Meghan Damico March 3, 2021 Affiliate Managers juggle many tasks, and sometimes they fail to perform as they should. It’s an unfortunate part of business and life. When frustrations run high, many business owners don’t realize they may be contributing to their Affiliate Managers lack of performance and ultimate reason for leaving.
Here are three big reasons why Affiliate Managers don’t perform, as well as suggestions for improvement to managers and business owners.
1.) You’re not giving your Affiliate Manager the tools and resources they need to succeed.
Like any other employee, you can’t give your Affiliate Manager a butter knife and expect them to build a brick house.
The first thing you should do when you meet with a client is to determine:
- Do they have a high converting offer and what is the CPA?
- What is the offer demographic?
- Does the client have an affiliate platform?
- Does the client have an in-house or contracted copywriter?
If you don’t have a high converting offer and a competitive CPA, it’s going to be very difficult for your Affiliate Manager to do their job. Your Affiliate Manager also needs copy resources to keep an offer from fatiguing. New email copy will keep affiliates excited. Having a steady rotation of new copy will prolong the life of an offer to weeks or even months. Finally, Affiliate Managers need an accurate tracking platform such as Digistore24, HasOffers, or Everflow.
These platforms allow Affiliate Managers to monitor and evaluate every email campaign all in one place. It also gives affiliates easy access to their commissions without having to reach out to the Affiliate Manager.
COPY + TRAFFIC = BOOM
If you don’t have a high converting offer at a competitive payout, or you don’t have the right software to monitor your email traffic, not only will your affiliate program stall, but your Affiliate Manager will probably leave as well.
2.) Your Affiliate Manager isn’t in the right position
Great Affiliate Managers are like unicorns. They’re impossible to find. A+ Affiliate Managers are detail-oriented, organized, eager to learn, and have great written and verbal communication skills. They also need to be very outgoing and feel comfortable talking and networking with strangers.
Oftentimes you’ll get someone organized but not outgoing. Or someone who is very social but unorganized and can’t execute. If this is the case, your Affiliate Manager is in the wrong position.
As a manager, you should evaluate their strengths, weaknesses, and performance. It could be they need to move to another position, not that they aren’t a good employee.
3.) Their compensation isn’t competitive
Affiliate Managers talk. It’s their job to know what offers are working, what offers aren’t working, who is attending what conference, and so on. So don’t act surprised if they compare compensation plans. The salary range for an Affiliate Manager depends on their experience and connections in the industry. That’s why more experienced Affiliate Managers are so expensive. You’re paying for their Rolodex.
Just as important as salary is an Affiliate Manager’s bonus structure and opportunity for growth within the company. At some point in their careers, almost all Affiliate Managers want to grow into another position (like a copywriter, marketing director, operations manager, or offer owner).
That’s why having a clear path to career growth is so crucial. This path should include a challenging but achievable bonus structure. If you haven’t outlined a bonus plan for your Affiliate Manager, you should immediately consider one.
Why would an Affiliate Manager stay loyal to your business if they knew they could make more money elsewhere?
Not all the reasons I listed above are reasons why your affiliate manager didn’t work out. Sometimes they don’t work out because they may not perform. But as a manager, it’s also important to look inward to see where the disconnect lies and how you can fix it.
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