Affiliate Drive Time – Learning to let go a little

When it comes to carrying out an affiliate deal, affiliate managers often try to take control over their affiliates and do not give them the freedom to do what they want to do. So, when this is the case, it may be time for them to take a step back or to even let go and let the affiliates do what they are best at. While brands must enforce certain guidelines or compliance processes, it is also important to let affiliates have the freedom to market their product and services in the best way they can to their communities.

In this week’s episode of Affiliate Drive Time, Lee-Ann discusses the benefit of working with an affiliate and letting them do what they do best. Lee-Ann also discusses that although an affiliate can act as an extension of your marketing team, it is important for affiliate managers to recognize that they are not an employee of the brand. Therefore, they should be given the freedom to market the brand’s products or services as they please, even if this is different to how the brand originally would.

When it comes to finding the balance between controlling affiliates and providing them with the freedom to do what they want, there are a number of things that an affiliate manager should do. These are as follows:

Do:

• Listen to and respect an affiliates idea’s, marketing preferences and use of channels.
• Allow them to repurpose content in order for it to suit their audiences.
• Give them the space to try new things that your brand usually would not.
• Let affiliates be agile to move within the market and adjust to customer demand when needed.

Don’t:

• Manage them like you would an employee. Affiliates are independent to a brand; therefore you can use that to your advantage.
• Restrict their marketing capabilities too narrowly so that they can’t be successful at tapping into niche audience segments, even if you do not currently focus on them.
• Over complicate your affiliate program terms and rules so much that it makes it difficult to understand or does not allow affiliates to maneuver their business to market your brand.

In conclusion, letting go does not mean you won’t have control over the narrative of the affiliate program anymore, it just means that as an affiliate manager you should explore new ways of collaborating with your affiliates. By letting go, you may even be surprised at the results you get when you begin trusting your affiliate partners to deliver according to your brand’s needs. So why not try letting go a bit and letting your affiliates do what they do best?

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you never miss another episode of Affiliate Drive Time. Lee-Ann will be back next week with more advice on the industry.