Dangers of working Direct
As affiliates start promoting offers and get their presence known in the affiliate world they may be contacted by an advertiser to work directly. At first glance this may seem to be a great opportunity but if examined closely there are warning signs to watch for. Too many times affiliates find out the hard way that working direct opens the door for greater risks to them. Let’s examine some of the top risks and also see how affiliate networks can offer that added level of protection for the affiliate.
When speaking with any affiliate considering going direct with an advertiser one of the first remarks is that they can receive a higher payout. Going direct with an advertiser may lead to higher payouts. Let’s squash this one quickly – a higher payout may initially be offered but a network can leverage your volume combined with the thousands of other leads they are getting on the offer to increase the payout even higher. With that said there is also a much higher chance of an issue arising regarding payment. Too often affiliates don’t do their research when an advertiser approaches them about going direct and leaves the affiliates swinging in the wind when it comes time for payment. This doesn’t just apply to shady advertisers but also advertisers that are new to the industry that aren’t fully aware of the ins and outs of their business model. Imagine sending thousands of leads to an advertiser and then finding out they can’t pay you because they don’t have the proper backend set up to be profitable. One of the biggest advantages to working with a network is there is an added level of protection in regards to payments. We’ll take a closer look into this later in this article. Affiliates may feel that they are protected with contracts but there are always those fine print loopholes. The amount of time that needs to be devoted to contracts, invoices etc. can become extremely time consuming. As a result, the affiliate is left with less time to manage and fully optimize their campaigns. It is highly recommended that if you do choose to take on the risk of working directly, you need to run all documentation by a trusted and reliable lawyer.
The second most common disadvantage is that your marketing efforts become transparent. Affiliate marketers at times may over look this fact even though is an extremely important factor. What I mean when I say transparent is that the advertiser now has the ability to see where and how you are promoting their product. As all affiliate marketers know, information such as their keywords, creatives, LP’s and media sources are some of the most valuable information in the industry. While there are certainly respectable advertisers out there, I’ve heard too many horror stories of affiliates having their marketing information collected and then used against them. As some advertisers see leads coming in they also are able to collect information such as what keywords where used to generate the lead, which site style was used and what media source is driving the traffic. Then as enough data is collected it becomes all too tempting for the advertiser to cut out the affiliate and promote the product themselves using the information they collected at the affiliate’s expense. Affiliate networks can provide that buffer between the advertiser and the affiliate.
Now that we’ve discussed some of the warnings of working directly with an advertiser let’s talk more about the protection that affiliate networks can offer. First I’d like to preface that the statements below are based on my experiences with Clickbooth.com. Each network has different standards and procedures so make sure you check with your affiliate manager. One of the biggest areas a network will be able to protect you is in the payment. If all leads are generated using accepted methods most reputable networks will assure you of the payment even if the advertiser doesn’t pay. This is a huge relief as all affiliates know that promoting offers cost lots of time and money and knowing that you can depend on the payment makes all the difference in the world. Something else to consider is that affiliate networks will be able to throw their weight around more to convince the advertiser to pay compared to an individual affiliate who may not have any pull. One of the worst feelings you can have as an affiliate is knowing that someone else can use you r data and promote it against you. I’ve seen it happen all too often where other affiliates copy a landing page and promote it in the same media source causing the cost per click to increase. Whether it is an affiliate or an advertiser, affiliate networks can help protect your information as well as help you develop an effective marketing method.
Affiliates can see that there are dangers when working directly with an advertiser. Take the time to do your research and fully understand what you may be getting into. If you decide to go down the direct path keep in mind that affiliate networks can offer that added protection which in the end can be priceless.
