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The Big List of Affiliate Marketing Events
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Having worked with a large number of CPA networks, I’ve started to compile a list of the qualities that I look for in a ‘great’ affiliate manager. So far, I have one AM that I would say falls into this category. Since your AM is your link to the inside work of the CPA networks, you have to build up that relationship so that there is mutual understanding that you’re helping each other.

1. Understand the in’s and out’s of affiliate marketing and the different ways that affiliates drive traffic - SEO, media buys, PPC, social marketing, etc. I’m not sure how many AM’s have been doing affiliate marketing themselves before. It’s rare to find one that truly understands the nitty-gritty stuff from the affiliate’s perspective rather than just the generalities. For example, rather than telling PPC affiliates, “yeah, you can try to run it on the content network” I want to hear more concrete stuff like “this works well with a particular age group, gender, income level, etc. and here’s how you might think about targeting your ads.”

2. Keep up with the affiliates even if they are new to the network. Some affiliates you have today will become the super and uber affiliates of tomorrow. So don’t neglect the affiliates who are new to your network. Some might be new but they are not inexperienced. Why do I join other networks? I look for exclusive offers and other related offers to what’s already working well for me. So please don’t assume that because I’m new to your network that I’m inexperienced or that I don’t know what I’m doing.

3. Remember that it’s a two-way street. If you work hard for the affiliates, the affiliates will work hard for you. It doesn’t take much to check in through phone calls or emails to see what the affiliates may need to get to the next level. I often find that I’m reaching out more to the AM’s than they are to me.

4. Know your affiliates. Learn about what their strengths are, which verticals they are performing well in and keep on top of the new offers and opportunities to let them know what else they can promote. Don’t be afraid to challenge your affiliates to reach a higher goal. Inform your affiliates quickly if an offer is being suspended. Know that some PPC affiliates are spending hundreds if not thousands per day on an offer so not knowing that an offer is being stopped can be really costly.

5. Giving you top payouts. A good affiliate manager is willing to offer you a higher payout to help you become profitable - even from the start, even when you aren’t pushing high volumes… yet. If you can’t be generous with payouts, your affiliate is going to shop around to the next network that has the same offer at a higher payout.

Here are what some other affiliate bloggers have to say about this topic.

MoneyBites values availability, followup, honesty, payouts and personality.

Zac Johnson has a good tip about asking your friends who are already a part of the network to recommend an affiliate manager.

Paul over at UberAffiliate has the opposite problem of AM’s who are too pushy in trying to get him to try new offers. I guess that happens when word gets around that you’re a 6-figure per month affiliate.

So how well do you know your affiliate manager and how can you cultivate a better relationship? If you’re an affiliate manager, how can you help your affiliates and challenge them to reach the next level?

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