The most successful relationships between sponsors and affiliates come from communication. The relationship is based on a mutual goal of high sales and high profits, yet it seems few affiliates make contact with the sponsors they promote.
Think of it like this: if you were an experienced insurance salesperson for Farmers, and you switched to Geico, would you just assume that you already knew everything about Geico and skip the training program, avoid asking questions, or even talking with anyone at the company? Of course not. Obviously Geico has different sales tactics, features and benefits and consumer appeal than Farmers, and it would only benefit you to know the most you can about the product you’re trying to sell. The same should apply to affiliate programs; they are all different and all have different selling points.
Affiliate reps want to hear from you. Most likely, working directly with affiliates is a huge part of their job. Use them! I don’t care if you can only send me one sale per month, I want to talk to you. If I can help you get that one sale with your minimum amount of traffic to two sales and you can use your new experience with other sponsors that you promote, it’s a win-win situation.
We at CelebrityCash.com make ourselves available to affiliates via email, ICQ, telephone, Facebook, twitter, etc. pretty much seven days a week. We continually ask for feedback, offer to create special banners and marketing tools specific to their sites, yet I’m constantly amazed at how few people actually respond. The affiliates we do work with on a continual basis tend to have higher sales and better conversion rates because they take an active role in their promotions. They ask for what they need and most times they get it.
When you sign up for most programs, you’ll typically get an email with an explanation of how to log in to you account, get your marketing tools, etc. along with some contact information for your affiliate rep. Make use of that! Especially if the rep emails you and introduces themselves. Send a reply back, even if you don’t have any specific needs or feedback to start, this person will be a good contact in the future. Save the email address, add them to your ICQ list, and take advantage of it when you need it. If you attend webmaster gatherings, seek out your sponsors and introduce yourself! Having contacts with sponsors can only help you in the future.
The people who are representing the sponsors you sign up for know their sites better than anyone so they are in the best position to help you make the most of what they have to offer. Most reps would be happy to take a look at your site, let you know how they think you’d be most successful in your promotions, offer advice on what has worked for others promoting the same sites, and possibly offer custom marketing tools. The more effort you put into knowing the sites you are promoting and learning what has worked for others, the better your chances of creating a profitable promotion.
If you’re a CelebrityCash affiliate, or would like to be, visit the Contact page and get in touch! You can also follow us on Facebook and twitter.
