Help Needed!

[Melisa_Gosden]

I'm working for a Finance company that has its own affiliate program, and have been entrusted with the task to launch it.

Where do I go? How do I start bringing affiliates in quickly?

Your speedy responses giving me some helpful feedback would be very much appreciated.

 

[Linda Buquet]

I moved your post from the RSS forum which was the wrong one to this one where you can get more help.

Please check the Merchant and Affiliate Manager forum and you'll find the best posts bout how to start and grow a successful program. There are lots of posts about how to recruit affiliates. You can also use the search box to find more.

 

[Melisa_Gosden]

Thank you very much Linda

 

[Jeannine Crooks]

Financial services can be very difficult to manage as an affiliate program because they can be extremely prone to fraud. Before we could help you, there are some questions which will help provide insight so that the answers you get are truly helpful.

1. Do you want affiliates to generate leads or actually close a deal?
2. Are you planning to work with an OPM or agency to help you jump start your program?
3. Will the program be run through an in-house program or will you run it with an affiliate network?

One fast piece of advice - don't just sign with a company because they can generate a lot of traffic. Quality is more important than quantity, especially with financial services. Anyone can generate a lot of leads, but quality leads are much more difficult. Don't let yourself be talked into working with the first company you speak with because they sound good and you are desperate.

Also try and manage expectations with your management team. A strong affiliate program doesn't happen overnight. It takes months to build, but once you do, it can be an excellent revenue source for your company - if you do it right!

 

[Melisa_Gosden]

Hi Jeannine,

Thank you for your reply. Further to your questions, I can answer them as follows:

1) Yes, we would want our affiliate to generate leads in the hope of closing any deals
2) No we are not planning on working with an OPM or agency
3) Yes the program will be running through our in-house program.

Thank you so much for your advice regarding quality over quantity...your comments have been noted.

Once again, thank you for your time...it is greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,
Melisa

 

[Jeannine Crooks]

You will have a lot of monitoring to do to make this profitable. Have you ever run an affiliate program before? Is this program already in existence, or are you starting from scratech? Since this is exclusively an in-house program, do you have a tracking system selected?

 

[Melisa_Gosden]

Hi Jeannine,

The program is already in existence and we have selected a tracking system.

Could I be so bold as to ask why you want this information as maybe I am getting slightly confused with the questions! (Please accept my apologies for my confusion)

 

[Jeannine Crooks]

When you said "launch", I thought you were starting a program from scratch, sorry.

I'm happy to say why I'm asking - things are very different for a program that's already in existence than for one just starting, so hopefully you already know who your top performers are, and what atributes they have in common. That will help you to identify and recruit new affiliates, and recognize those who may not perform well for your program.

Basically the same thing for your tracking system - you'll know how to spot fraud which can be a huge issue in a financial affiliate program (I know, I've managed three during my career).

 

[Melisa_Gosden]

The products are launching, but the program is in place and is operative, but currently no affiliates. Can I ask if you would be interested in assisting me in obtaining affiliates?

Many many thanks for your help!

Melisa

 

[Jeannine Crooks]

Always glad to help and see who may be the best match for your program. We'll chat offline.