And three more factors ...
7. Earning per click (or EPC) and hit per sale ratio
These are two very important metrics, because they will tell you how much traffic do you need to generate in order to earn a certain amount of commission. Usually these figures are disclosed even before you join.
The EPC is tied to 100 clicks sent – from an average affiliate – to the advertiser, so if you see an EPC of $25.46, this is the average of how much affiliates earn on every 100 clicks they refer. As I said, it’s a relevant metric, but sadly, EPC can be easily manipulated by merchants. Posting the reversals on the last possible day or purging a bunch of affiliates with lower conversion rates are two simple, yet very “efficient” ways to produce a deceptively high EPC.
The hit per sale ratio is the average number of hits to a banner or a text link it takes to generate a sale.
8. Tracking system
A good, reliable affiliate program should be able of offering detailed individual stats anytime you decide to check them out. Another crucial element if you really want to solve the “how to affiliate marketing program” mystery! Not all programs are created equal, have the same operating terms and not all affiliate programs stand for the same ethical principles, so do your homework diligently!
- How are your referrals tracked and for how long do they remain in the system?
- What kind of affiliate stats are available?
- How easy is to access those stats?
- Are there any anti-fraud systems in place?
- And so on …
9. Marketing creatives and other tools
I am going to repeat myself: conversion is always a mutual responsibility. Without a wide range of efficient, professionally designed and 101% affiliate-friendly creatives you won’t be able to produce real results. No matter what are your preferred promotional methods – product feeds, deep linking, banners, text links, coupons, etc -, you’ll have to check carefully whether the advertiser is providing adequate and competitive support here as well.
Also, pay attention to other unique tools or solutions that could help you in your promotional efforts: video materials, dynamic creatives, co-branding opportunities, widgets, browser extensions, APIs, etc. The bigger is your arsenal, the better
Reply
Regards
Hilary
But looks like you have covered many
questions that an affiliate marketer would
need to know about in looking to become
an affiliate with any company.
Thank you for all the time and research you
put into this. I will be putting all of this into
practice right away for my websites :)
of points that you were kind enough to make me
aware of. These are important and not exactly
covered in the training but that is why we have this
fantastic platform helping everyone out love it :)
