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While many companies try to manage their own affiliate programs, other companies are turning to a far easier solution – hiring an outsourced affiliate management company, also known as an OPM, to do it for them.
Top 10 Reasons to Hire an Affiliate Program Management Company
Here are 10 top reasons why hiring an outsourced program management company (OPM) for your affiliate program might be the best course of action for your company.
1. It can make good financial sense.
While all affiliate sales are incremental with commissions being paid on a percentage basis whenever a sale is generated, you will also need to compensate the affiliate management company to launch, maintain, and grow your affiliate program.
There are three basic models for paying affiliate management companies: 1) A monthly retainer which is a fixed cost 2) a percentage of sales which is incremental and 3) a hybrid solution. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses which will be covered in a future post.
The fact is, the cost to hire an outsourced affiliate program management company usually outweighs the cost of hiring internally when you factor in salaries, bonuses, benefits, taxes, supplies, etc. Therefore, it can make good financial sense to hire out the management of your affiliate program.
2. You gain access to a team of resources.
Most companies hire one person to run their affiliate program internally. Or, they have someone add on the responsibility of running the affiliate program with no previous experience and as a result, the program withers on the vine. Running your affiliate program on auto pilot is never a good idea, either.
An outsourced program management company usually has multiple people working on one account. More resources means more can get done, faster. It also means more people will properly give it the time and attention it needs to grow.
3. You get instant access to proven affiliates.
When you hire an experienced affiliate program management company to run your affiliate program, you tap into long established relationships with hundreds if not thousands of proven affiliates. One email from a reputable affiliate manager can help you get instant trust and traction that you just can’t get on your own.
4. You immediately tap into years of knowledge and experience.
Most trusted outsourced program managers have been in the business for at least 3-5 years. Working with experienced affiliate management companies can help you avoid the common pitfalls and focus on the increase in revenue this channel can provide. In addition, OPM’s know how to attract, retain, and activate affiliates and work with all the various affiliate networks.
5. They know where to find the right affiliates.
Experienced affiliate program management companies know which affiliate networks to enter to recruit affiliates based on your product or industry.
They may even already know several “super affiliates” in your niche and have direct access to them. This can go a long way in getting the right kinds of affiliates active and generating sales in your affiliate program.
6. They understand effective promotional techniques.
A big part of affiliate marketing is incentivizing your affiliates with the proper financial motivation at the right time.
Outsourced affiliate management companies know how to get affiliates attention with monthly, quarterly, or seasonal creative promotions and contests that help sky rocket sales.
7. OPM’s know how to recruit – The hardest job in affiliate marketing.
Just because you launch in a large affiliate network doesn’t mean all of the best affiliates will immediately start promoting your products. You still have to do some heavy recruiting to get the best affiliates into your affiliate program.
Seasoned affiliate management companies will have their affiliate managers and coordinators scour the internet, affiliate network, and affiliate contacts to find and qualify opportunities you would never have imagined or been able to get on your own.
They also know what to say to prospects to get their attention because contacting potential affiliate’s cold is a part of their everyday lives.
8. They can help optimize the channel.
Once you have affiliates active in your program, you’ll definitely want them to produce more for your affiliate program. That’s where optimization campaigns come into play.
Seasoned outsourced program management companies know how to get more sales out of their existing affiliate base because they have one to one relationships with them. They can find out why your product isn’t being promoted as much and what can be done to fix it.
9. They get affiliates active.
In every affiliate program, there are hundreds if not thousands of dormant affiliates who have joined an affiliate program but have never pulled a banner, text link, or much less made a sale.
Think of all the potential you might have overlooked here.
Hiring an OPM can help you get more of these affiliates active. They’ll use proactive techniques to get the affiliates attention and get them to open lines of communication that can lead to them becoming active in your affiliate program.
10. They already know the affiliate management tools inside and out.
OPM’s live and breathe in the affiliate networks. So, they know how to use the affiliate management tools for maximum efficiency as well as the secrets to contacting the right affiliates within the network.
When you don’t have the time, experience, or internal resources to effectively and proactively manage your affiliate program, it’s time to seriously consider hiring an experienced outsourced affiliate program management company.
To learn more about Net Media Group’s proven affiliate program management give us a call at (801) 365-0057 and we’ll contact you within 24 business hours.
