Affiliate Program Management: An Hour a Day

Affiliate Program Management: An Hour a Day

by
Released April 2011
Publisher(s): Sybex
ISBN: 9780470651735

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Book description

Affiliate marketing is hot; here's how to get your program going

Nearly every retailer in the Internet Retailers' Top 500 has an affiliate marketing program. Now free affiliate networks, automation software, and pay-for-performance compensation models are making it easy for small businesses to take advantage of this marketing tool. In the popular An Hour a Day format, this guide features a detailed, real-world, task-based approach to developing, launching, and managing a successful affiliate marketing program. It explores market research, determining payment models and reporting guidelines, recruiting affiliates, crafting appropriate communications, and much more.

  • Affiliate marketing programs help boost marketing efforts without incurring excessive costs; this Hour a Day guide provides everything merchants, business owners, and those charged with managing an affiliate program need to know

  • Offers a modern, real-world, step-by-step guide to researching, launching, managing, and optimizing a successful affiliate marketing program

  • Covers social media; creating policies; working with feeds, coupons, widgets, and video; creating compelling content; handling partners who are not meeting goals; and much more

Affiliate Program Management: An Hour a Day is the do-it-yourself guide to planning and maintaining a successful affiliate program.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Praise for Affiliate Program Management: An Hour a Day
  3. Title Page
  4. Credits
  5. Copyright
  6. Dear Reader
  7. Dedication
  8. Acknowledgments
  9. About the Author
  10. Foreword
  11. Introduction
    1. Who Should Read This Book
    2. What You Will Learn
    3. How to Contact the Author
  12. Part I: History, Terminology, and Introductory Remarks
    1. Chapter 1: Understanding Affiliate Marketing
      1. What Is Affiliate Marketing?
      2. Affiliates, Subaffiliates, and Superaffiliates
      3. Universality of Affiliate Marketing
      4. Marketing Channels and Types of Affiliates
      5. Popularity
    2. Chapter 2: Budget, Payments, and Related Considerations
      1. Budgeting
      2. Performance-Based Models
      3. Interaction with Other Channels
      4. Reversal Policies and Related Considerations
  13. Part II: Month 1: Pre-Launch Research and Analysis
    1. Chapter 3: Week 1: Perform Competitive Marketing Analysis
      1. Monday: Understand SWOTT Analysis
      2. Tuesday: Identify Strengths and Weaknesses
      3. Wednesday: Evaluate Opportunities, Trends, and Threats
      4. Thursday: Present Your Analysis to Your Boss/Client
      5. Friday: Develop a Competitive Intelligence Strategy
    2. Chapter 4: Week 2: Understanding Tracking and Reporting
      1. Monday: Evaluate Affiliate Networks
      2. Tuesday: Understand CPA Networks and How They Work
      3. Wednesday: Assess In-House Solutions
      4. Thursday: Analyze Payment Options
      5. Friday: Understand the Importance of Cookies
    3. Chapter 5: Week 3: Evaluate Program Management Options
      1. Monday: Understand the Basics
      2. Tuesday: Set Your Expectations
      3. Wednesday: Outline Qualifications and Certification
      4. Thursday: Weigh In-House vs. Outsourced Solutions
      5. Friday: Determine Compensation and Draft Contact
    4. Chapter 6: Week 4: Finalize Payment Models and Cookie Life
      1. Monday: Decide on the Payment Models to Use
      2. Tuesday: Determine Whether You Need a Two-Tier Program
      3. Wednesday: Study Cookie Retention Data and Make Conclusions
      4. Thursday: Calculate Commission Budgeting in Incentives
      5. Friday: Finalize Overall Payment Terms
  14. Part III: Month 2: Setting Your Affiliate Program Up
    1. Chapter 7: Week 1: Develop Creative Inventory
      1. Monday: Review Types of Creatives Used by Affiliates
      2. Tuesday: Understand and Put Together Text Links
      3. Wednesday: Learn About Banner Usage and Popular Sizes
      4. Thursday: Review Banner Creation Mistakes and Work on Banners
      5. Friday: Develop a Dynamic Creative Policy
    2. Chapter 8: Week 2: Data Feeds, Coupons, and Plug-Ins
      1. Monday: Learn About Data Feeds
      2. Tuesday: Study and Avoid Common Data Feed Mistakes
      3. Wednesday: Discover Feed Importing Options
      4. Thursday: Develop Your Coupon Strategy
      5. Friday: Understand Add-Ons and Plug-Ins
    3. Chapter 9: Week 3: Research and Develop Program Policies
      1. Monday: Work on Your Coupon and Discounts Policy
      2. Tuesday: Develop Your Trademark Policy
      3. Wednesday: Formulate Policies Regarding Loyalty and Rebates Affiliates
      4. Thursday: Word Your Recommendations on Affiliate Disclosures
      5. Friday: Finalize Your Affiliate Program Agreement
    4. Chapter 10: Week 4: Final Brushstrokes
      1. Monday: Implement Tracking and Test the System
      2. Tuesday: Prepare the Text for Three Email Templates
      3. Wednesday: Set Up Your Affiliate Program Support Base
      4. Thursday: Prepare Announcement Text
      5. Friday: Compile Lists of Keywords and Best Sellers
  15. Part IV: Month 3: Program Launch and Affiliate Program Management
    1. Chapter 11: Week 1: Launch the Affiliate Program and Recruit
      1. Monday: Announce Program Launch
      2. Tuesday: Study Affiliate Recruitment Tools and Techniques
      3. Wednesday: Develop a Direct-Contact Recruitment Strategy
      4. Thursday: Formulate Your Social Media Approach
      5. Friday: Plan to Attend Conferences and Shows
    2. Chapter 12: Week 2: Plan Your Affiliate Communication
      1. Monday: Study Affiliate-Preferred Channels of Communication
      2. Tuesday: Decide on Frequency of Newsletters and Approach
      3. Wednesday: Learn How to Put Together Affiliate Newsletters
      4. Thursday: Launch Social-Media Efforts
      5. Friday: Start Writing Your Affiliate Program’s Blog, Developing FAQs and Tutorials
    3. Chapter 13: Week 3: Program Management
      1. Monday: Categorize Affiliates
      2. Tuesday: Develop Fraud Prevention Policy and Enforcement Rules
      3. Wednesday: Start Profiling Affiliates
      4. Thursday: Forget About Managing, and Start Leading!
      5. Friday: Become a Transformational Leader
    4. Chapter 14: Week 4: Affiliate Motivation
      1. Monday: Learn About Motivation in General and Marketing to Marketers in Particular
      2. Tuesday: Study Contingency Theory
      3. Wednesday: Understand How Extrinsic Motivation Works
      4. Thursday: Learn More About Intrinsic Motivation
      5. Friday: Arrive at Your Own Optimal Approach
  16. Part V: Month 4: Advanced Management and Analysis
    1. Chapter 15: Week 1: Study and Learn to Deal with Parasitism and Problematic Affiliates
      1. Monday: Monitor Red Flags in Affiliate Applications
      2. Tuesday: Learn About Affiliate Parasitism
      3. Wednesday: Educate Yourself on Adware and Toolbars
      4. Thursday: Police Trademark Violators
      5. Friday: Learn About Coupon Theft and Copycat Sites
    2. Chapter 16: Week 2: Master Affiliate Program Analytics and Optimization
      1. Monday: Understand What KPIs and Metrics to Focus On
      2. Tuesday: Split Test to Improve Conversions
      3. Wednesday: Explore Alternative Tracking Solutions and Compensation Models
      4. Thursday: Engage in Ongoing Competitive Intelligence
      5. Friday: Analyze Progress and Stay Informed
    3. Chapter 17: Deadliest Mistakes to Avoid
      1. Mistakes, Errors, and Lessons to Learn
      2. 15 Mistakes Committed by Merchants
      3. 25 Affiliate Program Management Mistakes
    4. Chapter 18: Affiliate Program Promotion Ideas
      1. Sharing Ideas
      2. Better Base Conditions for Select Affiliates
      3. Free Domain Giveaway
      4. Arithmetic Progression Bonuses
      5. Cobranded Version of a Good Affiliate Tool
      6. Segment Your Products
      7. Learn to Celebrate
      8. Run “Happy Weeks”
      9. Sliding Scale of Commission Increases
      10. Bonus Weeks
      11. Growth Tied to Commission
      12. Offer Tripled Commission
      13. Run a Lottery
      14. Let Them “Test-Drive” It
      15. Offer 100-Percent Commissions
      16. Run a “Free Graphics Help” Week
      17. Award “Every-Third-Sale” Gifts
      18. Cash for Everything: CAIs, FSBs, and So On
      19. Cross-Program Promotions
      20. Dynamic Scripts
      21. Commission-Beating Policy
      22. Exclusive Coupons for Select Affiliates
      23. Time-Sensitive Private Offers
      24. Free Content Help
      25. Activation Incentives
      26. Turn a Sale into a Contest
  17. Glossary
  18. Index

Product information

  • Title: Affiliate Program Management: An Hour a Day
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: April 2011
  • Publisher(s): Sybex
  • ISBN: 9780470651735