Strong relationships are one of the key elements of any business and this is usually no exception for online Affiliate marketing programs. clixGalore offers various tools that Merchants can use to help build these relationships and ensure that your Affiliates are performing to their maximum potential. Here are some things you might like to think about when you go about creating these relationships.
The fact is that when we interact with a computer screen and automated software it can be a little difficult to keep our motivation at a high level. Many Merchants realise this fact and add an element of human interaction to their campaigns by establishing a dialogue with their Affiliates. Personal notes of congratulations to Affiliates who have been particularly successful can have the effect of getting them to redouble their efforts. Notes of encouragement to Affiliates whose sales have dropped away can help reestablish their performance. General notes to all of your Affiliates regarding new products, features or offers available within your program can ensure a good response to your efforts and keep everyone in the loop. One of the keys to keeping your Affiliate pool at top quality is interaction and communication like this.
So what tools does clixGalore offer to help you develop these relationships? The email function is the most obvious one. From the Member Home area you can see the "Email" option in the Merchant Programs menu and the "Email Your Affiliates" in the popup sub-menu. On the next page you have several options for contacting your Affiliates. If you are not already sending a monthly newsletter update to your Affiliates regarding your program then you are missing out on a great opportunity to build a sense of ownership and community around your program.
You can also use the selection criteria to send emails to Affiliates according to which banner they are using. This is handy if one of your banners is underperforming and you wish to let your Affiliates know that they could improve their conversions by changing banners. It is also handy if you no longer wish to offer a certain banner and you need to contact the Affiliates who are currently using it.
The email Affiliates page also allows you to contact your Affiliates according to the date at which they signed up to your program. This is handy if you wish to let the "old timers" in on something or wish to send an encouraging email to the "newbies."
Choose to email Affiliates according to their joining dates.
Of course, you can also send an email to an individual or hand picked group of Affiliates if you wish to start a personal dialogue. This is very handy to start an individual relationship with your best Affiliates (and perhaps offer them extra incentives - which can also be done from within the clixGlaore system).
With this form you can find and email specific Affiliates.
Try to hit a happy medium in contacting your Affiliates. You will not want to send so many emails that they start regarding your efforts as spam, but you want to contact them often enough that they don't forget about your program and know that you value their efforts. Most merchants that use this facility will have a monthly contact through a newsletter. This is usually just a rundown of how the program is goin and anything new such as incentives for Affiliates etc. Most of the more successful programs have this.
If you are serious about building a successful program and wish to develop a close-knit group of successful Affiliates then this communication may well be something you wish to include in your plan.
