by Mechelle aka Mama Bear
Have you considered wading into the world of affiliate marketing? With so many options out there today, make sure you’re asking the right questions first before you join. Do a little research about the programs that you are interested in joining. The answers to your questions should be your driving factors in making your final selection; they will also play a huge role in your success or failure.
Will it cost you anything to join?
Most affiliate programs being offered today are absolutely free to join. Be more skeptical of the ones that charge you a fee upfront.
When does the company issue commission checks to affiliates?
Every program is different. Some issue checks once a month, every quarter, etc. Select the one that is suited to your payment schedule of choice. Keep in mind that many affiliate programs set a minimum earned commission amount that you, the affiliate, must meet or exceed before payment is issued.
What is the hit per sale ratio?
This is the average number of hits to a banner or text link it takes to generate a sale based on all affiliate statistics. This factor is EXTREMELY important because this will tell you how much traffic you must generate before you can earn a commission from the sale.
How are referrals from an affiliate’s sited tracked and for how long do they remain in the system?
You need to be confident in the program enough to track those people you refer from your site. This is the only way that you can verify that you receive credit for a sale. The period of time that these leads stay in the system is also important. WHY? Well, many visitors do not buy initially but may want to return later to make the purchase. It’s important to know if you will still get credit for the sale if it is done some months from a certain day.
What are the kinds of affiliate stats available?
Your choice of affiliate program should be capable of offering detailed stats. They should be available online anytime you decide to check them out. Constantly checking your individual stats is important to know how many impressions, hits and sales are being generated from your site. Impressions are the number of times the banner or text link was viewed by a visitor of your site. A hit is the one clicking on the banner or text links.
Does the affiliate program also pay for the hits and impressions besides the commissions on sales?
If you want to increase your potential earnings, you will want to find affiliate programs that pay their affiliates for impressions and hits, in addition to sales. This is particularly important when the program offers low sales to be able to hit ratio.
Who is the online retailer?
This should be obvious, but you should know who you’re doing business with. Is the company reputable? How are the reviews on their products? Know the products they are selling and the average amount they are achieving. The more you know, the easier it will be to decide if the program is for you and your brand.
Is the affiliate a one tier or two tier program?
A single tier program pays you only for the business you personally generate. A two tier program pays you for the business you generate plus you receive a commission on the sales generated by any affiliate you sponsor in your program. Some two tier programs are even paying small fees on each new affiliate you sponsor – like a recruitment fee.
Lastly, what is the amount of commission paid?
The commission paid by most programs is somewhere between 5% and 30%. This number can be much higher, like 50% or 75%, or lower, like 1% or 3%.
These are just some of the questions that need to be answered first before you enter into an affiliate program. You should be familiar with the many important aspects that your chosen program should have before incorporating them into your website. Try to ask your affiliate program choices these questions to help you select the right program for your brand and site among the multitude out there.
Thanks again for stopping by Mama Bear Marketing! Hope you got some good information that will help you on your journey. Continue to check back in. I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.
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