Affiliate Managers

[spazlabz]

when you think of an affiliate manager, what do you think of... as in what do you think affiliate managers do? what should they do?
is an affiliate manager the same thing as a marketing person?
support for affiliates?
general program manager?
I know what I do as an affiliate manager for my company, but I would like to know what others think about when they think oh that position/title


spaz

[TheEnforcer]

Well, I think each company has a little bit different idea of what a affiliate manager should do. Some have them, for the most part, as completely support in nature and work with existing affiliates and the new ones that come in and make sure everything goes smoothly with them and helping them out. Other companies want them to bring in as much business as possible and that is just as, if not more, important than any support details they may have.

[MorganGrayson]

I think they should all be just like TondaB!

[RyanLanane]

Every company I have dealt with brings on affiliate managers for the SOLE purpose of bringing in new webmasters. There are a huge number of reasons why this can be difficult.

As an Affiliate Manager I think I would personally fit in FLAWLESSLY with a company who is looking for the following.

A) Someone to represent their company, NOT generate an increase in webmasters by going out and posting... networking ... etc .. Rather someone who takes care of their current webmaster's concerns as well as helping current webmasters improve their signup ratios and give them general guidance and assurance.

Someone who will provide an endless amount of ideas on different WAYS to market the products. Most would include financial backing. Being as analytical as I am.. I think I would be excellent at finding the appropriate opportunities for advertising out there in the most cost efficient way possible. Basically maximzing the advertising dollars spent and making sure the campaigns are run with a steady amount of innovation ... not 'like everyone else is'

C) Someone to point out any short comings and work with their developmental team on the backend of their sites to make them as surfer friendly as possible. Same goes for the backend and affiliate sections.

D) Someone who will recommend not only how to improve their current tools they offer webmasters but also offer advice and thoughts on how to give fresh, new, and innovative products to their webmasters to maintain interest.

Such as the idea I am sharing with Morgan right now by ICQ ... I think of stuff like that all the time... No I won't tell anyone

Also.. I'm very analytical and love to look at ANYTHING that could be improved and do what I can to improve it... if it's a numbers game.

That would be my ideal of a perfect job for me as an affiliate manager. But it is not what most companies (if any) are actually looking for. Employers tend to look at how you have affected their bottom line immediately (meaning an increase in the number of webmasters you bring aboard) they don't look at the fact that increasing productivity or retention rates by 3-5% is the equivalent of bringing on ten times the increase in webmster traffic they hoped to see from you.

Just my thoughts though

[RyanLanane]

P.S. I think the reason I may have problems finding a job like that is because it sort of describes a pay site owner's responsibilities in many ways Which is why I am looking forward to getting that aspect of things back in order for me personally ..

[Hell Puppy]

"other duties as assigned"

[Dravyk]

Originally Posted by MorganGrayson

I think they should all be just like TondaB!

Works for me!

[MorganGrayson]

Originally Posted by Dravyk

Works for me!

Hi, Dravyk!

See? Dravyk knows!

My relationship with Tonda began when I read one of the emails from AdultDateLink. Now, a lot of sponsors send out mailings, to keep affiliates updated, etc. Not all of them make you howl with laughter because the mailing is so well written. So, this delighted writer hit "reply" and told her how well written it was. She responded happily. Thus...the correspondence began....

How to be an affiliate manager like TondaB:
Personal emails to affiliates.
Extra effort put into the "mailings" from the company, so that the affiliates actually read the damned things. (My greatest compliment: she's a great writer and her mailings really are worth reading.)
Available on icq for quickie questions or just a cheerful "hi, howareya?"
Creating an atmosphere so that an affiliate can say "listen, I design my freesites a certain way and would love a banner of certain shape and dimensions, can you make me one?" Yes, I did that, she said "of course we can!" and it landed in my inbox directly.
Reminding the dumb affiliate (me) to use the webmaster referral code to get people to sign up under the dumb affiliate (me) which has in fact happened. (OK, I forget things. She doesn't. Now I have people signed up under me, the way the referral program was designed.)

By definition, an "affiliate manager" would "manage affiliates." I'm certain there are a lot of other things Tonda does that I don't know about, but I'm very familiar with the literal definition of her job. An effective affiliate manager should be open, friendly, approachable, knowledgeable about their program in order to answer the multitude of webmaster questions...and proactive. Tonda is very interested in *my* making money for the quite obvious reason: if I make money, AdultDateLink makes money. Stunning simplicity there, but it's something that more than a few programs miss.

[JoesHO]

what about compensation? how much should a good affiliate manager make ? how about a new one to a new program?

Do they get paid on incentive basis? or salary?

How long should a program owner pay a salary if they do not produce before they are fired?

[MorganGrayson]

Originally Posted by JoesHO1

what about compensation? how much should a good affiliate manager make ? how about a new one to a new program?

Do they get paid on incentive basis? or salary?

How long should a program owner pay a salary if they do not produce before they are fired?

I'm way out on a limb here as I do not have sufficient information to answer a lot of those questions, but I do have an opinion.

Affiliate managers should be a salaried position, imho. Perhaps with bonuses or raises as incentive for "performance." Now, as far as "produce," I need that defined. (The affiliate manager would also need that clearly defined.) They perform a service for the affiliates, which should increase/maintain revenue. But that, like so many things, takes time. I think the company would have to realize that and allow sufficient time for the affiliate manager to get into a groove with the work.

[spazlabz]

The way I see it is like this. The affiliate manager is the public business face of a program. He/she is the one who needs to be professional at all times, but esp when dealing with his customers (the affiliates themselves) its a position where you cant have a 'bad day' when someone comes to you with a problem. You have to get that problem resolved in as quick a time as possible.
They also need to be very quick to respond to anything. Whether it is an e mail, ICQ, phone call or however the affiliate has chosen to contact you. I have a policy. if its in my inbox it gets an answer as soon as I see it. There has been times when i didnt know an answer. I told the affiliate I would find out and follow up. And I did, usually within an hour. I think thats very important.
As far as marketing to attract new affiliates. Thats an important aspect of this job IMO. You have to attract new affiliates or who are you gonna manage? heh heh But something that is missed by some companies out there is the nessesity of a program to afford their affiliate managers with a budget that is fitting for the type of growth they want. There are ways to do this for no cost, but those ways generally take a little while to develop to fruition.
an affiliate manager MUST know, or find out, what their webmasters want/need to help them make money. And get those tools into the hands of the people who can use them to make themselves and the sponsor revenue. But also balancing what they need with giving too much. You can very easily bog yourself down trying to make everyone happy.
You have 2 extremes
1) support affiliates only (answer e mails etc)
2) be all things to the company
I like to think my job is somewhere in the middle there. there is a lot of things an affiliate manager can take on, but i think the responsibilities of any affiliate manager should be clearly defined (with some flexibility) and the salary should be fitting for those responsibilities.


spaz

[MorganGrayson]

Excellent post, spaz!

[spazlabz]

Originally Posted by MorganGrayson

Excellent post, spaz!

thanks Morgan

spaz

[Dianna Vesta]

I think an AM should not only sign them up but work closely with them to help them develop their business. Too many sign you up and don't put enough follow up into it.

[Hell Puppy]

The job description almost certainly varies from company to company.

For me, as an affiliate, all I want from 'em is a timely answer to an email if I have a question. Period. Nothing more, nothing less. If I want or need help, I'll ask for it. And my definition of prompt? 1 business day or less. The faster the better.

As a program owner, in a AM's spare time, I might like to see a board presence. Get them known to the community, sig ho a bit, and be available to answer questions in threads and chime in as needed. AM's also make good trade show reps for all of the same reasons.

Now what I might NOT expect is for an Affiliate Manager to do P.R. work or marketing. Some AM's in the biz do that and do it well, but I really think it's a separate skill set. In a large company you wouldn't have the same person who answers first tier customer service calls also writing press releases. Again, in some small companies this is done and done well out of necessity because everyone must be able to do everything, but it's not ideal.

As for compensation, pay 'em a base that is consumate with the duties assigned and current market rate based on how many hours a day you require them to work. Give 'em opportunity to make bonus by paying referrals on new webmasters they bring in.

[Dianna Vesta]

Timely emails are very important as well as actually answering your questions.