Getting the most out of Affiliate Program

How to maximize?

[skuba]

Hi,
I have been requested to maximize and improve this company's Affiliate program with CJ.

I have been an affiliate for a while,but don't have much experience as an Affiliate Manager.

What are the things I should look for when looking at the list of publishers and the reports?

What's the best way to get rid of non-productive affiliates?

Only 10% of our affiliates really bring any business.

Any other tips? How could I bring more qualified affiliates?

Thanks so much,

Skuba

[AusDaddy]

Skuba,
Even if a lot of your affiliates aren't really bringing in any business, do you gain anything from getting rid of them? In my oppinion getting rid of affiliates that have done nothing wrong is a good way to get your vendor bad publicity.

[skuba]

I agree in part.

- But don't you think that it's better to have a number like "we have 200 qualified affiliates that generate revenue of $$" " or we have 2000 affs with revenue of $$"?

- Also we are planing to setup a policy so unqualified affiliates will not apply.
The brand is very important for this company, so they don't just accept anybody.

Any other ideas on how to get the most of the aff program?

Thanks

[AusDaddy]

I think it would look better to say something like we have 2000 affiliates including 200 super platinum club affiliates who bring in $$ between them. That way you get to show off how many people are selling for you and the fact that the cream of them are bringing in a lot of money.

I can understand having a high criteria for accepting affiliates but if you have already accepted them in the past I think you need to tread very carefully before kicking them out.

If you want to cut back on the number of non-productive affiliates consider changing your payouts to be more incentized (sp?). Drop your base commission, but have a considerable increase at what ever level you think makes an affiliate valuable. This way affiliates who aren't doing much business will do less/none but you more productive affiliates won't be affected. At the same time add a clause to your TOS that states that any aff who hasn't sold anything after a certain period ( say 3 months) will have their agreement deactivated. If they wish to join again later they need to reapply.

This way you encourage barely active affiliates to either do more or move their attentions elsewhere, and you've set in course actions to move inactive accounts off the books.

ps. I would make sure that the commision rates at the top level go up slightly as otherwise your top affs might be pissed at the rate change.