Q4 Thoughts: Talk Strategy Before Cost or Freebies

This is affiliate marketing, not advertising or public relations. Affiliates need to demonstrate the value of their audience and their willingness to buy products. Our metrics are based on performance, not eyeballs and impressions. As an affiliate manager, I’m happy to talk about bonuses and free products to review once we have an established relationship. 

In a perfect setting, affiliates join a program because the products fit the need of the audience already built. Experienced affiliate managers can help identify best practice strategies for different affiliate models. I love working with content based affiliates who are passionate about specific products or categories of products. Those affiliates do extremely well.  

But even then, many of them never hit reply. Sometimes, they send us 10 sales a month. If we had a chance to strategize together we could have made it 25 sales a month. Don’t be afraid to make friends with managers. This industry is about relationships, not just how many followers you have on social media.  

Read the affiliate agreement and talk to the manager about using your own affiliate links to buy products for review. I bet the majority of them would be OK with that practice. The best reviews are transparent and honest. One of my best affiliates buys products through his own link and writes down-to-earth reviews. His commissions help pay for the next product.   

If the manager doesn’t reply, find one of their competitors who will take the time.  

Connect with Greg at Apogee.