Even though there are some major brands running affiliate programs (either within a third party network or independently), for the vast majority of companies, affiliate marketing is often perceived as a small fry tactic that’s better suited for brands that either (1) don’t have a major brand presence, or (2) have outright sketchy product offers. Well, now that Google Affiliate Network (GAN) is a reality, affiliate marketing is slated to finally get some mainstream credibility that’s long overdue.

Of course, this has led to some speculation that other, so-called second-tier affiliate networks are doomed. The reasoning goes that with a brand name like Google now behind the former Performics network, advertisers and affiliates alike will be loath to work with these other networks.

In reality, however, that’s just not the case. As good as Google is at some things, one thing it doesn’t do so well is relationships.
What does this mean for other networks and affiliates? It means that we’re all going to share in the very rosy future of affiliate marketing.

Now that GAN is on the scene, large brands that have previously shied away from affiliate marketing are probably going to give it a second thought. Being completely new to the affiliate marketing model, however, they’re going to need help setting up and managing their affiliate programs. The networks that can step up and help with program promotion and affiliate recruitment are going to gain, and so will their affiliates.

Relationships in Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a business model that is founded on the idea of an ongoing relationship. In fact, it’s through solid relationship building that merchants and affiliate collaborate to drive sales and increase their respective profits.

Investing in the advertiser-affiliate relationship is also an integral part to any viable affiliate marketing strategy. The networks that take the time to build those relationships and are known for their personalized approach will benefit from mainstream brands being attracted to the affiliate marketing medium

The Trust & Relationship Factor
Arguably, what’s kept many conventional retailers from embracing affiliate marketing is the nature of the merchant-affiliate relationship. As with many other kinds of online media, the challenge that affiliate marketers face is that relationships can rarely be established in person — and that makes them harder to build.

Relationship Management
If affiliate networks want to capture on the upcoming market growth they are going to have to focus on more traditional business development tactics, such as networking and account management. The affiliate networks that don’t have a household name behind them are going to have to focus on building new relationships and then managing them.

In addition to sales, business development, and lead generation, affiliate networks will need to establish themselves as respectable members of the online marketing community. They will need to show their faces in more places than ad:tech and Affiliate Summit and shake hands with other members of the business community, including marketing gurus and agencies, as well as marketing executives with brands they want to see in their networks.

Once a relationship becomes a working one, it’s going to require management, and that’s where the account management comes in. Affiliate networks will need to work closely with advertisers that are new to the industry to make sure that (1) their program is set up properly, and (2) they understand how to run it. This will help ensure that the program performs and prevent the relationship from becoming strained.

Part of the network-merchant relationship also rests with affiliates, so there’s also an account management aspect to there. By focusing on building relationships with their affiliates, networks can:

  1. better promote their new advertisers,
  2. better align their new advertisers with the appropriate affiliates, and
  3. save on the time and costs of affiliate recruitment.

This will help networks increase not only the performance of their various (and newer) affiliate programs, but also the loyalty of their affiliate-base — something that both saves on costs and increases revenues.

Relationships at the Heart of Business
All business transactions are based on trust. People are willing to invest enough trust in a brand to do business with them because of they either (1) have a relationship with that brand, or (2) perceive that brand as having an established relationship with the marketplace at large.

Affiliate marketing is becoming more and more of a mainstream industry, so affiliate networks need to focus on more conventional business practices if they want to grow along with the rest of the industry. This means that they have to develop a relationship-focus. Relationship building generates trust, which not only reduces costs, but drives growth by making you a more desirable business partner.

Read more here:
Relationship Based Affiliate Marketing

Share/Save/Bookmark

You Should Also Check Out This Post:

More Active Posts: