Getting Started after Launching Your New Program
In this article we have provided an overview of some of the key steps to consider following the launch of your new program on Webgains.
Stage 1: Preparation for the Recruitment
Before you begin with the recruitment process, it’s important to highlight that a well-written program description increases your chances of getting the publisher onboard and promoting your brand.
A blueprint for a good program description is below, or learn more here about How do I create a good description and T&Cs for my program? :
1.1 A Brief Introduction
Describe your business in 1-3 sentences, clearly stating what you do and who your target audience is.
Why join your program?
Briefly explain your USPs and what makes your brand attractive to your customers and partners.
What’s in it for them?
Describe your program details; Commission levels (include all the different levels), Cookie Length, Average Order Value, Product Feed availability, for example.
Terms and Conditions
Let the publisher know if you have specific terms that apply to them. These may be PPC restrictions, coupon policies, social media policies etc.
Learn more: Program Description
1.2 Promotional Assets
Set your publishers up for success by providing them with promotional assets. Give your publishers what they require.
Learn more: Program Banners & Assets
1.3 Links and banners
Create a minimum of 10 links and banners, per program. Try to update these at least two weeks before any big events.
1.4 Voucher codes
We recommend you create monthly or quarterly generic voucher codes. These could be category-specific codes that require a minimum spend, free delivery codes or codes that target new customers only.
You can also create exclusive codes should you decide you want to work more closely with a specific publisher.
1.5 A Product feed
Product feeds are very important for data-driven publishers. These publishers are promoting not only your brand but also particular products that can be purchased on your site, so your product feed should include item name, price, stock, SKU etc.
Learn more: Providing a Product Feed
1.6 Offers
Upload your weekly on-site offers to the Webgains platform - these can be any offers that are already on your website, for example, free delivery or a sale.
Stage 2: Recruitment Process
Webgains has thousands of publishers, and we advise working with a wide variety in order to have a balanced affiliate program.
We would recommend launching with the following four publisher types as a base mix:
Technology - This is a broad category of publishers which covers affiliate types such as CSS, price comparison and retargeting. They leverage technical solutions to drive and optimise sales for you.
Cashback and voucher - Cashback and voucher sites are very popular and help with new customer acquisition, increasing AOV and encouraging repeat purchases.
Content - Content publishers help you to place your products on various editorial sites. Subnetworks give you access to influencers at scale.
To help you get started, Webgains provide 10 publishers that we recommend you explore working with: Webgains Recommends - Top 10 Publishers (UK)
Learn more about The Publisher Landscape
How to recruit these partners?
Inviting publishers can be done through our Publisher Search tool.
Once you have invited them to the program, in the same section you can view the Publisher’s contact details if you wish to send a personal email from your own email address, introducing yourself and your business. Here you should also include a direct link to sign up for your program, for ease.
Learn more about How can I search for new publishers for my program?
Stage 3: Activation
Now that you have your publishers onboard, it’s time to plan your commercial events!
Make your publishers aware of your campaigns at least two weeks in advance, so that they have time to schedule your placements. For bigger events like Black Friday, we recommend communicating your offers at least 30 days in advance.
The newsletter format can be in plain text or HTML, whichever you prefer. You can also include links to landing pages, images and videos. The more your existing publishers know about your product ranges, new releases or best-sellers the better your chances are of getting featured.
Learn more about How do I share my offers & updates with publishers?
Stage 4: Optimizing
Once your program has been up and running for a few months, it’s good to take a step back and look at what has worked and what hasn’t.
Compare your publishers’ performance:
Which publishers are generating the most sales and on what products?
Which publishers are click-active, but not generating sales?
What are your best-selling products?
What are your general stats; such as conversion, average order value, etc?
Research your competition
Information about your competitors’ affiliate programs can be found online - simply search for “your competitor’s brand” + affiliate program, or search for competing brands on Cashback and Voucher sites.
Are your commission rates competitive? What sort of cashback or voucher deals do your competitors offer?
What’s Next?
Now that you’re clear on what works and what doesn’t, you can optimise your program for better performance.
Reward your best-performing publishers
Create exclusive campaigns or increase commissions for your best publishers to encourage them to promote you more. Get in touch with them to discuss how you could work closer with them.
Review your commissions and incentives
If you notice that your rates are lower than your competitors, try increasing your commission rates, or test with different cashback and voucher types to see if this improves conversion.
Learn more about Webgains Commission Management with our Smart Commission tool.
Consider purchasing tenancies
Most publishers offer special placements on their websites and newsletters for a fee (tenancies). If you have a publisher that generates a good amount of clicks and sales, consider increasing their impact by purchasing more visibility on their site.
Learn more about Webgains Tenancy Management
Recruit more publishers that bring results
If you notice that a specific publisher type works well for you (e.g. voucher publishers), consider recruiting more of that type and increasing the offers available for your brand.