A plea for transparency, affiliates & networks need to give it up

“Transparency” in regards to affiliate marketing can go so many different ways. Affiliate networks are defining it from a managers/retailers point of view and opening up contact information and details about the affiliates. This enables an affiliate manager to make better choices on promotions, fraud prevention and helps keep the pulse of their program. What retailers are missing in some cases are true business plans and insight into what the affiliate is actually doing. Without the proper click tracking or analytics tools you literally could be getting traffic from any where in the world, from unsavory sources and causing your business more harm than good.

On the flip side, affiliates should be demanding some transparency from the merchants, as most are completely in the dark on a true conversion rate, keyword/coupon performance & other metrics. Not to mention affiliates are at the mercy of inventory, demand and competition. Of course there has to be some protection on key business strategies, but what is stopping merchants from providing some demographics and performance data so affiliates can invest their time and resources accordingly? Turn it into a white paper to help promote your affiliate program, affiliates will eat it up.

19.Jun.08 Industry Blog Comments (2)