AFFILIATE MANAGEMENT

Affiliate management and program management outsourcing

Successful affiliate programs require significant work and maintenance. Having a successful affiliate program is more difficult than when such programs were just emerging. With the exception of some markets, it is rare for an affiliate program to generate considerable revenue with poor management or no management (i.e, 
auto-drive)



Uncontrolled affiliate programs did, and continue to do so today i.e, aid rogue-spammers affiliates, who use false advertising "cookie cutting, and other unethical methods that have given affiliate marketing a negative reputation.


The increased number of Internet businesses and the increased number of people that trust the current technology enough to shop and do business online allows further maturation of affiliate marketing. The opportunity to generate a considerable amount of profit combined with a crowded marketplace filled with competitors of equal quality and size makes it more difficult for merchants to be noticed. In this environment, however, being noticed can yield greater rewards.


Recently, the Internet marketing industry has become more advanced. In some areas online media has been rising to the sophistication of offline media, in which advertising has been largely professional and competitive. There are significantly more requirements that merchants must meet to be successful, and those requirements are becoming too burdensome for the merchant to manage successfully.
An increasing number of merchants are seeking alternative options found in relatively new outsourced (affiliate) program management companies, which are often founded by veteran affiliate managers and network program managers . Affiliate program management companies perform affiliate program management for the merchants as a service, which is similar to that of advertising agencies promoting a brand or product as done in offline marketing.

Types of affiliate websites

Affiliate websites are often categorized by merchants (i.e., advertisers) and affiliate networks. There are currently no industry-wide accepted standards for the categorization. The following types of websites are generic, yet are commonly understood and used by affiliate marketers.

• Search affiliates that utilize PAY PAY CLICK search engines to promote the advertisers' offers.
• COMPARISON SHOPPING:websites and directories
• LOYALTY websites, typically characterized by providing a reward system for purchases via points baCK.
  
• CRM sites that offer charitable donations
• COUPON AND REBATE websites that focus on sales promotions.
• Content and NICHE MARKET websites, including product review sites
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• Personal websites (This type of website was the reason for the birth of affiliate marketing; however, such websites are almost reduced to complete irrelevance compared to the other types of affiliate websites.)
• WEB LOGS and web syndication feeds
• EMAIL: list affiliates (i.e., owners of large opt-in -mail lists that typically employ email marketing and NEWSLETTER affiliates, which are typically more content-heavy.
• Registration path or co-registration affiliates who include offers from other merchants during the registration process on their own website
• SHOPPING DIRECTORIES: that list merchants by categories without providing coupons, price, or other features based on information that changes frequently, thus requiring continual updates
• Cost per action networks (i.e., top-tier affiliates) that expose offers from the advertiser with which they are affiliated to their own network of affiliates
• Websites using ad bars (e.g. ADSENSE) to display context-sensitive, highly-relevant ads for products on the site.
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Publisher recruitment

Affiliate networks that already have several advertisers typically also have a large pool of publishers. These publishers could be potentially recruited, and there is also an increased chance that publishers in the network apply to the program on their own, without the need for recruitment efforts by the advertiser.
Relevant websites that attract the same target audiences as the advertiser but without competing with it are potential affiliate partners as well. Vendors or existing customers can also become recruits if doing so makes sense and does not violate any laws or regulations.
Almost any website could be recruited as an affiliate publisher, although high-traffic websites are more likely interested in (for their own sake) low-risk cost per miller or medium-risk cost per click deals rather than higher-risk cost per action or revenue share deals

Locating affiliate programs

There are three primary ways to locate affiliate programs for a target website:

1. AFFILIATE PROGRAM DIRECTORIES :Large affiliate networks that provide the platform for dozens or even hundreds of advertisers, and
2. The target website itself. (Websites that offer an affiliate program often have a link titled "affiliate program", affiliates, referral program, in the footer of their websites.