You are here: News / First 'super-affiliate' study reveals ineffective programme management is costing industry heavily
First 'super-affiliate' study reveals ineffective programme management is costing industry heavily
Archived article dated Thursday August 2nd 2007
Poor communication and a widespread lack of market understanding result in considerable sales and profit margin losses across the affiliate industry, new research reveals today. The study, carried out by R.O.EYE, the UK's first and biggest affiliate management agency, also shows that more than a third of 'super-affiliates' surveyed could be working directly with merchants within 12 months.
This first ever study of a cross-section of the top 20 super-affiliates - companies responsible for 80% of sales volume across the affiliate marketing industry - identifies the need for affiliate programmes to be managed by merchants and affiliate networks on a more strategic basis.
The survey finds that super-affiliates believe the root of these problems to be ineffective affiliate programme management. Common issues such as dead or old data feeds and expired offers frequently result in reduced commission for affiliates and loss of sales for brands. Investment into skilled resource to manage and compliment merchants and affiliate networks, however, would entail considerable benefits.Mark Kuhillow, managing director of R.O.EYE explains, “Affiliate marketing passed the £2 billion threshold in 2006 and is now a serious element of a company's marketing activity. The resources dedicated to its day-to-day management must reflect this.”
Kuhillow adds, “Mismanagement of affiliate marketing risks not only drops in revenue, but also potential negative impact on a brand's integrity online.”
The majority of 'super-affiliates' involved in the study are revealed to have direct relationships and communication with merchants already in place, and more than a third are considering working exclusively with merchants over the next few months.
The survey unearths that by cutting out the middle-man, information transfer becomes a far smoother process with less room for error or miscommunication. However, it is also acknowledged that working directly with a merchant can be very time consuming, especially if the merchant is new or inexperienced in affiliate marketing.
The third key finding is the need for increasingly strategy-based affiliate programmes. By establishing understanding of all parties' goals at the outset and developing longer-term plans around these, super-affiliates believe much more can be done by brands to maximise return.
“Affiliate marketing is typically implemented on a tactical basis,” says Mark Kuhillow. “A more strategic approach would enable greater return for both brands and affiliates, but also allow affiliate marketing to be far more integrated as part of the marketing mix.”
Tagged as: affiliate marketing
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