Cracking The Affiliate Network Approval Code (4)
There is plenty of advice here on STM on how to get into an affiliate network. This is one of the threads for that https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...-First-Network
It’s my opinion that getting into some affiliate networks is not enough. As an affiliate, you want to reach the level where you choose the networks you work with and not the other way around. This is my short guide on how to do just that, starting as a newbie.
First off, you won’t be able get approved anywhere from your first network application. You have to build your chances, your reputation, step by step.
1. Sign up to the most newbie friendly affiliate networks.
Don’t just sign up and be an inactive member. Sign up, test offers like explained in the newbie guides here https://stmforum.com/forum/forumdisp...-s-First-Steps, get revenue. The truth is that for the affiliate network it doesn’t matter so much if you make money or not, as long as you make revenue with them. Try to turn your campaigns green but definitely keep testing and don’t stop running campaigns.
Examples of more newbie friendly networks from my experience are
2. Use the experience gained here to sign up to a higher “tier” network, known to be somewhat less straightforward but not very restrictive.
Present your past results and experience in a favourable way. Don’t talk about what you can’t do. Clearly express what you can and already did: revenue with previous networks, mention STM membership, give your thoughts on the vertical you want to run or traffic source you are using, mention any personal recommendation you have from other affiliates, members of that network.
Pro tip: Always try to say in a more direct or subtle way, depending on your style, that you think their network has better offers than the current ones you are running, that it’s more likely to make you profitable or increase your ROI. You should have only to win by saying that. They either agree and your chances of getting in greatly increase, or your chances stay the same as when not saying this. Think about it - who will ever reply with “No, our network is actually worse than X, so if you can’t run more with them, you have no chance with us anyway”. Use the networks’ marketing to your advantage
Some examples that come to my mind that are a bit harder to get into than those at step 1 are Mundo Media, ClickDealer and YepAds.
3. Hop to the next “tier” til you have reached exclusive networks/direct advertisers.
You can leverage your previous success and increase your chances of future success this way. This is what experienced affiliate have done when they talk about edge, moats and what not, that “newbies” don’t have access to. The reality is that newbies with the right strategy and work ethics do have access to it, and they will be welcomed with open arms by those advertisers/networks - if they have proven themselves.
Once you are at this level, you should also have profitable campaigns if you followed all the other advice on the forum, related to campaigns. You should also have just about all the offers in the world to choose from, bar some very private and exclusive ones that don’t come too often (don’t worry, once new ones come out, you will be on the list if you play your cards right
)SOME CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT THIS STRATEGY:
It’s not very cheap. You cannot test one offer for $100 and then call it quits/look for a new network. You have to spend money constantly to try and get better results but also increase your chances of approval on a new network. Having $1k revenue, even at -50% ROI, is $1k revenue on the network. Much better than $200 revenue at 100% ROI and no more budget - for them, at least. Long term it will pay off to have the power of choice when it comes to networks and offers.
You cannot have a feeling of entitlement, and you must certainly not convey one in your communication with the reps. In other words, if you are an arse, they will look for any reason to not work with you - can’t blame them.
There you have it. Put in work, get some experience, use results to apply to more networks, split test more offers. Rinse and repeat til you can choose from all networks on Earth. There’s more than the benefit of more offers when working with more networks. That’s a topic for another article.
PS: How hard it is to get into a network is not directly correlated with the chances of success or the quality of their offers. This is purely about leverage for you as an affiliate.
Great article!
From a affiliate network owner point of view, I see three major points (new) affiliates should take into consideration when applying to any affiliate network - that will drastically increase their odds of getting accepted into the network.
1. Major deal maker!
Know an account manager personally. If you met an AM at the fair and had a brief conversation, followup quickly on skype and via email. Knowing someone personally will open the network's doors more easily.
It will also increase your chances not only of getting accepted into the network but also getting (more rapid) access to the truly exclusive offers (with good cap) and pay bumps
2. Never lie
Don't lie about your traffic sources. "we do display traffic on site x, y,z" suddenly we get 1 million clicks and a CR of 0.01% --> we know you are running pops (and not display). This is just an easy example, most tier 1 networks have a set of tools and technologies to investigate anything you're doing, just to make sure you are running compliant with advertiser guidelines.
This will get you kicked out. Also don't say that you make 10K a month with your site - we run your site in similarweb and other tools. If you have less than 5K visitors a month, we know that a) you're not making 10K/month with THAT site and b) we become more suspicious of anything you say. Trust is very important and Trust is built on honesty. There's a general trend among affiliates to ALWAYS exagerate earnings. Happens a lot I meet affiliates at trade shows that tell me they run payday loan campaigns (100$/conversions) and quote "easily make 10,000 conversions a day" unquote. That would mean you are making 1 million $ a day, 365$ a year - thats three times as much as a company the likes of exoclick.
Tip 1: don't exagerate, be honest. Tell us what you can vs cannot do. We love affiliates that make 100$ a month and have CLEAN traffic. and we LOVE to help them scale. We do NOT love affiliates that make a big story and tell us about huge numbers but dont show anything. First show us the numbers, then we'll talk about rate bumps, access to exclusive offers, etc. The more money you make, the more personalized attention you'll get in ANY network. "my account manager is not responsive" - i read that as "you are not making enough money"
Tip 2: if you are a beginner, say you are a beginner! Mention the traffic sources you have signed up and what tests you are planning to run. You'd be surprised in how helpful our AMs will be in getting you set up, integrating pixels and helping you with your ads.
3. leverage
Send us some screenshots of other networks you are working with, some references, some ads. Show us something that you are doing. Mention your STM user name or trade shows you attended. Use your past experience and contacts to get to the next level.
Thats about it. And in order to get and especially remain succesful as an affiliate it just requires one thing: WORK :-) lots of it
Hi, do you happen to have a "tier list" for affiliate networks? Thank you!
Hey, unfortunately I don't since there are many networks that specialize in things I've never ran so I could only make a limited list based on my experience. I partially already did in the post itself.
It's also hard for me to tell how difficult it is to get into some networks since I was basically never rejected. I always tried to create a business image a network would want to work with and it worked, and asked for personal intros wherever possible.
The reality is in my experience that if you are into 3-4 networks and run at least $50-100 revenue per month total, you can get into any network. Then there are still differences into how you work with your AM for each, depending on their workstyle and yours but you will almost certainly get accepted. My tips are more for people who struggle to get enough offers/networks to split test more. They should keep doing their small volume and always always try to apply to more networks and test test test.
Since I think you need less than 5 active networks to get the ball rolling, I thought the examples I gave are a good enough mix without researching too much and having a high risk of being totally wrong when saying a network is hard to get into. I chose the ones I can confirm are relatively welcoming for STM member with little to no experience and then the rest assume need some "persuasion".
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