in 21 days and this time he buys something. Thanks to cookies, the merchant has the information that this customer has already been there and has come to his e-shop from your site.
If the validity of cookies is longer than the mentioned 21 days, you will receive a reward for sales brokerage. If the cookie time is shorter, you lose your money because after the specified time, customer information will be deleted. You will be in a loss because the trader no longer has the information that this particular customer has come to his e-shop via your website.
3. The Amount of Commission
Each of us wants to make money. There is nothing wrong with that. And if possible, we try to make the most of it. Therefore, look in detail at what commission merchants offer. Each merchant offers a different commission amount in his affiliate program. Somewhere it is 3%, somewhere else even 30%. If you are lucky enough, you can also find a commission of 50%. You certainly admit that the higher percentage is probably more attractive offer.
When looking at the amount of commission, make sure that the merchant guarantees the immediate payment of the commission for the sales brokerage so that there is no need to wait for the money to be paid.
4. Merchant Reputation
Good brand name and quality products make up half of your success. If the owner of the e-shop has plenty of happy customers, they will surely promote him and recommend his products to friends or family members which means you have more chances of success. You definitely do not want to promote poor and defective or even scam products and damage your reputation. Therefore, browse the site and read the reviews of the customers of the e-shop first. You will avoid unnecessary complications.
5. Affiliate Manager
When choosing, do not forget to check whether the merchant has a manager who can help you. The affiliate manager’s job is to look after affiliates (partners), educate them, solve their problems as soon as possible, and you will appreciate it especially at the beginning of cooperation.
6. Minimum Payout Amount
The minimum payout amount is the amount you must achieve so that the partner program owner could pay your reward. Some affiliate programs have a minimum payout amount of only $ 5, others can have $ 500. I recommend you choosing such a commission program that offers the lowest minimum payout amount. You certainly would not want to wait the entire year until you collect the $ 500. It may happen that the affiliate program perishes during the year and you will never see your money. For this reason, I recommend choosing an affiliate network rather than a separate affiliate program. However, you will read more below.
7. Method of Promoting Affiliate Campaigns
Another important thing is that some affiliate program owners allow you to advertise your products only in the form of a website, others allow you to promote through Facebook, email, or other methods. The more promotion options, the better for you. You can read about this topic in the article about campaign promotion options.
8. Support from the Part of Merchant – the Affiliate Program Owner
Sometimes you will encounter a situation when you need help or get some information from the manufacturer or retailer. It is then important how quickly and flexibly the other part can respond. You certainly agree with me that it is the difference whether someone gives you the necessary information, for example, in an hour, or you have been waiting for it for three days.
9. Demand for Goods and Trend
Another decisive factor in selecting a commission program is how strong the demand for the goods is. The rule is that if there is a high demand for goods, you will earn more. Conversely, if demand is low, you cannot expect high earnings. You should also consider whether the selected goods are still “trendy”. Something that was “in” ten years ago is now a commodity that will not be sold well.
Partner Program or Affiliate Network? Where to Sign Up?
Before you begin – based on the factors above – to assess the suitability of the affiliate program, make sure that the merchant or e-shop owner offers such cooperation at all. You verify this by opening a merchant’s site and looking for terms such as “affiliate partnership”, “affiliate program”, “partner program”, and so on. These terms are mostly found in the site’s “foot” (at the bottom of the page). If you do not find these terms on the site, it’s likely that the merchant does not offer partnering. So, you must carry on with searching.
In this way, basically there is nothing more you can do than browsing a huge number of e-shops, merchant websites, and first of all finding out if they offer co-operation, comparing their terms, and then, based on the factors above, choosing the most appropriate affiliate program for you (you can also choose more programs).
The affiliate network is some form of catalogue of affiliate programs. This means you can find tens or hundreds of merchants of e-shop owners in one place. This way, you have a lot less to do with searching and especially by finding out if the site offers affiliate cooperation at all. The great advantage here is that you can find all the necessary information in one place.
Which factor (or factors) is for you the most important when choosing the ideal affiliate program?
Do not forget to read the discussion forum it is likely that you will find there more interesting information on the topic.
If you have any questions or want to share your experiences and knowledge, do not hesitate and share it in discussion.
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My name is George and I currently work from home as a freelancer for a PR agency selling advertising. I also freelance as an online marketer for an e-shop, and I am actively involved in creating this website. I am always looking for interesting opportunities on how to make money online. I share my findings with my readers on this website. I consider this to be my hobby. I hope, that you can find some legitimate work from home, or perhaps you might be able to earn a little extra money.
