What are the pitfalls to avoid? How to energize a network of affiliates abroad? How to choose the right provider(s)? At what price?
The following represents some tips for a successful international affiliate program.
- Do not overstate your reputation
It is essential to make a point on the reputation of your business in target markets, as this factor will dictate much of the affiliation politics that will have to conduct an advertiser.
A little known company in a market would have to rely on higher costs to set up both a portfolio of affiliates and also attract Internet users. As an example, Meetic is well established in Europe but just have hard luck to make themselves known to the U.S. to face the No. 1 Match.com.
The best approach is objectivity, because if an advertiser overstates himself, his campaign might not work.
Besides a good measure of notoriety, the precise definition of objectives is crucial. If they determine the budget allocated to a program, they also influence the success.
These goals must also take into account the state of maturity of the target market. The first step is to create a benchmark of major advertisers-competitors and their offers.
This necessitates a review of their affiliate offers. Because according to countries and sectors, this marketing technique may not be widespread. In Italy or Spain, just like e-commerce, affiliation is still less developed. The United Kingdom, Germany or the Netherlands are conversely the European countries most advanced in terms of affiliate programs. The U.S. are of course in the forefront.
Launching an affiliate program on an undeveloped market may be expensive, with modest results and a lot of time consumed.
- Think both global and local
The Web cannot be a global media, advertisers must have a local approach to understand the specificities of each country. Only an extremely powerful brand can afford to apply a uniform affiliate policy on various markets. This is the case of "Apple", whose affiliate program is similar across Europe.
All markets operate differently, with acquisition costs varying from one country to another.
Similarly, if the types of affiliates are usually the same from one country to another, their distribution may however vary. The methods of remuneration also. In France, many affiliates use e-mailing. It is less represented in Germany or the United Kingdom.
The advertiser must also adapt with consistency his visuals and messages, without trying to automatically translate or transpose those he already has. An existing message can however be broadly "replicable" if the offer it contains is adapted to different markets it covers.
- Choose accurately your affiliate platform
Another key point: the choice of the provider responsible for managing the affiliate campaign in various markets.
Two options available to advertisers:
- A single platform presented in several countries. Main advantage, the single provider allows the advertiser to consolidate and more easily share information on various markets in which communicates the same advertiser. An international platform offers its customers a comprehensive view of its actions. This choice may be appropriate in the context of a program covering many countries. In contrast, a global provider may not have knowledge as detailed as a local player has in a specific market.
- Various local providers. This choice can be envisaged for affiliate campaigns on a few different countries. The advantage of this option lies in the knowledge that each platform can give on its own market, which can sometimes be more advanced than that of a global platform. The choice of multiple providers may however be time consuming for the program manager/advertiser, who will have to manage multiple contacts, instead of a single referent.
Whatever happens, an advertiser will always be better considered if he entrusts the entire affiliation budget to a single supplier.
The budget to be allocated firstly depends on various factors the advertiser must take into account:
- The compensation strategy prioritized in the market(s) in question
- The pay level usually practiced in this country(ies)
- Efforts to be provided by the advertiser based on his reputation
