BizTalk Server General - Would affiliate program work for us?

Author

Would affiliate program work for us?

jagbag

2004-06-20, 11:07 pm

We would like to benefit from an affiliate program. We understand that
the essence of an affiliate program is that enquiries/orders can be
electronically tracked and monitored by affiliates. The problem is
that as well as taking orders online, we also offer customers the
option to order our product by phone or mail. In fact most like to
speak to us before ordering. Actual orders are then split roughly
equally between the 3 methods.

Can anyone see a way that we can make an affiliate program work?

Thanx
jagbag........

Nick Malik

2004-06-20, 11:07 pm

That's pretty easy. Affiliate programs only work when someone visits
another site before visiting yours. The user clicks a link on the other
site... that link either goes directly to your site or to a redirector at an
affiliate management company that maintains a cookie. If it goes to your
site, an id will arrive on the URL identifying the affiliate, and you need
to track who that is through the sale.

In other words, affiliate sales only affect you if someone's first click is
from another site. If that's the case, the owner of that site gets a cut of
your sales.

You get to decide how much that cut will be. There are a number of
affiliate management companies out there that will provide all kinds of
useful tools for your affiliates to use, so you won't have to create them on
your site.

So, if someone calls you FIRST and then you direct them to your site, their
click won't be affected by most affiliate programs, because there was no
"other site" to click from.

If someone clicks from another site, and then calls you... well if the
ultimate end-of-day is a sale, shouldn't your affiliate get paid? If the
information on your site isn't clear enough to close the sale without a
phone call, how is that your affiliate's fault? Why should they be
punished?

So a user clicks an affiliate site, then yours. They then call on the phone
(two days later). They then return to your site (three days later) and buy
something. The affiliate should be paid. Most affiliate programs work this
way.

Talk to an affiliate management company to get details.

--- Nick
(Oh, and by the way, this newsgroup is not for discussing business issues on
the internet. It is for technical discussions of the Microsoft Biztalk
Server product. It just so happens that you hit on something I know about
:-). Next time, find a general e-business newsgroup to post your message
on.)

"jagbag" <not@anypri.ce> wrote in message
news:eQGjkwJUEHA.3752@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> We would like to benefit from an affiliate program. We understand that
> the essence of an affiliate program is that enquiries/orders can be
> electronically tracked and monitored by affiliates. The problem is
> that as well as taking orders online, we also offer customers the
> option to order our product by phone or mail. In fact most like to
> speak to us before ordering. Actual orders are then split roughly
> equally between the 3 methods.
>
> Can anyone see a way that we can make an affiliate program work?
>
> Thanx
> jagbag........
>
>

2bellies

2004-06-20, 11:07 pm

Thanks for your reply Nick. I realised it was the wrong ng just after
posting it!

The product we sell is such that many people need to speak to us and
however much we put on the website it will not replace a 1/1 chat. We
are more than happy to pay the agreed commission due on ALL referrals
via affiliates. It's just that, from what I have read about affiliate
programs, the affiliate understandably needs the reassurance that they
can track ALL referrals from their site, and ALL orders subsequently
made. With our multiple ordering methods this would not be possible. I
asked my original question in case I was missing something obvious
(apart from the wrong ng!) and we could find a way to make it all
work.

jagbag

:-).......

Nick Malik

2004-06-20, 11:07 pm

You have much more flexibility than you think. It is up to you to create
the program, not the affiliate company. You can specify that the first
sale from a referral qualifies, if it occurs within 45 days of the referral,
but that follow-on sales do not qualify. In other words, not ALL
orders subsequently made have to qualify.

Talk to an affiliate management company. You will be surprised
as how much they can help you to set this up. It is not difficult.
They are used to helping businesses realize the potential of
affiliate programs.

That said, recognize that there may be some work on your
part to track and record visits by customers from affiliate
sites. They can help you to understand the work, but the
work is still yours to do.

Good Luck,
--- Nick

"2bellies" <thruppe@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:b13dd238.0406130045.3b911c0f@posting.google.com...
> Thanks for your reply Nick. I realised it was the wrong ng just after
> posting it!
>
> The product we sell is such that many people need to speak to us and
> however much we put on the website it will not replace a 1/1 chat. We
> are more than happy to pay the agreed commission due on ALL referrals
> via affiliates. It's just that, from what I have read about affiliate
> programs, the affiliate understandably needs the reassurance that they
> can track ALL referrals from their site, and ALL orders subsequently
> made. With our multiple ordering methods this would not be possible. I
> asked my original question in case I was missing something obvious
> (apart from the wrong ng!) and we could find a way to make it all
> work.
>
> jagbag
>
> :-).......