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Running an affiliate program can at times be hard, this is especially true for merchants who are just starting. Getting more affiliates into their programs and getting existing affiliates to work effectively are some of the things that merchants have to deal with. While there are apps that make it easier for merchants to run their programs, some things should be kept in the mind of merchants who want to grow their brand and affiliate program quickly.

Here we look at the top 5 tips for merchants to improve their affiliate programs

Maintain a healthy relationship with affiliates

Since managing affiliates is a big part of running an affiliate program, merchants can start by building a better relationship with their affiliates. This can be done by sending them weekly newsletters informing them of new products that you are launching, upcoming sales and updates regarding your program. This ensures a healthy line of communication between the affiliate and the merchant. ‌

Another essential part of having a good relationship with affiliates is by making timely payments. Timely payments are regularly seen as one of the main issues that affiliates face. Therefore, making payments on time helps in building loyalty and keeps affiliates happy. This also translates into better performance by affiliates.‌

Set targets and give bonuses to affiliates

Merchants can greatly improve the performance of their affiliate programs by setting up targets and bonuses for affiliates. Setting up targets for affiliates based on the number of sales, the number of orders or revenue from referral sales can be great targets for affiliates. When affiliates do meet these targets, they can be rewarded with bonuses. ‌

This type of financial incentive not only encourages affiliates to work more aggressively but also makes them much more competitive. Another way of providing affiliates with a financial incentive is by setting up a signup bonus for them. Whenever a new affiliate registers to the program, they get rewarded a signup bonus, this when combined with setting up the minimum payout to be slightly higher than ‌

Use Multi-Level affiliate marketing

Many merchants face issues in recruiting affiliates into their program, although signup bonuses can help, it will still be only limited to people who are already familiar with your brand. An effective way of getting more affiliates into your program is by making it a multi-level program. In a multi-level affiliate program, affiliates can recruit other affiliates and any sales that are made by sub-affiliate referrals, the affiliates (who recruited them) will earn a percentage of commission on it. This provides an incentive to existing affiliates to recruit affiliates under them, to increase their income by the sale brought in by sub-affiliates. ‌

Multi-level affiliate programs offer an easy path to getting more affiliates, merchants can also customize the multi-level program by setting up the number of level in the program and the commission rate of each level. There are apps such as GoAffPro that let you set up and manage a multi-level affiliate program with ease.‌

Use data to make affiliate program more effective

Making use of data has become an important part of running a successful affiliate program. Data can be used in multiple ways to make an affiliate program’s reach more effective. It also helps in making the process of running the program more efficient, which helps in the proper utilization of resources. Obtaining data and making use of it is not hard. Data can be obtained from all mediums, social media platforms can provide detailed data on brand pages and accounts, hosting companies also provide data, combine this with data from the affiliate program, merchants can easily draw out strategies for promotions. ‌

It is also essential to know how to study the data and knowing what the data is indicating. After studying the data, relevant action can be taken to improve metrics and important indicators highlighted in the data. A good example of this is the data on the time when customers are online, this can be used to target promotions during specific time periods or data like the location of customers which can be used to create content catering to the local interest of customers. ‌

Reach out through Social Media

One of the best ways to reach out to customers is by making use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. Instead of spending resources to advertise using banner ads or building chat features within your store, social media platforms already provide these functions. Merchants can create their social media presence for virtually no money and they can also advertise on these platforms. Since these platforms already have a large base of users, advertising on these platforms is an effective medium of reaching out to a broader audience. ‌

Merchants can also make use of the chat feature that many of these platforms provide to address customer questions and queries. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter are great for brands to communicate with their customers. In the case of an affiliate program, merchants can reach out to people quite easily on these platforms to recruit more affiliates, affiliates themselves make use of these platforms to reach out to customers from their end. Social media is a great place to start for merchants who a rebuilding their brand and starting with their affiliate programs.