6 Questions Every Advertiser Should Ask When Looking For A Great Affiliate Marketing Network

Not all affiliate marketing networks are created equal. So if you’re a brand trying to increase your margins, choosing “any old” network simply won’t cut it. Without doing the proper due diligence, you stand to lose out on countless sales — not to mention boosted brand recognition. In short: landing on the right network is mission critical for your business. So how can a brand make the right choice? These six questions are a good place to start.

1) How much traffic can this affiliate network attract?

Without web traffic, sales won’t happen. So when a brand is deciding which network to partner with, it’s prudent for them to dig into how much traffic the network will bring in. Luckily for brands, many networks operate with complete transparency.

Our own affiliate network Admitad, for example, works with more than 1,570 advertisers and 700,000 publishers around the world. More than 5 million targeted visitors see content that runs on Admitad’s network every single day. Our monthly revenue growth is about 15%, and we control 70% of CPA marketing in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region.

2) How many affiliate programs does this network offer? Are they quality programs?

Once an advertiser gets a sense how much traffic a network can attract, it’s time to take a look at how many quality programs it offers. It’s really quite simple: the more reputable brands trust the affiliate network, the better. Prominent brands won’t stick with anyone subpar.

In the case of Admitad, we list all our affiliate programs and advertisers on our website. Some of the most well-recognized global brands entrust us with the maintenance of their affiliate marketing programs. These advertisers include AliExpress, Booking.com, Qatar Airways, among many others. Additionally, more than 90 programs work exclusively with Admitad. This means that publishers can drive traffic for advertisers’ offers only through our network.

3) Does the affiliate network offer quality customer support?

At first glance, affiliate marketing may seem like a game of numbers and technical wizardry. But when it comes down to it, it’s all about people. When one chooses to work with an affiliate network, it makes a difference to work with people who can communicate effectively.

This is not lost on Admitad. We provide advertisers with a personal account manager, who is responsible for the full scope of the affiliate marketing procedure — from launching a program, to finding publishers, to tracking quality results. The managers aren’t just highly skilled in affiliate marketing, but they’re also culturally competent. We have network offices in India, China, Germany, UAE, Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Our managers also speak several languages — including Chinese, Korean, English, Spanish, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Turkish, and Ukrainian — which enables advertisers and publishers from around the world to be served effectively.

4) Has the affiliate network developed innovative tools to help advertisers succeed?

In affiliate marketing, having the right tools at one’s disposal can make all the difference. The ability to leverage innovative products allows advertisers to optimize their processes – and simply, earn money faster.

Admitad offers several tools to help advertisers improve their campaigns. One such tool is Admitad’s flexible API, which provides adverters with a range of features – including the ability to get a better picture of how a publisher works on the website, see publishers’ referrals, and work with a handful of different models. Admitad API also gives advertisers the ability to create their own applications for tracking and analyzing data. The data accessible from Admitad API can help advertisers create better space ads, coupon offerings, landing pages, and more.

Another Admitad innovation is MoneyLink, which helps advertisers monetize content sites.  Better yet, if a program is disabled in one network, the business impact for advertisers is minimal, as MoneyLink enables traffic to be automatically redirected to another network with the same program.

There’s also BrandGuard, which is designed to monitor key queries of search engines and protect from brand bidding. Using BrandGuard, advertisers can decide beforehand how they want their resources monitored and moderated on a search engine. Admitad also has a tool called ICStuffers, which monitors the quality of traffic that’s brought in on advertisers’ campaigns.

5) Is there a fee to subscribe to this affiliate network? Do I have to pay to sign up?

Every affiliate network has its own conditions and terms to join, so these should be reviewed  carefully. Once a contract is signed, affiliate networks tend to charge advertisers per click or impression. This is the industry standard when it comes to digital marketing. On the other hand, Admitad free to sign up and  charges clients only for actions that bring advertisers results — specifically, leads or orders.

6) Should I work with multiple affiliate networks to boost my bottom line? Or is it better to focus on just one?

In order to achieve the optimal level of traffic, Admitad recommends an advertiser works with about four different networks. However, it’s not efficient to pay four separate networks for their services — and not just for the bottom line impact that has on your business. Consider also the additional man hours it would require a business to communicate effectively with four different account managers.

Instead, a more effective approach is to sign a single contract with one multi-niche and multi-service affiliate network. For example, Admitad enables businesses to build relationships with multiple networks through the Admitad website — this enables advertisers to leverage traffic from various niche networks.

The level of business impact affiliate marketing can bring to an advertiser is hardly a secret these days. It’s the reason 80% of brands devote at least 10% of their marketing budgets to affiliate marketing. But in order to unleash the potential of marketing model, it’s prudent for an advertiser to be considerate about who it partners with. So it you’re not satisfied with how a potential affiliate marketing partner answers these questions, keep searching until you are.

Author
Ekaterina Bibik is the Head of the Advertiser Department at Admitad, a global affiliate marketing network .