22 Effective Ways to Recruit Quality Affiliates

Geno PrussakovCEO & President, AM Navigator LLCwww.amnavigator.com Founder & Chair, Affiliate Management

Dayswww.amdays.com

(+1) 888-588-8866geno@amnavigator.com@ePrussakov

.

The 5 Pillars

≈80% of time

2 Kinds of Affiliate Recruitment

Active PassiveYou reach out to them They find you

Recruitment Through Their Eyes

Source: 2013 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report

Active:

Direct contact: 42.4%Conferences: 8.9%Print publications: 4.4%

Recruitment Through Their Eyes

Source: AffiliateBenchmarks 2013 Global Affiliate Questionnaire

Active:

Network emails: 36.3%Blogs: 29.6%Online ads: 17.8%Aff. manager emails: 13.9%

ActiveAffiliate

Recruitment

Active Recruitment“S” Ways to Find Affiliates:o Software/toolso Social media o Search engineso Summits & symposiumso Symbiotic recruitmento Structure-based recruitmento Snail mailo Specific publicationso Satisfied customers

1. Software / Tools

Free Paid

Free & Inexpensive Tools

1. Internet Success Spider (free)2. SEO Quake (free)3. Backlink Watch (free)4. Citation Labs (~$20 per 500-1000)5. BuzzStream ($29/mo - $249/mo)6. Raven SEO Tools ($99-$249/mo)7. iBusinessPromoter ($250-$500)

Paid Tools

1. AffiliateRecruitment.com

2. Linkdex

3. Syntryx

Linkdex (screenshot #1)Dashboard (shows relative number of links and domain backlinks; yields new mid to long-tail prospects)

Linkdex (screenshot #2)Publisher Discovery (interrogating affiliate network- or program-specific tracking domain(s), showing affiliate sites linking in)

Recruitment Email Subject line Introduce

yourself/company Explain why you’re emailing Personalize Include concrete data on

your affiliate program (don’t do the math for them!)

Underscore competitive advantages (tools, co-branding, policies)

Primary & secondary CTA

2. Social Media

The media that they use

1. Blogs (the ones they read)

2. Forums (ABestWeb, PerformanceIN, 5StarAffiliatePrograms, AssociatePrograms)

3. Groups (on LinkedIn, Facebook, etc)

Play by the rules!

3. Search Engines

Or reaching out to websites that rank high for relevant keywords.

4. Summits, Conferences2014 Affiliate Marketing Conferences (worldwide) 01/12-01/14 – Affiliate Summit West (Las Vegas, NV, USA) 01/15 – ClickBank Exchange (Las Vegas, NV, USA) 01/29-01/30 – LinkShare Symposium West (San Francisco, CA, USA) 02/06-02/09 – London Affiliate Conference (London, UK) 02/21 – CPA Day (Kiev, Ukraine) 02/25-02/26 – Affiliate TactixX (Munich, Germany) 03/19-03/20 – Affiliate Management Days (San Francisco, CA, USA) 03/25-03/26 – LeadsCon Las Vegas (Las Vegas, NV, USA) 05/13-05/14 – Affiliate Management Days (London, UK) 05/29-05/31 – Afiliados Brasil (São Paulo, Brazil) TBA – Affiliate Dag 2014 (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) 06/24-06/25 – Performance Marketing Insights Europe (Berlin, Germany) 06/24-06/27 – Amsterdam Affiliate Conference (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) 08/03-08/05 – AvantExpo 2014 (Park City, UT, USA) TBA – LeadsCon East (New York, NY, USA) 08/10-08/12 – Affiliate Summit East (New York, NY, USA) TBA – Commission Junction University (Santa Barbara, CA, USA) 10/03-10/04 – Russian Affiliate Congress & Expo (Moscow, Russia) TBA – Russian Affiliate Days (Moscow, Russia) TBA – Barcelona Affiliate Conference (Barcelona, Spain) TBA – China International Affiliate Conference (Tianjin, China) TBA – LeadConf (Moscow, Russia) TBA – Performance Marketing Insights London (London, UK) TBA – Affiliate Konference (Prague, Czech Republic) TBA – ShareASale ThinkTank 2014 TBA – LinkShare Symposiums (Japan, UK, Australia, Canada)

4. Summits, Conferences

Consider also niche- and audience-specific conferences

5. Symbiotic RecruitmentSymbiosis – a cooperative relationship (as between two persons or groups).

Source: Webster’s Dictionary

Promote your affiliate program on a cross-program basis.

Form short- or long-term cross-program recruitment relationships with affiliate programs run by merchants that sell related products or services.

6. Structure-Based Recruitment

Network-based External tools Newsletter inclusion Directory listing Internal recruitment opps

Forums Other platforms

7. Snail MailExperiment with postcards! (they do catch attention)

Especially, when they come with a gift card, or contain a "private" offer.

8. Specific Publications (Ads)

Revenue Performance FeedFront Conference programs/guides Electronic Retailer Internet Retailer Visibility Website Magazine Target Marketing

9. Satisfied Customers

Invite them to become affiliates on:

Order confirmation page Newsletters Social media

PassiveAffiliate

Recruitment

Recruitment Through Their Eyes

Source: 2013 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report

Passive:

Merchant site: 51.3%Search engines: 38.6%Directories: 38%Word of mouth: 20.3%Support efforts: 14.6%

Recruitment Through Their Eyes

Source: AffiliateBenchmarks 2013 Global Affiliate Questionnaire

Passive:

Support pages: 47%Network sites: 44.7%Search engines: 33.1%Forums & directories:

17.6%Word of mouth: 17.5%

Passive RecruitmentWays to Get Found by Affiliates:o Program description (with visible link)o Program FAQ and/or support site/blogo Affiliate directorieso Social mediao Second-tier affiliateso “Subscribe to affiliate news” linko Press releases

Merchant description + link Commission structure Info on cookie life Availability of data feed Information on competitive advantages (e.g.:

anti-parasite policy, phone tracking, conversion rates, EPC)

Underscore tools (widgets, deep linking, co-branding opps, custom creatives/LPs)

Any restrictions and/or special terms that affiliates should know about

10. Program Description

Avoid Clichés! Cliché – a trite expression, often a figure of speech whose effectiveness has been worn out through overuse and excessive familiarity.

Source: http://grammar.about.com/od/c/g/clicheterm.htmTop 10:1. “instantly”2. “ultimate”3. “easy”4. “unparalleled”5. “perfect match”6. earn/get/make “$X in X days/months”7. “highest payouts”8. “impressive conversion rate(s)”9. “best affiliate program”10. “number one” merchant/offer/program

Minimum

• Program Details (with sign-up link/form)• Program Agreement• Blog

Ideally1. Program Details2. Program Agreement3. FAQ Section4. Tips & Ideas5. Creatives6. Blog7. Contact Us.

11. Affiliate Program Support Site

11. Affiliate Program Support Site

12. Affiliate Directories

Nearly 1/5th of affiliates use them

10 Directories to Sumit Your Program To: AffiliatesDirectory.com AffiliateFirst.com AffiliatePrograms.com AffiliateRanker.com AffiliateScout.com AffiliateSeeking.com AllAffiliatePrograms.com AssociatePrograms.com JamAffiliates.com Top-Affiliate.com

13. Social Media

13. Social Media

13. Social Media

Whatever the media, design conversions

This is the key to succeeding with social(not only for affiliate recruitment purposes)

One-time bounty Recurring payouts

14. Second-Tier Affiliates

15. Affiliate News Subscription

16. Press Releases

• Branding benefits

• SEO benefits•

Visibility/exposure• Spread of news

Other Methods ofAffiliate

Recruitment

Other MethodsDelve In & Dissect:o Reach out to influencerso Analyze similar siteso Explore related verticalso Target seasonal (holiday-oriented) affiliateso Study competitors’ backlinkso Monitor keywords and niches

17. Influencer Outreach20 Tools to Employ

BlogDash (bloggers) BloggerLinkUp (bloggers) Business 2 Blogger (bloggers) BuzzStream (all sorts of content websites) eCairn.com (bloggers and communities) FindPeopleOnPlus.com (Google+ influencers) Followerwonk (Twitter influencers) Google Blog Search (bloggers) GroupHigh.com (bloggers) Klout (an array of social media) Kred (social media | check out Communities) Listorious (Twitter) Outreachr (all sorts of content websites) Pitch It To Me (bloggers) Simply Measured (analytics tool for Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+) SocialBro (Twitter) Sulia (Facebook and Twitter) Topsy (Twitter | check their Experts section) Twellow (Twitter) Twitter Search (Twitter influencers)

18. Similar Websites

• Similar sites• Site topics (more

key influencers!)• Key phrases &

categories• "Similar search"

(SEO & SEM rivals)

• "HeatMap"

19. Related Verticals

Travel Websites Fashion SitesConsider also sites catering to: Pilots Anglers Golfers Cyclists Snow sports fans Gamblers Women

20. Seasonal Affiliates

January-September: 13,000 UVs/moOctober: 95,000 UVsNovember: 2,000,000 UVs

21. Competitors’ Backlinks7 Tools to Consider

Google (link:www.competor.com) Open Site Explorer (by SEOmoz) Majestic SEO Link Diagnosis Advanced Link Manager Bing Webmaster Tools Link Explorer Backlink Watch

22. Ongoing Monitoring11 Free Online Tools

Google Alerts Pipes (aka Social Media Firehose by Yahoo) Omgili TweetBeep BuzzMonitor Collecta.com BackType BoardReader WhosTalkin.com SocialMention BlogPulse

3 Points in Conclusion

“…the chief distinction of a diplomat is that he can say no in such a way that it sounds like a yes.”

– Lester B. Pearson

#1. Do Not Burn Bridges!

We are sorry, but the website(s) and/or promotional

methods listed on your affiliate profile do(es) not

meet our approval criteria. We have therefore

declined your application.

If, however, you feel that we have overlooked your

potential, we would like to hear from you. Just email

us a brief explanation of how you were planning on

marketing our product/service, and we will gladly

reconsider your application.

#2. Remember to Follow Up Effectiveness:

Initial email: max. 4% sign up Follow-ups: ≈12% more join

Frequency:

1. A week from original email2. 1 more week down the road3. 2-3 months4. Half a year5. A year

#3…persistence is key!

Thank you! Questions?