Education Company Needs Affiliate Networks Guidance

[Alex Maxim]

Hey there guys,
I hope that this post finds you all keeping well, and that you are having a great summer.

I represent a boutique company in the education sector which is about to start selling a DVD-based course, principally for the US market but also other key territories (Singapore, Australia, the UK etc.).

The course is designed for students in the 14-21 age category who need to improve their academic performance, and as such the sales literature and landing pages are targeted at their parents (mostly in the AB/professional social demographics).

A few brief observations about the course product: it really is a premium offering, a world away from the typical ClickBank-style info-product (even educational ones). The designer is a lawyer/journalist who got a double-first from the University of Cambridge in England, and the study skills are demonstrated by five international fashion models who have featured in the publicity material for some of the biggest brands on Earth (Coca-Cola, Turkish Airlines, Adidas).

This company is looking to drive sales of this product using affiliates, and as such they have the following newbie-type questions which they would be very grateful if you could help answer:

1. Which affiliate networks are the best for selling physical, educational products?

2. Can merchants use more than one affiliate network simultaneously, or are their exclusivity clauses built into these contracts?

3. Is it worth paying the (premium) membership fees on sites such as clixGalore and ShareASale?

4. Apart from materials such as banners and videos, what else do merchants need to provide affiliates?

5. What is the typical timescale to get going with affiliate marketing? FYI, this company is willing to pay very generous commission, as high if not higher than anything I have seen on sites such as ClickBank, clixGalore etc.

6. Aside from offering a very generous commission and a highly-marketable product, what else do they need to do to attract and retain high-quality affiliates?

7. When our affiliate programme is ready, can we publicise it here, and what are the rules for doing so?

Any pointers, tips or guidance is sincerely appreciated!

With very best wishes,

Alex Maxim

 

[Graybeard]

WELCOME ABOARD ...

━━━●──────────────

try Impact
Affiliate Marketing - Impact for a management SaaS it has more credibility than doing this in-house
Tune(has offers) is another alternative

6. Aside from offering a very generous commission and a highly-marketable product, what else do they need to do to attract and retain high-quality affiliates?

• Reputation, Reliability, Integrity
• You will be tested to see what the conversion costs are
• Excellent financing; I would offer PayPal to the consumers in spite of the extra processing cost.
• Can you offer key affiliates discount coupons to the offer's first time buyers?
• I would consider some compensation to trusted affiliates for sending quality traffic like SEM with a revocable permission to use your tradename and trademark to increase brand awareness. Remember pigs always lose

Look for affiliates: trade shows, LinkedIn, Social media groups (affiliate oriented),outreach in forums (see TOS)

7. When our affiliate programme is ready, can we publicise it here, and what are the rules for doing so?

Yes you may Only if you register as a resource >>>https://www.affiliatefix.com/resources/add and are approved (free no cost basic registration)

**added: offer your product on desktop and mobile device USB also -- CD format is old school

 

[Granifyn]

Try to promote your own affiliate program yourself and when you see such big volume feel free to switch to the network because now there is nothing to manage anyway. I do not understand anything of what it works there really. No need for network from the start.

 

[Alex Maxim]

Thank you so much for your exceptionally kind and prompt response, Mr Graybeard!

We have a couple of other questions that have arisen from what you have written:

A. The company's original plan was to join the biggest affiliate networks (ShareASale, clixGalore® etc.) and recruit affiliates from there. Are these not the best places to get quality affiliates, or are we missing something?

B. Because the product is a new one and the company is new to affiliate marketing, their plan was to set commissions high in absolute dollar terms to attract quality affiliates within a reasonable timeframe (1-2 weeks). Does this make sense as a strategy?

To answer your questions, I think that vouchers would definitely be available to key affiliates. However, the company is keen to retain the present format of the product (DVD+Book) because of the prestige afforded to physical products, and the fact that the download size would be absolutely enormous.

PS I was unable to quote your post because it contains links

 

[Alex Maxim]

Try to promote your own affiliate program yourself and when you see such big volume feel free to switch to the network because now there is nothing to manage anyway. I do not understand anything of what it works there really. No need for network from the start.

Dear Granifyn,
Thank you very much indeed for your kind response, which is enormously appreciated.

FYI, the idea behind the company joining the large affiliate networks (ShareASale, clixGalore® etc.) was to gain access to a pool of quality affiliates. Is there a better way of going about getting these affiliates on board?

 

[Alex Maxim]

Pay a limited time onetime payment PPS (customer acquisition fee) like $100 for each new customer --even if it is a breakeven or a small loss.

Excitement sells!
The rest of the job is yours unless you want to pay me a consulting fee

You cannot post links until you have met the threshold of 10 posts Why? Blame the new member free ad spammers --they get deleted quick when they try work-arounds to this rule ...

Dear Mr Graybeard,
Thank you very much once again for your exceptionally kind and prompt response, which is sincerely appreciated.

Re: your brilliant customer acquisition fee suggestion, does it make any difference what we call it? For example, if the company just offered US$100 in commission per unit sold, would that have the same effect? Or would they have to precisely label it 'one-time customer acquisition fee' to attract quality affiliates? Please forgive my ignorance.

With very best wishes,

Alex Maxim

P.S. Thank you for the explanation re: the posts threshold.

 

[Graybeard]

Pay a limited time onetime payment PPS (customer acquisition fee) like $100 for each new customer --even if it is a breakeven or a small loss.

Excitement sells!
The rest of the job is yours unless you want to pay me a consulting fee

You cannot post links until you have met the threshold of 10 posts Why? Blame the new member free ad spammers --they get deleted quick when they try work-arounds to this rule ...

 

[Alex Maxim]

that fee is one time per one customer ONLY that is the difference ...
This is only of value if you have an upsell or repeat sale possibility.

Dear Mr Graybeard,
Thank you very much indeed for clarifying this.

I guess that from the affiliate's perspective, a flat US$100 per unit commission is even more attractive than a one-time fee.

With very best wishes,

Alex Maxim

 

[Graybeard]

that fee is one time per one customer ONLY that is the difference ...
This is only of value if you have an upsell or repeat sale possibility.