Lots of software vendors ask themselves this question and, unfortunately, I’ve seen cases when the conclusion they reach is that “affiliate marketing doesn’t work” or as Joel Spolsky says, in his case, it’s “ a big waste of time“.
Both for these vendors and for the ones that think their affiliate sales channel could be improved and seeing the positive feedback I got from our software publishers regarding the issue of vendor involvement to motivate affiliates, I’m starting a series of posts with a more hands-on approach. I hope you will find them useful.
The first thing I’m going to talk about is what you can do in order to help potential affiliates find you and join your affiliate program, thus maximizing the chances to sell more using this channel.
The easiest way to advertise your affiliate plan is to have an affiliate information page on your website, which should explain clearly and concisely what your affiliate program is all about.
Think at it this way: affiliates reach your website when they’re searching for your products or for products from the same category. They are more likely to become affiliates of a vendor who knows to present them this opportunity at the right time, since they don’t have very much time to search how to become one’s affiliate partner. So why not take this chance and enroll them into your affiliate program?
It’s recommended you include on this page details like:
Also, affiliates will appreciate it if you include other useful info on the dedicated page, such as:
I think it’s not necessary to talk about the advantages you get by implementing an affiliate info page from the search engines’ point of view… Just to be sure – potential affiliates will find you easier :)
But enough with the theory- let’s see and analyze some examples:
1. Iobit has a basic affiliate section included on a more general partners page. The most important elements are present – the commission level and the sign up link.
2. In the case of VSO Software, the affiliate information page is very comprehensive, including all things that may concern affiliates. They work with multiple affiliate networks and they included specific details for each one. Also, marketing materials, PAD files and contact information is included on that page.
3. AVS4YOU has a step-by-step like affiliate information page, in which they make it easy for affiliates to become their affiliates. They also work with multiple affiliate networks and have specific buy links for affiliates.
4. Here’s an interesting approach – nice aired design with benefits outlined and social media contacts on Lavasoft’s affiliate information page.
If you aren’t convinced yet that affiliate marketing does work if you get involved into it, I have 2 more posts to convince you. ;) Stay tuned!
Thanks for the quote on the cookie life data. I have material for a newer post (based on more detailed and more recent information) which I will be making soon. Will let you know once it’s up, Cristi.
Thank you for the comment, Geno. I’m looking forward to your new material.
[…] channel bring revenue to software vendors. In the first post I focused on the importance of the affiliates information page and how it helps you recruit affiliates. In this post, I will talk about another important […]
Good place to look for resources for affiliate marketer.
whether you are a merchant, with a product to sell, or a website owner with an audience to sell to, you can benefit from starting or joining an affiliate program.
The best affiliates are passionate product users and it’s so easy to include an affiliate programme with the purchase of a product – no effort needed!