It’s no secret that companies with a sales force (internal and/or external) regularly implement sales incentive campaigns. These operations are generally aimed at increasing sales, building customer loyalty, recruiting new customers, or supporting a product launch. In short, to support your current objectives!
The affiliates in your affiliate network can be considered your external sales force. They promote your brand and products to generate traffic and sales for you, in exchange for a commission. Seen like that, the parallel with a sales force seems obvious!
Defining the affiliate challenge
The affiliate challenge is a promotional tool regularly used by advertisers to boost affiliate campaigns (generation of additional sales, acquisition of qualified leads, etc.). In exchange for good results, the advertiser offers rewards to affiliates.
The creation of an editor’s challenge involves a number of important steps, detailed below.
Setting affiliate challenge objectives
The first step in creating an editor challenge is to determine your objectives. Here are a few examples of objectives used during challenges:
- Increase sales
- Increase the number of leads collected
- Drive more qualified traffic to your site
- Recruit new affiliates
- Reactivate inactive affiliates in your affiliate program
- Grow your program’s small affiliates
Tip: quantifying your objectives will enable you to create appropriate reward levels.
Choose the target audience for the publishers’ challenge
The targets of your challenge are your affiliates! However, you need to determine the different types of affiliate site publishers who will be targeted, and therefore incentivized, via your challenge. Depending on your objectives, you may decide to offer the challenge only to your top sales-generating affiliates, thematic affiliates, comparators, etc. Your targets must be able to meet your objectives. Your account manager, with his or her knowledge of affiliates, will be able to help you determine your exact targets.
Tip: choose quality over quantity. If your budget doesn’t allow you to enroll all your affiliates, give priority to those who are most likely to achieve your objectives.
Create the mechanics of the affiliate challenge
Once your objectives and targets have been defined, you need to create the mechanics of the challenge. This is a very important step. Don’t hesitate to spend time on it, as poor mechanics will compromise the results of the challenge. Good mechanics must be attractive, achievable and in line with the type of affiliate targeted.
Tip: avoid proposing mechanics based on increasing sales to thematic affiliates, as this would not be well received… In fact, these affiliates are renowned for their ability to bring in highly qualified traffic. They don’t have to do much to generate sales. For these affiliates, prefer incentives to traffic!
Challenge compensation
Compensation is inseparable from mechanics. You can’t have one without the other. Just like the mechanics, the remuneration must be in line with your target (affiliates). Give preference to commission bonuses for top affiliates who generate sales. Don’t hesitate to offer product endowments to your thematic affiliates, as they are the most competent at promoting your products. It’s also a good idea to offer performance-based bonuses, which will encourage your affiliates to do more and more to hit the jackpot!
Tip: high-tech products are still very popular with affiliates.
Finally
The affiliate challenge is a promotional tool not to be overlooked. Your affiliates are your sales force. Like any sales force, they need to be stimulated and rewarded. We recommend using this tool several times a year, during your strategic periods. The affiliate challenge is an excellent way to forge links with your affiliateswhile enabling you to grow grow your business in affiliation. Don’t hesitate to contact your account manager. His or her expertise will help you design a challenge that’s attractive, motivating and, ultimately, effective.
