The Online CMO by Philip Hallenborg

I just read Pepperjam’s Maura Godwin’s blog from the Affiliate Summit West. There were some important points in the article that I would like to develop.

One problem with dash boards is that you seldom see what is behind it. In the affiliate space I often see very big week on week variation, only to discover that the absolute numbers are single digit. One of the problems I often come across is that there is a disconnect between the product owner (Brand, Pricing and On-line Marketing organizations) and the Affiliates themselves. I have experienced how we are running low end products at lowest price points for an affiliate audience that is high end and mature.

Most of us that have worked with affiliate networks have learned that a few affiliates account for most of the traffic. In some instances, e.g. small and medium business, there are very few pronounced and effective affiliates (this part of the business is generally CPC based).

So how do we bridge this disconnect and work closer with the vital few performing affiliates?

In my mind, the affiliate network should host an integrated meeting between the top 3-5 affiliates and the business owner at least on a bi-weekly basis or as long as a campaign is running. This way offers can be tailored to fit the affiliate’s specific audience in order to create a win-win situation.  Brand organizations are more than willing in most cases to tailor price points, bundles and market communication to a specific organization if it generates better ROI.  

So set up the meeting if your Affiliate Network doesn’t do it for you. You will quickly discover how much upside there is to working together.