Of course it is. Anyone who has managed an off-line sales team will know that they need to be managed and monitored. Commission-only sales people require even more monitoring because their major incentive will be to earn commission, which may or may not co-incide with the interests of your company.
To manage your affiliates, and ensure that they act in the interests of your business, you need to establish your expectations and set terms and conditions so that everyone knows where they stand. And then you need to monitor them to ensure that they comply.
The normal expectation is that affiliates will promote you in a positive way and increase your sales. It seems so basic that you wonder why you have to say it. But you do because their imperitives are completely different to yours. You are trying to build a business, build or nurture a brand, build loyal customers. They are often just trying to get paid.
So, how does an affiliate get paid? They get paid if their cookie is on your customer's computer when the customer completes their purchase. It has nothing to do with growing your business, getting new sales, or pleasing your customers.
For affiliates who just want to make some money, there are some easy tactics affiliates can use to make a quick dollar.
First, aim at the pre-sold customer. The closer your customer is to deciding to buy your product or from your shop, the better. That's why brand-bidding (the customer specifically looking for your website on google) and many coupon sites (the customer ready to buy and wondering if they can save a few dollars with a coupon) do what they do.
It's also why affiliates will aim at customers who have decided on their product and search for it in google. If affiliates with automated datafeed sites can beat merchants in the search engine listings, they can get paid. Automated datafeed sites (thin affiliate sites) used to be very common. Fortunately the search engines are getting better at excluding them.
Second, appeal to the customers base instincts. Make customers think by clicking on a link, they will find extra discounts, cheaper prices or get something for nothing. That's why some affiliates build sites to target merchantname coupons or merchantname discount code.
I also have one merchant who has lots of gifts between $29 and $80 with one or two for $19.95. They have a brandbidding affiliate who dispays their URL and has the tag line "All Gifts Are Under $20" Does it matter? Not to the affiliate because they've got their cookie set. To the customer it can look like the merchant is providing misleading advertising.
Third, scatter your cookies everywhere. There are many ways of cookie-stuffing. See http://www.benedelman.org/cookiestuffing/
Not all affiliates are unethical. I'd say the majority are honest and hardworking. However, the unethical, black-hat affiliates may dominate among the high-earning affiliates. Understanding the methods used and careful management is essential to minimise the risk of using this commission-based "sales force".
Are you losing money to these affiliates? Would you know?
Is it time to take back control of your marketing and your affiliate program?
