Affiliate Marketing Plan - Outline

Affiliate Marketing Plan: Plan Outline Critical Milestones             

Research Selection of solution Affiliate “sales” page – “why sign up”? Affiliate program/network setup/review: info / “join our program” Affiliate tracking integration Affiliate network / software setup: all automation and business rules Press release for launch Blog for affiliate program Twitter account for affiliate program Facebook fan page for affiliate program Marketing affiliate program Recruiting new blood as affiliate marketers Regular communication

1. Research 1.1 1.2 1.3 2.

2.1 2.2 2.3 3.

3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 4.

4.1 4.2 4.3

Competitive research Affiliate solutions research Prospective affiliate research Goals Definition Similar to business needs, but what *results* do you expect? When shall you gauge the results? Sales increase Traffic increase Business Needs Complimentary traffic / fill in holes to current traffic Demographic reach – affiliates with users in your demographic Branding Increase sales, leads Search traffic Performance based advertising Conversion Rate Testing A/b testing Analytic tools Shopping cart abandonment rate & reduction – recovery efforts?

4.4 4.5 4.6 5.

Lead form conversion rate “before you leave” attempt to halt abandonment Lead funnel – opt in to sales process Multichannel Consideration

5.1 5.2 5.3 6.

Internal search vs. Search affiliates (paid search) Internal SEO vs. Affiliates (organic) Current customers and affiliates (pay on new customer only? Reporting on new vs. Current customers and affiliate channel?) Resources Available

6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 7.

Technology – shopping cart or ecommerce system Tech support – integration help Tech policies: ensure consistent, continued tracking integration Website policies: ensure no phone number or phone tracking Tech support: updated, clean data feed Marketing support: material for affiliates Program support: dedicated staff to manage program Technology Needs

7.1

What do you need for your affiliate tracking & affiliate management needs – technology-wise? Network / in house software Integration with affiliate platform (tracking & reporting, data feeds, etc.)

7.2 8.

Technology Available In-House

8.1 8.2

In house programmers with available capacity and expertise? In house technology support for integration and data feeds?

9. Program T&C’s 9.1 9.2 10.

Refer to program features Restrictions Program Features

10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7

Payout (default/public, private, level bumps, bonuses) Per-category or per-SKU payout (optional) First or last cookie 2nd tier Cookie tracking length Additional tracking (IP address, local tracking) Email or lead data is directly associated with prospect – regardless of closing time.

10.8 10.9 10.10 10.11 11.

Program Operations

11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 12.

Recruiter, researcher, designer, tech support, affiliate support, director Policy: approval time frame, payment time frame Accounting in the process CRM solution for affiliates

Recruitment Strategies

12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 13.

Marketing material breadth and depth Data feed Support hours Affiliate management

Tools to identify: syntryx, hitpath Conferences Forums Affiliate program blog Intra-network recruitment vs. Extra-network recruitment Network resources

Activation Strategies

13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4

Initial outreach Automated emails – plan Emails: include affiliate-specific code within message! Use affiliate communication to show 13.4.1 13.4.2 13.4.3 13.4.4 13.4.5

13.5 13.6 14.

New affiliate sales contests, or first sale bonus Auto-deposit $10 in account (conditional withdrawal of funds)

Social Media Integration

14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 15.

Success of program Proactive management Successful affiliates as examples Build trust in inactive affiliates, and Be top of mind for when they’re ready to activate

Blog Facebook Twitter Flickr

Reporting Needs

15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 16.

Optimization Strategies

16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 17.

Conversion improvement Implementing video Implementing email capture “call to action” tracking to affiliate, with automated follow-up and affiliate attribution Continual promotions to motivate affiliates

PR Of Program

17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 18.

New affiliates Trends among affiliates, affiliate segments Fraud detection and management Identifying hidden affiliate potential Multi-network crossover sales attribution Multi-channel crossover sales attribution (internal seo, internal search, current customer vs. Affiliate transactions) Affiliate activation reporting Subtopic

Initial press release Blog: ongoing relations and awareness Forum participation and / or dedicated forum Conferences

Affiliate Communication Strategies

18.1

18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6

IM, email, postal mail Newsletter strategy Affiliate promotions / contests – notices/newsletters Blog utilization Forum utilization Quarterly, monthly, weekly – buckets of affiliate segments get appropriate personal outreach

19. Monitoring 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4

Trademark utilization Paid search monitoring Email compliance monitoring Email suppression list monitoring