Three common struggles for new affiliate managers

As affiliate marketing continues to grow, the need for affiliate managers is greater-than-ever. But aside from there being a large demand, it can offer a fruitful career path for you. You’ll be able to pick up important life skills such as communication, persuasion and authenticity – as well as understanding other people’s needs and pain points. 

However, when you’re just starting out it’s inevitable that you will make mistakes. And you need to, because it’s only through these errors that you learn and become a better-rounded affiliate manager. 

Nonetheless, you can ensure that the learning curve isn’t as steep by learning from where others have struggled in the past. Here are three common areas of difficulty that new affiliate managers need to overcome. 

Finding new partners

Partnerships are vital for any affiliate program that wishes to stand the test of time. But a lot of new managers find that they are initially unaware of where they can find their target affiliates, resulting in them looking in the same places as everybody else. 

Surprising as it may sound, you don’t need to endure weeks of fruitless searching and outreach to learn your lesson. Instead, you can skip ahead of the others by determining the type of affiliate you’re looking to partner with beforehand and thinking about where they hang out online. By doing this and thinking outside the box, you’ll boost your odds of sourcing better-quality business relationships. 

Being an authentic seller

Aside from maybe beetroots, there is nothing more off-putting on this planet than a lack of authenticity. And the worst part about it is that those ‘acting fake’ think that others can’t tell, when they can. You won’t be surprised to hear that lacking authenticity doesn’t get you very far in business over the long run, as is the case in everyday life. 

Faking it is a low-value task, which is going to leave you with low-value affiliates. You’ll also get found out eventually, which could have bigger implications when it comes to your industry reputation. So, for the sake of both yourself and your affiliate partners, keep it real and just be yourself. 

Determining the value of traffic

Not all traffic was created equal and to take things at face value is a mistake which could cost you both time and money. Think about it for a second – if you’re managing a lottery affiliate program, do you really want a sportsbook with one million monthly visitors but none of whom play lottery games? No, because they’re irrelevant to you. 

You need to look at data on a more granular level. If a website is bringing in 25,000 monthly visitors but all of them relate to your niche, that’s better than partnering with an affiliate which attracts 50,000 but only 5,000 are of any interest to you. All numbers need to be assessed with context. 

Final thoughts 

Affiliate marketing is an industry which remains firm during even the toughest times, which is why it’s a great place to be. It’s natural that you will make mistakes at the beginning of any career path and what you learn on the way is more important than the final destination. However, there are always ways that you can put yourself in a better position by cutting out basic errors. 

Affiliate marketing is about high-quality partnerships. You need to understand how you can help your target affiliates, as well as why your program is valuable to them. On top of this, it’s also vital that you know where to find them so you can sell yourself. 

Speaking of selling yourself, that needs to be done in an authentic manner. Understand your brand’s values, be aware of your own personal strengths and weaknesses and don’t make promises that you cannot keep. By taking these tips on board, you’ll be in a better position to push forward and become a better affiliate manager. 

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Affiverse CEO Lee-Ann Johnstone is hosting a three-month training course called the Affiliate Management Performance Program. (AMPP)

Delegates will receive an hour-long live session with her each week and cover numerous topics related to affiliate marketing and program management. 

You can download the AMPP brochure and find out the skills that you’ll learn from attending it here.