Choosing An Affiliate Management Agency

The Definitive Guide

This is the most complete guide to choosing an affiliate management agency online.

So, if you want to:

  • Know how much an affiliate manager gets paid.
  • Understand what an affiliate manager does.
  • Decide whether working with an agency is for you.
  • Learn how to choose an affiliate management agency.
  • Discover how to vet a prospective affiliate management agency.
  • Find out how to effectively work with an affiliate management agency.

Then you’ll love the information, strategies, and ideas outlined in this guide.

Let’s get started right now!

Choosing an Affiliate Management Agency: The Definitive Guide.

Contents

Chapter 1

Affiliate Manager Salary

Chapter 2

Affiliate Manager Job Description

Chapter 3

Agency Pros And Cons

Chapter 4

Choosing a Marketing Agency

Chapter 5

Agency Warning Signs

Chapter 6

Vetting An Agency

Chapter 7

Working With An Agency

Chapter 8

Final Thoughts

Chapter 1:

Affiliate Manager Salary

In this chapter, I’m going to walk you through how much Affiliate Managers earn.

Including:

  • An In-house Affiliate Managers’ salary.
  • An Outsourced Program Managers’ salary.
  • And the Affiliate Management Agency’s performance bonus.

Let’s dive in.

Choosing an Affiliate Management Agency: The Definitive Guide.

How much does an in-house Affiliate Manager earn?

According to salary.com, the base salary for an in-house Affiliate Manager ranges from $41,101 to $71,686. The average base salary is $53,710. The total cash compensation, which includes both base salary and annual incentives, ranges from $81,221 to $145,558. The average total cash compensation is $111,673.

The salary for an in-house Affiliate Manager varies from city to city. Below is the average Affiliate Manager salary in 7 major US cities. (Data from salary.com).

City State Salary
San Francisco CA $67,137
Washington DC $59,790
Miami FL $52,287
Chicago IL $56,980
Boston MA $60,515
New York NY $64,613
Dallas TX $53,361

How much does an Outsourced Program Manager earn?

Affiliate Management Agencies generally have one of three compensation structures. Structure one is the most common.

Structure 1: Monthly retainer + performance bonus. The performance bonus is generally tied either to the affiliate-referred sales or to gross affiliate payouts.
Structure 2: Flat monthly fee.
Structure 3: Commission only.

There is very little verifiable data on how much Affiliate Management Agencies charge clients. Given the average salary for an Outsourced Program Manager and the number of programs that they can realistically manage, we can assume monthly invoices [per client] between $2,000 at the low end and $8,000+ at the high end.

How much should I pay for the Affiliate Management Agency performance bonus?

This question is hard to answer. Two key factors are:

  1. Brand recognition which impacts conversion rates.
  2. The vertical which impacts ROAS. Performance bonuses for standard retail products run around 2% of the order value. They can though range to high double digits for verticals like software and SAAS products, for example. Note. It’s not unknown for products with annual subscriptions to offer 100% commission or more.

Ultimately, the performance bonus will be tied to the monthly retainer. The lower the monthly retainer, the higher the performance bonus. It pays to keep your Outsourced Program Manager motivated as a lot of time and energy goes into generating sustainable transaction volumes.

Chapter 2:

Affiliate Manager Job Description

In this chapter, I’m going to walk you through an Affiliate Manager’s duties and responsibilities.

Including:

  • Affiliate Manager job description.
  • Affiliate Manager job.
  • What makes a successful Affiliate Manager.
  • And an Affiliate Manager’s typical day.

Let’s see what an affiliate manager’s duties and responsibilities are!

Choosing an Affiliate Management Agency: The Definitive Guide.

What is an affiliate manager’s job description?

An Affiliate Manager manages the affiliate publishers for an advertiser. They recruit new affiliates, manage the onboarding process, and ensure that an affiliate’s audience is aligned with the advertiser’s target market. They also liaise with affiliates who have been approved to the program and answer any questions that they might have.

An Affiliate Manager designs and implements a marketing strategy that has been agreed with an advertiser. They make recommendations about the best way to approach a campaign and maximize results based on best practice and experience.

What are other core elements of an Affiliate Manager’s job?

Affiliate Managers must ensure that tracking of leads and/or sales functions with zero errors. This is accomplished by implementing, and then testing, advanced tracking features such as in-app, Cookieless, and ‘cross-device’. Their job also includes keeping up to date with technology and trends that impact affiliates such as new ad formats, browser updates, and new laws regarding customer data protection.

To work effectively with affiliates, Affiliate Managers need to understand the basics of digital marketing. This includes but is not limited to: SEO, paid search, email marketing, conversion optimization, video marketing, and social media marketing.

What makes a successful Affiliate Manager?

Successful Affiliate managers know how to:

  • Create educational newsletters for affiliates. (Not just an updated list of coupon codes).
  • Develop quality content for affiliates to send through their lists.
  • Design promotions based on keyword research and conversion data.
  • Help affiliates to include product links, video, and other affiliate tools into the affiliates’ active promotions.
  • Educate new affiliates on new opportunities and core marketing channels like PPC, email YouTube, and Instagram.
  • Design creative such as banners and HTML emails.
  • Troubleshoot any technical issues affecting their affiliates and help resolve them.
  • Recruit new affiliates who will generate results. While coupon sites and software have a place in an affiliate program the affiliate mix must include influencers, bloggers, complementary companies, YouTubers, paid search marketers, Social Media marketers, and other relevant partners.
  • Protect their client from fraudulent campaigns i.e. campaigns that use stolen credit cards, bad leads, or customers who return their orders after the commissions have been paid out.

What does an Affiliate Manager’s typical day look like?

As with most professional jobs, activities vary from day to day so there isn’t a ‘typical day’. That said, most affiliate managers will have many core responsibilities, such as;

  • Seeking and developing new affiliate relationships.
  • Maintaining daily interaction with affiliates via phone, Skype, and email.
  • Responding to support tickets and inquiries.
  • Auditing new publisher accounts and domains for quality.
  • Conducting warm and cold calls to help develop new affiliate relationships.
  • Testing tracking to ensure no ‘leakage’ of leads/sales.
  • Checking core affiliate tools, like data feeds, to ensure that they are up to date and functioning correctly.
  • Initiating new campaign ideas, including incentivization and bonuses for the program.
  • Analyzing program and campaign activity to identify opportunities for improvement.
  • Delivering weekly and monthly reports to the client.
  • Ensuring that commissions and invoices are paid on time.
  • Negotiating terms for insertion orders/contracts.
  • Representing the company at industry-related conferences and trade shows.
  • Troubleshooting HTML and JavaScript tags on publisher domains.

Chapter 3:

Pros And Cons of Working With An Agency

In this chapter, I’m going to explore the pros and cons of working with Affiliate Management Agencies.

Including:

  • 9 pros of working with an agency.
  • 4 cons of working with an agency.

Here’s what you need to know.

Choosing an Affiliate Management Agency: The Definitive Guide.

9 pros of working with an agency

We will start with the 9 pros of working with an affiliate management agency.

1. Expertise

One of the most important things that an affiliate management agency brings to the table is expertise. They will be staffed with affiliate managers who know how to launch and grow a program. That’s what they do. In many cases, senior affiliate managers at an agency have been doing exactly this for a decade or longer. If you hire your own affiliate manager, otherwise known as an in-house manager, you will probably need to provide them with on-going training. This won’t be a consideration with an agency team.

One other overlooked benefit of an agency is that you don’t get input from just one expert — you will likely get input from an entire team. When faced with a problem, an affiliate manager from an agency will not hesitate to consult with their colleagues. Team members will also share industry news, the latest threats, opportunities, and best practices.

2. Experience

Experience can take many forms. With some research, you should be able to find an agency that has experience in your vertical. They might be managing the affiliate program for a competitor, or managing an affiliate program in a similar industry.

The top affiliate management agencies all have proven track records in most niches. They also manage all types of affiliates. From email marketers to bloggers and from paid search marketers to Influencers. Their experience will make a huge difference to the trajectory that your program sets off on.

3. Tools

Managing an affiliate program requires tools that help with:

  • Competitive intelligence
  • Publisher discovery
  • Email discovery and automation
  • Coding/development tasks
  • Social media monitoring
  • Brand reputation management
  • Compliance policing

The list above is just scratching the surface. You will find that the costs of running an affiliate program yourself add up fast. Really fast. Affiliate management agencies already have subscriptions for all these tools.

The top agencies will also have access to the newest, and generally most expensive tools. Often for free. The reason for this is that the tool’s creators want them to test out their tools and provide actionable feedback for their developers.

4. Relationships

All good agencies have relationships that they will happily call upon for the benefit of their clients. If you need an introduction to a third party for a particular product or service your affiliate manager should be the first person that you reach out to for help.

Agencies also have established relationships with most affiliate and sub-affiliate networks. This often means that they have dedicated support reps that they can reach out to if problems arise. Rather than waiting days for the resolution of a problem you probably can get it fixed in a matter of hours.

5. Discounts, Waivers, and Other Perks

All of the top tier affiliate networks have costly integration fees. If you partner with the right agency you can either reduce the integration fees or in some cases eliminate them.

Added to this there is often flexibility on the ongoing transaction fees charged by the affiliate network. This can potentially save a big merchant tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars over a few years. Needless to say, choosing the right agency can save you an awful lot of money versus trying to do things in-house.

6. Publisher Database

All successful agencies have managed many different affiliate programs over the years that they have been in business. Some might even be in the same vertical as yours. Because of this, they have a huge database of relevant affiliate publishers. The database will include the coveted ‘super affiliates’. As of writing, Affiliate Manager Expert has a database of 30,000 active publishers. We can pretty much guarantee that we have a good relationship with many of the affiliates that you will want to recruit/work with.

7. Brand and Bottom Line Protection

Although an affiliate program can benefit most businesses, it also brings an element of risk. Remember, you are trusting other people to market your products and/or services. Brand misrepresentation, unapproved usage of a trademark, cannibalization of other sales channels are just some of the activities that any decent affiliate manager needs to be hyper-aware of.

An experienced affiliate manager will know how to discourage such behaviors and how to take action if affiliate terms and conditions are breached.

All good agencies will have tools to help ensure affiliate compliance with terms and conditions. Additionally, any affiliate manager worth their salt will follow established processes like:

  • manually review all affiliate applications,
  • maintain and contribute to affiliate blacklists,
  • monitor affiliate traffic and sales,
  • establish and maintain a close relationship with core affiliates through newsletters, emails, and social media posts,
  • and most importantly, provide leadership for the affiliate program.

8. Opportunities For Cross-Promotion

We mentioned earlier that affiliate program management agencies manage multiple programs at the same time. In some cases, programs are in the same vertical or a broadly similar vertical. If so, it can make sense to run what we call ‘cross-pollination’ campaigns.

‘Cross-pollination’ campaigns can take the form of affiliate recruitment initiatives. This means the agency promotes one affiliate program to similar affiliates who drive performance in another affiliate program. And vice versa. Sometimes, affiliates are challenged to drive similar results in several programs and rewarded accordingly.

Another example of a ‘cross-pollination’ campaign is promotion between merchants. Let’s say for example that you sell software and the agency that you work with also manages the affiliate program of a computer hardware manufacturer. As long as there are no issues regarding licensing etc., it can make sense for the two companies to promote each other and both benefit from new customer acquisition and increased sales. This sort of campaign is relatively straightforward when you have an agency and affiliate program manager to mediate the relationship and monitor the campaign.

9. Credibility

It’s fair to say that all the top affiliates choose the affiliate programs that they join and promote very carefully. These days most companies have some kind of affiliate program and most do not perform for a long list of reasons.

This means that it’s rare for large affiliates to join a program that has no track record. Evidence of established conversion rates, sales, and positive customer feedback are just some of the things that large affiliates look for.

If the affiliate gets an invitation to join your program from an affiliate manager, or agency, that they know and trust this can make all the difference between a relationship being formed, or not.

4 cons of working with an agency

Now let’s look at the 4 cons of working with an affiliate management agency.

1. Understanding Your Company

Some prospective clients worry that since the affiliate manager who has been assigned to their account hasn’t worked for their company, they will be missing vital knowledge. Here we are talking about things like product knowledge, how core services work, and the company’s brand and culture. While these are all reasonable concerns, all of them can be easily fixed.

You can be sure that any good agency will carefully study your website and products before accepting you as a client. They will likely have some understanding of your target demographics from either past or current clients. If not, all you have to do is provide your affiliate manager with relevant information like product descriptions, best-sellers, sales and traffic data, demographics, etc.

Don’t think of the relationship between you and the affiliate management agency as one of employer and employee. You need to develop the relationship as a partnership between professionals that have a common goal. Including a performance-based component in the agency’s compensation package is critical to ensuring this.

It may seem counter-intuitive, but an affiliate manager’s lack of knowledge might likely be of benefit. Why? Simply because they can provide a fresh and impartial perspective on your business, systems, and processes, and affiliate program. There’s great value in seeing things through a fresh pair of eyes. Especially when they know what affiliates, and likely buyers for that matter too, are looking for.

2. Lack of Control

It is a fact that an employee is easier to control than an independent contractor. With this said, you need to trust that the agency you select, and affiliate manager, will live up to their end of the agreement. It makes sense to require both weekly and monthly reports. Also, a deadline should be established for regular tasks like answering emails and reviewing affiliate applications.

Think about the results that you’re looking for. Do you need another employee whose prime motivation is to collect their next paycheck, or do you want to work with a professional whose core desire is driving performance? Given that a large chunk of their compensation will be performance-based i.e. based on transactions/sales growth, the affiliate manager will be motivated to generate the results that you need.

3. Costs

When you first run the numbers an affiliate management agency might appear more expensive than hiring someone to work in-house. Remember though that you won’t be paying the agency-employed affiliate manager benefits like health insurance, paid time off, and a retirement plan.

As mentioned in Chapter 1, according to salary.com, the average base salary for an affiliate manager is $53,710. This equates to around $4,500 per month. You should be able to find a good agency that charges around half this as a monthly retainer.

You do need to budget for a performance bonus in addition to the monthly retainer, but this compensation will kick in once you have increased your top-line sales to whatever number/criteria were targeted.

4. Lack of Loyalty

One concern that many prospective clients have is that of the loyalty of the agency. Will the agency adhere to your culture? Will the agency’s goals match yours? These are just two of many open questions.

All reputable agencies earn the bulk of their revenues from the performance component of their agreement. Not the monthly retainer fee. This means that they’re highly incentivized to grow your company’s sales and profits using the affiliate channel as the vehicle.

Something else to consider. The agency’s reputation is also on the line. Once they have agreed to manage your affiliate program they stake their reputation with the partnership. The agency’s affiliate relations – something that they hold dear – won’t last long if their clients don’t live up to their side of the bargain. Think missed commission payments, a campaign that doesn’t convert traffic, etc. Ultimately, the agency will be your partner whether the campaign succeeds or fails – they are fully invested in the relationship!

According to a study of over 1,000 workers at BambooHR, 31% reported having quit a job within the first six months. Employee onboarding and retention and are difficult, expensive, and time-consuming. For most SMEs contracting an agency is a far better alternative.

Chapter 4:

Choosing a Marketing Agency

In this chapter, I’m going to walk you through how to choose the right agency.

Including:

  • The importance of the right agency.
  • How to choose an agency.

The question is:

How will I know if the Affiliate Management agency is right for my company?

Well, that’s what this chapter is all about!

Choosing an Affiliate Management Agency: The Definitive Guide.

The importance of selecting the right agency

You don’t want to hire the wrong agency. You really don’t. Whichever affiliate agency you work with will ultimately represent your brand. They will be the conduit through which hundreds, or even thousands, of affiliates, will give a voice to your company and brand.

Also bear in mind that for most affiliate programs, especially new ones, it generally takes 6 – 12 months to see significant results. This means that if you have made a poor choice you likely won’t know for some time that your program is being mismanaged or managed in a way that has long-term repercussions for your brand, your company, and your affiliate program.

Our advice is if you have been tasked with hiring an affiliate program management agency that you do your homework. Due diligence will help avoid a costly mistake!

How do I choose an agency?

  1. Have clear objectives. Before you even start talking with agencies decide what services you require. Also, do you need a multi-location MNC vs. a smaller agency with a relevant portfolio and proven experience in your vertical? Whatever your primary need, define it and then team up with an agency that has experience in it. Setting clear goals will provide a good starting point for both parties.
  2. Don’t hire an agency, hire a partner. Marketing, communication, brand-building. All these tasks call for creativity and cooperation. Therefore, you need an agency with a culture that fits with yours. You need people who are innovative, proactive, and collaborative. You need an agency that takes the time to listen to you. Study your business and market. Share research and analysis. And most importantly, work with you as a partner rather than a vendor. You need an agency that thinks long-term, and with whom you can build a strong partnership.
  3. Location doesn’t matter much. Physical distance doesn’t matter like it used to. You can keep in touch from pretty much anywhere. So there is no need to restrict your choice of agency to a specific location. If you locate a candidate with the skills, experience, and culture that matches your checklist, talk to them. Whether they are located in another state, country, or even continent!
  4. Search beyond Google. While Google search is a solid starting point when searching for the right agency, many small agencies may not feature on Google search. This means that you may miss out on some great up-and-coming agencies. You should also ask around your network of business and personal contacts to see if anyone has recommendations. It might also make sense to browse trade associations and directories.
  5. Evaluate the agency’s proposal. Flashy videos and PowerPoints are all well and good, but the agency’s proposal for you should also be good. It should outline the price of services, but more than that, it should be a customized blueprint of the work they will complete for you. If you are getting a cookie-cutter proposal that isn’t customized to your company, ask yourself if they are truly invested in figuring out who you are and what you need.
  6. Ensure the agency offers comprehensive, integrated services. Marketing involves many different channels, so chances are that one project will be connected to another. A well-rounded agency should have a high-level of expertise in all aspects of marketing. They might be managing your affiliate program, but do they understand how it will work together with your social media, paid search, and Influencer campaigns? A good agency may have its specialization but they should be able to advise you on all the services you require — for effective integration and better ROI.

Chapter 5:

Agency Warning Signs

In this chapter, I’m going to walk you through the 8 warning signs of a bad agency.

Including:

  • Agencies without experience.
  • Agencies who lie about their track record.
  • Agencies who don’t follow best practices.
  • Agencies who are reliant on large networks.
  • Agencies offering free trials.
  • Agencies who make outlandish promises.
  • Agencies who are not offering a partnership.
  • Agencies who are trying to trap you.

Look out for these eight warning signs, and you’ll be on the right track.

Choosing an Affiliate Management Agency: The Definitive Guide.

1. Agencies without experience

What to look for:

You are already working with an agency that pitches their “affiliate management services” to try and keep all your business within their firm. However, they have no experience in affiliate management. Or they can’t deliver on your needs. They plan to figure out how to service your business after you hire them.

Questions to ask prospective agencies that weed out the bad guys.

  • How many full-time employees do you have who are dedicated to affiliate program management?
  • How many years of direct affiliate management experience do these employees have?
  • How many clients do you provide affiliate program management services for?
  • What services do you offer for affiliate program management?
  • How many years on average do your affiliate program management clients stay with you?

What you’re looking for from the responses:

  • Does the agency have enough experienced professionals on staff to effectively manage your program? If they don’t, they’ll be scrambling to hire affiliate account managers – good ones are extremely hard to find. They may even subcontract the work to another agency.
  • Does the agency have a verifiable track record of establishing, maintaining, and nurturing long-term partnerships.

2. Agencies who lie about their track record

What to look for:

Some agencies list companies, usually brands, on their website as clients. However, they have never managed their affiliate program! They might have done some work for them but it wasn’t affiliate program management. Another trick is to claim that they are the ‘#1 ranked agency’ or an ‘award-winning agency’ even though they have never received any relevant awards. Often the recognition is for a service unrelated to affiliate management, for example, display or SEM advertising. It might also be a paid-for award as this is relatively common these days.

Questions to ask prospective agencies that weed out the bad guys.

  • Did you manage the affiliate programs for the clients listed on your website?
  • What awards/accolades has your agency received for your affiliate management services?
  • How were the awards determined? What were the ranking factors?

What you’re looking for from the responses:

  • Honesty and transparency from the agency regarding the clients listed on their site and their relationship with them.
  • Were the awards given by business partners, for example, affiliate networks, in exchange for bringing business to the partner.

3. Agencies who don’t follow best practices

What to look for:

There is no coherent strategy for the affiliate programs that they manage. While sales are being generated, they’re mostly not incremental and the affiliate campaigns being done risk putting the client’s brand at risk.

Questions to ask prospective agencies that weed out the bad guys.

  • How do you recruit, activate, and optimize affiliates?
  • How do you set up the Terms and Conditions for an affiliate program?
  • How do you ensure compliance with the Terms and Conditions to prevent fraud and breach of contract?
  • What is your view on trademark bidding, toolbar partners, and sub-affiliate networks?
  • Do you have case studies that demonstrate your approach to protecting a company’s brand while also driving performance?

What you’re looking for from the responses:

  • Does the agency have systems and processes in place to manage your program while protecting your brand?
  • When an agency adds an affiliate to your program can they quantify their value to the overall campaign?
  • Can the agency provide evidence that their systems and processes work to protect their client’s brands?

4. Agencies who are reliant on large networks

What to look for:

An affiliate program management agency that hands off the day-to-day management of their client’s programs to a large affiliate network who will do most of the heavy lifting for them. Note. Examples of large networks include CJ, Rakuten Advertising, Shareasale, impact, Tradedoubler, and AWIN.

Questions to ask prospective agencies that weed out the bad guys.

  • Which affiliate networks do you work with? Do you have a preferred partner?
  • What strategic and operational support do you get from the affiliate networks that you work with?
  • How would you manage an affiliate program if there was no network support i.e. a software-only program where you only have the SAAS platform?

What you’re looking for from the responses:

  • Does the agency have the capability to fulfill all aspects of affiliate program management such as strategy, partner development, reporting, recruitment, compliance, forecasting?
  • Can the agency manage a program on any network or platform? Are they ‘technology agnostic’?
  • How will the agency deliver operational support for the program?
  • Who in the agency will develop and maintain the program management strategy.
  • The agency must make clear the delineation between the agency team and the affiliate network. Also, they need to validate that core program management tasks will be handled by the agency team and not relinquished to the network.

5. Agencies offering free trials

What to look for:

Companies that offer free services for a specified period. Usually 1-3 months. In many instances, the agency’s pricing for program management services is less than the market rate. The result of a partnership with this type of agency is a mismanaged program and serious reputational risk with both networks and affiliates. The reason for this is the agency will run with an ‘autopilot’ approach for management and anyone who has experience with managing affiliate programs will tell you that this is an approach which will end in disaster.

Questions to ask prospective agencies that weed out the bad guys.

  • How will you allocate staff and resources to manage the program during the trial period?
  • Will I have a dedicated contact for the day-to-day management of the program?
  • Can I speak with any of the companies who have used your free trial?
  • Do you guarantee a minimum service level? If so, what will you guarantee?
  • How are you able to cover the costs incurred by offering a free trial?

What you’re looking for from the responses:

  • Does the agency have clear objectives and goals for the trial period?
  • Is there a clear plan on what they’ll be doing over the trial period?
  • How will the agency deliver results?
  • Once the trial period is completed, will the agency develop a clear roadmap for the next 3/6/12 months?

6. Agencies who make outlandish promises

What to look for:

The type of results an agency promise is a good indication of how well they understand their industry. Anyone who claims that they can 2x-10x your affiliate program in 3 months doesn’t know that affiliate management is a mid to long-term marketing strategy. Or that it requires continuous work to maintain.

Pay very close attention to the claims and promises that are made to you. Make sure that they align with what you know about the industry. Outlandish or seemingly impossible promises are a huge red flag.

Questions to ask prospective agencies that weed out the bad guys.

  • When do the results start to show up?
  • What performance guarantees can you make?
  • How will you measure the success of the campaign?
  • What metrics will you monitor and report back on?

What you’re looking for from the responses:

  • Does the agency have a clear idea of how long it will take to deliver results?
  • Can they back up their projections with a well thought out forecast?
  • Is there a plan for the analytics that will be used to define the performance goals?
  • Has the issue of conversion rate, and how it can be optimized, been discussed?

7. Agencies who are not offering a partnership

What to look for:

You should be mindful of how an agency pitches you as this is very telling of how the relationship will operate. Salespeople who want to help you will tell you that they want to help you. Salespeople who don’t want to help you will tell you how much their service costs and how weekly or monthly meetings will be structured. This is the difference between hiring a partner and a vendor.

If an agency spends the sales process only talking about how great they are and doesn’t give any insight into what they can do for you, the relationship won’t be satisfactory. While there is nothing wrong with hearing some of the agency’s wins, you should be looking for companies who researched your brand and outline actionable projects that they believe you can accomplish together.

The lesson here is to always seek a partner, not another vendor.

Questions to ask prospective agencies that weed out the bad guys.

  • How does what you do mesh with our specific goals?
  • What are your agency’s core values?
  • How does your strategic approach align with our ROI goals?
  • To what degree will we collaborate?
  • Can we review your service-level agreement together?

What you’re looking for from the responses:

  • Do the agency’s approach and culture match yours?
  • Does the agency have systems and processes in place that enable collaboration between your respective teams?
  • Is the agency willing to develop a bespoke agreement for the partnership to work off?

8. Agencies who are trying to trap you

What to look for:

One telltale sign of an agency trying to trap you is them demanding full control over your logins, data, and reporting.

Many companies fall for this trap because their reasoning is something along the lines of: “I just want them to handle everything, that’s what I’m paying them for”. What they don’t realize how dangerous things can get if things don’t work out between the two companies.

One worst-case scenario that happens more than you might imagine is disreputable agencies holding their client’s data and logins hostage to keep the contract going. The result is legal disputes that can last months or even years.

Questions to ask prospective agencies that weed out the bad guys.

  • When accounts are setup will we be assigned the Superuser account?
  • Should we decide to terminate our agreement how does the termination process work?
  • On termination will you remove any data that we request from your databases?
  • On termination will you provide us with a transition plan?

What you’re looking for from the responses:

  • Does the agency have a defined termination process and will they provide you with a transition plan?
  • You need to be assured that you will secure all key assets/accounts before the contract end date. Examples might include Google Ads, Facebook, historical reports, and working files or unfinished content.

Chapter 6:

Vetting an Agency

In this chapter, I’m going to walk you through some ideas on how to vet an agency.

Including:

  • Backchannel reference checks.
  • Check out agency managed affiliate programs.

Here is how to screen for the perfect partner.

Choosing an Affiliate Management Agency: The Definitive Guide.

Conduct backchannel reference checks

  • Go to the agency’s website to identify their current and past clients.
  • Explore which affiliate networks their client’s programs are active on.
  • Call the networks to discuss the agency’s standing.
  • Check major affiliate properties to see if the agency’s client is listed, for example, eBates, Slickdeals, RetailMeNot, Wikibuy, TopTenReviews, etc.
  • Reach out to targeted affiliates to discuss the agency’s level of service (as it relates to their stated client).
  • Find reviews of the agency. You’ll be surprised what searching through Google can uncover. LinkedIn can also be a great source of information on an agency. Specifically on the CEO and senior managers of the company.

Check out agency managed affiliate programs

  • Does the affiliate program offer a solid repository of marketing materials i.e. approved content, a brand guide, sell sheets, APIs or data feeds, creative, HTML emails, etc.?
  • Submit a question to evaluate the responsiveness of the agency’s program management team.

Chapter 7:

Working With An Agency

In this chapter, I’m going to walk you through some ideas on how to effectively work with an affiliate management agency.

Including:

  • Prepare your team.
  • Ensure consensus.
  • Be involved.
  • Sometimes, cede control.
  • Ask lots of questions.
  • Be careful with ‘full service’ agencies.

Here is how to get the most out of the relationship.

Choosing an Affiliate Management Agency: The Definitive Guide.

There are a number of things that you can do as a client to maximize results and get the most out of your strategic partnership with an affiliate marketing agency.

Doing these things ensure successful collaboration throughout every phase of the project.

1. Prepare your team

If things are going to work you need your team prepared for the project or partnership. Set up a meeting and make sure that everyone knows how and where they fit. It is helpful to have a good amount of lead time to get the project, or partnership set up right.

You also need to provide the agency with everything that they will need to understand your business. Try to put everything that you can on the table.

2. Ensure consensus on the scope, process, and timeframe

All stakeholders must agree on the scope, process, and timeframe of the project before it gets started. Do not ignore this step. If you do, you are setting yourself up for potentially massive problems at a later date.

The majority of digital marketing projects will go through four phases:

1. Initiation. Understand the goals, priorities, deadlines, and risks of the project.

The initiation stage is when you and your stakeholders meet with the agency to outline your goals, motivations, and hopes for the project.

2. Planning. Outline the tasks and timeline required to execute the project.

The project planning stage is when the agency creates a comprehensive project plan, which involves:

  • Translating the proposal into a series of actionable tasks and scheduling them in a project roadmap.
  • Documenting processes or workflows that the team will use.
  • Creating measurable short-term goals from high-level project goals.
  • Addressing potential issues that could derail the roadmap.

3. Execution. Turn your plan into action and monitor project performance.

The project execution stage is the true start of the project, where the agency carries out all of the tasks and activities you mapped out in the planning stage.

This is where the majority of the project work takes place, and it requires constant monitoring. Expect to adjust your goals and roadmap as you get deeper into the project.

4. Closure. Analyze results, summarize key learnings, and plan next steps.

Once you have achieved your project goals and the results have been signed off on by your stakeholders, it is time for the project closure stage.

In the project closure stage of the project management process, you:

  • Handoff deliverables
  • Release team members and project resources
  • Analyze project performance in a project retrospective

The framework of each of the four phases should be broadly agreed on by both your team and agency before project launch.

3. An active and involved experience is best!

The most successful digital marketing projects are highly collaborative. Your input, thoughts, and ideas will help move the project forward and ensure that your outcomes are met.

Some agencies and projects are more collaborative than others. Be sure that you understand what the agency needs from you throughout the entire project. Not just at the start.

A dedicated point of contact at your side is critical. You need someone at your organization who is readily available to ensure that you are not responsible for holding things up. Note. A common complaint of agencies is that their clients are unresponsive and slow to turn around critical deliverables.

4. Sometimes you need to cede control

If you follow the guidance in this document, the agency that you hire will be excellent at what they do. You will hire them for many reasons, but top of the list should be their expertise.

This means that it is important to take the advice given to you and give the agency complete control over certain aspects of the project. If you do not completely agree with why the agency is doing things a certain way, remind yourself they are the experts. You do not necessarily have to agree with everything, but it is important to keep an open mind.

5. Ask lots of questions

If this is your first time working with an affiliate marketing agency, you will see and experience a lot of new things. This is guaranteed. It is completely normal if you don’t understand everything that is happening.

The best thing that you can do is ask plenty of questions.

Maybe you don’t know why they chose this landing page format over another one. Or there is some data that you do not understand. Perhaps someone at the agency said something that does not make any sense to you.

Asking about the things you are unsure of is an opportunity for everyone to learn more. It will also clear up any uncertainties.

6. How do you find the right affiliate marketing agency for you?

There are countless “full-service” agencies offering every imaginable digital marketing service under one roof. This sounds great but tread carefully.

Why? This advice makes sense when you consider other industries.

Example #1: Would you rather hire a general contractor or a custom kitchen specialist to remodel your kitchen? The specialist, right?

Example #2: Who do you see when you have specific medical issues that need attention? A specialist for that particular problem. If you don’t immediately see a specialist, you’ll eventually be referred to one by your general care physician.

The best affiliate marketing agencies excel at one or two things with their other services being add-ons or secondary options.

Chapter 8:

Final Thoughts

Every project, big or small, deserves the attention of an industry expert to get done right. However, if the project requires the selection of an Affiliate Management agency it’s easy to feel overwhelmed! When you start the journey of choosing which Affiliate Management agency to partner with you’re confronted with hundreds of possible agencies to choose from.

Now you know what to look for, what to avoid, and how to prepare your team.

If you have any questions on this guide, please reach out to the author at [email protected] or call +1-307-222-0097.

If you would like to receive a free consultation and discover how Affiliate Manager Expert can help your business, please fill out the form on this page and someone will be in touch with you soon to schedule a complimentary consulting appointment.

If you think that we missed anything in this guide, do let us know by leaving a quick comment right now.

Choosing an Affiliate Management Agency: The Definitive Guide.
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