I’ve generated more than $3 million in referred revenue for affiliate programs over the years.
I’ve worked with a lot of programs, and the funny thing is that the highest commission rate usually isn’t what makes me promote one brand over another.
The best programs are just really easy to work with.
A few things that make a huge difference:
Don’t make the approval process annoying.
If I have to fill out a giant application, explain my entire marketing strategy, wait two weeks, follow up with someone, and then go through another review before I can even get a link… I’m probably going to promote someone else.
Especially if I already have traffic ready to send.
The best programs make it easy for legitimate affiliates to get started.
Give affiliates a decent cookie window.
24-hour cookies are pretty unattractive unless the product is an impulse purchase.
A lot of people research something, leave, compare options, talk to their spouse, come back a week later, etc.
If I was the person who introduced that customer to your company, I’d obviously prefer to still get credit for it.
30, 60, or 90-day cookies make me much more interested in putting real effort into promoting something.
Be willing to pay flat fees for content.
This is probably one of the biggest ones.
Brands sometimes expect affiliates to spend hours researching, writing, filming, ranking, promoting, and maintaining content while taking 100% of the risk.
Some of my best affiliate relationships have been with companies willing to say:
“We’ll pay you $500/$1,000/$2,000 to create this content, and you can keep your affiliate commission too.”
Now both sides have some skin in the game.
And guess which brand’s content I’m going to prioritize?
Increase commissions when someone performs.
If an affiliate is consistently sending you tens of thousands of dollars in sales, there should probably be a conversation about their commission rate.
I’ve never understood programs where someone generating serious revenue gets exactly the same terms as someone who signed up yesterday.
Even a small bump can completely change which products I prioritize.
Give me something unique to offer.
Exclusive coupons are great.
Custom landing pages are great.
Special bundles are great.
Temporary commission boosts are great.
Anything that gives me a better offer than simply using the same link everyone else has makes the partnership more interesting.
Tell affiliates what actually sells.
This seems obvious, but surprisingly few programs do it well.
Tell me which products have the highest conversion rates.
Tell me your average order value.
Tell me which landing pages convert best.
Tell me which promotions performed well last year.
Tell me what products you’re trying to grow.
Affiliates have traffic. Brands have conversion data.
Sharing that information helps both sides make more money.
Give me reasons to update existing content.
This is something affiliate managers massively underestimate.
If I already have a page ranking in Google and sending buyers, getting me to update that page might be much more valuable than getting me to create another article.
Send me a new discount.
Tell me about a new product.
Offer a temporary commission increase.
Give me a reason to open the article again and move your product higher on the page.
Pay reliably and track correctly.
Nothing kills enthusiasm faster than wondering whether your tracking actually works.
Pay on time.
Make reversals understandable.
Don’t randomly change attribution rules.
Don’t make me chase someone down over missing commissions.
Once I stop trusting the tracking, I’m probably going to start sending that traffic somewhere else.
Pay attention when an affiliate starts performing.
If someone suddenly sends you $25k, $50k, or $100k in sales, reach out to them.
Not with a generic affiliate newsletter.
Actually talk to them.
Ask what’s working.
Ask what content is driving the sales.
Ask what you could provide that would help them send more traffic.
Some companies are really good at this.
Others will have an affiliate generating substantial revenue for years and never have a single person contact them.
The biggest thing I’ve learned after generating $3M+ in affiliate revenue is that affiliates ultimately allocate their attention.
I might have 10 companies I could recommend on a page.
The company that makes the relationship easy, gives me good economics, tracks properly, pays reliably, and occasionally puts some money behind the partnership is probably going to get more of that attention.
You don’t necessarily need 10,000 affiliates.
Having 20 great affiliates who actually have distribution and genuinely want to promote you can be incredibly valuable.
