INSIGHT
BEYOND TRAFFIC : HOW AFFILIATE MANAGERS ARE GETTING IT WRONG
Many of today ’ s affiliate managers are neglecting service and relationship management , says Best Odds Marketing ’ s Lee-Ann Johnstone , and this is putting the success of their affiliate programmes at risk .
HAVING RECENTLY RETURNED from the Amsterdam Affiliate Conference I saw a number of posts on social media that referenced how poor the level of affiliate manager outreach and relationship building ( sales ) has become . Often I have heard affiliates talk about how little their affiliate managers know about the igaming business and digital marketing , as well as how difficult it is to create long-standing relationships , let alone broker mutually beneficial commercial terms .
There is a distinct degradation of service levels taking place in the affiliate space and when I saw this post on LinkedIn just after the event it made me realise that things have got to a point where if you want to succeed as an affiliate manager and grow your programme , your business tactics have to change .
Affiliate Manager : ( touching my shoulder ) “ Hi , do you have binary traffic ?” ( with a fake smile )
LI poster : “ Excuse me , I ’ m in the middle of a conversation here ?” ( giving an apologetic look to my conversation partner )
Affiliate Manager : “ Yes fine , but do you have binary traffic ?” ( not smiling anymore , even dared to get annoyed by my reaction )”
The fact that these types of comments are being posted by affiliates in the public domain shows something is seriously lacking in service levels within affiliate programmes . It made me think about how important it is for operators to ensure their front line acquisition marketers , affiliate managers , are getting the right support and ongoing training to represent their brands and build revenue professionally within their affiliate programmes .
“ There is a lot of skill required to help drive affiliate programme growth and to manage successful relationships longer term . This isn ’ t about fast love — it ’ s about making a professional commitment ”
Affiliate times are a changing Back when I joined the affiliate industry I learnt my affiliate management skills from others who had just a few years experience in the job ahead of me . Granted , the job of “ affiliate manager ” has only been around a few years as part of the online marketing function . It was less than 20 years ago the first referral link was placed on a music site owned by Jeff Bezos , which is why it ’ s still very much a work in progress . Finding the skills required to fill affiliate manager roles is still quite hard . Affiliate marketing is still evolving therefore it makes sense that the role of an affiliate account manager is changing constantly too .
What makes a good affiliate manager ? To be a good affiliate manager you :
● ●need to possess a good understanding of how to conduct commercial negotiations ( sales )
● ●should understand acquisition marketing ( search , paid media , social marketing )
● ●should have a strong people persona ( to provide excellent customer support ). While these are a key part of being a successful affiliate manager , they are by no means the full job spec . There is a lot of skill required to help drive affiliate programme growth and to manage successful relationships longer term . This isn ’ t about fast love — it ’ s about making a professional commitment .
Many new affiliate managers I ’ ve spoken with over the past few months simply don ’ t know what their job actually is . This is the main problem that leads to conversations like , “ Got any casino , binary , forex , poker , etc . traffic ?”, which are causing affiliates to reconsider even working with these brands .
Key questions for the igaming industry
● ●How many operators are actually investing time and energy in educating their affiliate teams about the ongoing changing pace of digital so that they can communicate intelligently with their affiliate partners ?
42 iGB Affiliate Issue 64 AUG / SEP 2017