Conversion rates

[eagletouch]

Good morning.

I've been asked by a merchant to evaluate their affiliate program. They have tons of traffic, so I believe the problem is conversion.

Does anyone have guidelines to share for conversion rate standards? What percentages are poor, average, good?

Without going into alot of details, price point is $10-$18, traffic is 500M/month.
Thanks.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi eagletouch,

Welcome to 5 Star. Thanks for joining us.

I believe AVERAGE conversion rates are still around 2%. But they vary greatly based on the industry and you don't mention what general product category your client focuses on.

Then here are some of the TOP conversion rates of leading eTailers.
Top 10 Online Retailers by Conversion Rate

 

[eagletouch]

thanks Linda - that's good data!!

 

[Linda Buquet]

You might get some insights here too. It's about how to test and optimize conversion rates.

http://affiliate-marketing-forums.5...t-affiliate-program-til-you-do.html#post35441

 

[eagletouch]

Linda - actually, I read that article before making my post this morning. It's a great article, and was one of the reasons I asked at what level conversions should be.
They do have a PPC program that's been successful, but not sure if that means traffic or conversions. I'm still gathering information.

On another question: They are considering adding another affiliate program. Currently using LinkShare, and looking to add CJ or another. Are there dangers in using more than one? what is the best way to evaluate and determine the right program for a particular service. Would calling to talk with the Account Managers be the right approach? This is primarily a membership program, but they are looking to develop more intermittent "casual" users as well.

 

[Linda Buquet]

They are considering adding another affiliate program. Currently using LinkShare, and looking to add CJ or another. Are there dangers in using more than one? what is the best way to evaluate and determine the right program for a particular service. Would calling to talk with the Account Managers be the right approach? This is primarily a membership program, but they are looking to develop more intermittent "casual" users as well.

If they are on Linkshare they probably can't even open another affiliate program. As far as I know LS usually requires an exclusive.

I don't normally recommend running on 2 networks anyway. I think it's double the work for possibly not anywhere near double the return. They already invested probably 10K to set up on LS and it would be over 5k to get set up on CJ.

The other downside is you need to set up extra tracking inhouse to be sure you're not paying double commission out on 2 affiliate from different networks for the same sale.

Couple thoughts.

1) if conversion is really the problem then an another network and more affiliates won't solve the problem.

2) if conversions AREN'T the problem and they just want more affiliates and more affiliate sales then there are other ways. 5 Star is one possible way to achieve that. But I don't normally accept membership sites so I'm not saying that's an option, would depend on the type of membership site I guess.

So after you do a more detailed needs analysis and find out what the true problem is (conversions, lack of affiliates, affiliate recruiting strategy, affiliate activation or whatever) then if you can give me more details I may be able to give you more suggestions. Right now I only know enough to kinda shoot in the dark.

 

[victorm]

I have to admit this got me intrigued a little bit - I am still learning what things look like from the Affiliate Manager perspective. First things that came to mind are that traffic is not targeted enough (don't get me started on CL) or that the merchant's backoffice is not engaged - would it work better to change some of the unconverted visitors to leads and work on them offline? just my 2c - it's a pitty that traffic (if whitehat) wears down in 2%

 

[ssmarketing]

Is the Ad Relevant to the landing pages

Good morning.

I've been asked by a merchant to evaluate their affiliate program. They have tons of traffic, so I believe the problem is conversion.

Does anyone have guidelines to share for conversion rate standards? What percentages are poor, average, good?

Without going into alot of details, price point is $10-$18, traffic is 500M/month.
Thanks.

I would start with the source, the ads used to generate the traffic, follow that through to the landing pages. Any benefits stated in ad should also appear on the landing page. Are there point of action, assurances (prominently placed trust elements, Value proposition ect..) located on the landing page(s)?.

How long does it take you to get through the checkout process? Can the checkout process be optimized with fewer steps? What do the forms look like are they lengthly or appear to ask for a lot of personal information ect..

Do they have to register to make the purchase? Does the landing pages load in a timely manner?

There could be 10 other things that would need to be addressed.

 

[VPNTyson]

Can you let us know the "type" of product? All products/services have different conversion rates, and those conversions will also vary based on traffic source. PPC, SEM, Email, Video, RegPath, AdServer, CPV, all sources will convert differently.

Example: One of our email submit offers consistently converts at around 30% for one of our publishers. I know his traffic source. Other pubs run the exact same offer, and are lucky to get 10% (different source/ads/keywords, etc.). That same pub will run one of our Education offers, and get a 15% conversion rate.

Also, what is considered a "conversion"? Is it a sale or a lead?

 

[Charles6]

I think a 1% conversion is average. A 2% is good depending on the offers and 3% is the best. It all depends on the offer and how good the copyrighting is.

 

[BAppel24]

I agree with Tyson. Conversion rates typically vary with payout. If it's an email submit that pays $1.50 you will probably see 25-50% conversion rates. $20 - $40 offers typically have conversion rates between 1 and 3%. With your price range and not knowing anything about the product or service I would expect about a 5% conversion rate.