Q: Why aren’t more of my affiliates active?
A: It’s all about the connection between the affiliate and affiliate manager (see Activating Affiliates video for a visual explanation).
I am assuming you are like too many affiliate managers who think they can run an affiliate program on autopilot, where affiliates are recruited or join your affiliate program organically.
And then those affiliates are expected to be excited and anxious to promote your affiliate program.
While you may get lucky and have some affiliates that will do that, the majority will never become magically active in your affiliate program.
So anyway, it’s important for you to make a connection with those affiliates. All of them. If that seems impossible, you’ve probably got too many affiliates in your affiliate program, or the program is understaffed.
It’s essential to focus on activating your affiliates after they join the program.
Provide them with reasons and guidance to promote your company. Plus, some affiliates will be new to affiliate marketing, and will need some degree of hand holding.
You should also give them educational resources and tools to more efficiently promote your affiliate program. Give them reasons to pick you over the competition.
But wait… there’s more. After you’ve activated your affiliates, you need to continually focus on retaining them.
The cycle of working with your affiliates never ends. This isn’t a media buy. It’s a relationship.
So change your paradigm to this sequence: recruit > activate > retain affiliates.