What Does an Affiliate Program Management Agency Do?

As most brands who’ve launched an affiliate marketing program know, this pay-on-performance channel is high-touch, relationship-based and requires a consistent, hands-on approach to effectively deliver the desired outcomes.

This is why most leading brands and businesses partner with an affiliate management agency to oversee and manage the day-to-day needs of their affiliate program. But what is an affiliate management agency, and what do they do? Read on for all you need to know about affiliate program management, plus the benefits of working with an affiliate program management agency.

The role an affiliate program management agency plays can vary depending on a variety of factors, including:

• the size of the business
• the maturity of the affiliate program
• additional resources needed to support a high-performing affiliate program

For example, a well-known national brand may have a full in-house affiliate team in addition to an affiliate management agency to support the growth of their program.

Alternatively, a medium-sized company, let’s say a brand with a direct-to-consumer business model, may have an in-house marketing manager that is stretched across several channels (e.g. paid social, paid search, etc.) and needs the help, strategic guidance and expertise of an experienced affiliate management agency to oversee the program.

Whatever the situation is, an affiliate marketing agency should be able to serve as an extension of the brand to ensure their affiliate program is being managed properly, with the right partners, commission structures, campaigns and resources to ensure the brand-driven KPIs are being worked toward and, ideally, met.

How Affiliate Management Agencies Add Value

There are many different layers that go into effectively managing a high-performing affiliate marketing program.

Typically, an affiliate program management agency will help brands by developing and executing strategies that align with business goals.

Depending on the lifecycle of the affiliate program, there are five key areas where affiliate program management agencies can add value: build/launch, grow, refine, expand and monitor.

1. Build and Launch

Building and launching a new affiliate program can be a daunting task without oversight by someone with expertise in the channel.

Engaging with an affiliate program management agency to support the build and launch of a new affiliate program can help ensure that the program is set up for success. This can include:

• Setting the initial strategy for the channel based on competitive insights and industry averages.
• Advising a brand (from an educated, agnostic perspective) on the tracking platform or affiliate network that could best suit the affiliate program.
• Key affiliate partnerships and campaign tactics that will help the brand achieve early results
• Determining the right key performance indicators (KPIs) to apply to the channel in order to measure success.

It’s also important for a brand/company to keep their affiliate program management agency informed of what’s going on within their business, including promotions and new product launches, so that the program management team can incorporate those into the affiliate strategy.

2. Growth

Once a program has surpassed the build/launch stage, your affiliate marketing agency will help you optimize and nurture the affiliate program to drive month-over-month growth.

Your program management team will home in on the type of incremental growth that is important to your business as well as ensure that your program has continuous new partner recruitment and optimization.

This means actively communicating with partners to ensure there is a steady flow of new partners promoting your brand and collaborating with your top performers to keep your brand top-of-mind.

3. Refine

As your affiliate program matures, which is typically around the one to two year mark, your affiliate program management agency should still be focused on growing the program to align with your business goals.

However, at this juncture, you may find that the number of new, scalable partners joining the program has decreased compared to the growth stage. This is a period where you’ll find your program management agency getting creative in their strategic approach to driving growth.

This might include:

• More activity around optimizing current top-tier and mid-tier partners.
• Focusing on new and unique performance partnership opportunities for you to consider.
• An increased focus on profitability and efficiency within the channel. This could mean evaluating your program commission structure or looking at the customer lifetime value (LTV) by affiliate partner to identify where you should be focusing your efforts.

4. Expand

As your business expands and matures, you may find – with the help and guidance of our affiliate management agency – that there are additional ways that the affiliate channel can drive new customers that you haven’t considered in the past.

As an example, you may want to use your affiliate program to help grow your email acquisition list.

Or, maybe you’re considering expanding your affiliate program into new countries or regions. If your affiliate management agency has experience and expertise with global affiliate program management, they will be essential to your expansion efforts.

Global expansions of affiliate programs have been increasing over the past few years. Most brands and companies are now seeing how globalizing their activities and coordinating their marketing efforts as a necessity in today’s marketplace.

As brands investigate the best ways to “go global,” they are realizing that different affiliate networks, platforms, affiliates and marketing agencies have different expertise in different markets.

This is why working with an experienced global affiliate marketing agency as a single point of contact to manage the different players on the ground can help simplify and expedite the process of expanding a program into a new market or region.

5. Monitor

Outside of the four key areas above, affiliate program management agencies are also skilled in the day-to-day operations required to manage a high-performing affiliate program. Program operations happen daily throughout all of the five key areas and include management of critical tasks such as:

• Processing partner applications
• Sending partner newsletter communication
• Performance reporting
• Compliance and fraud monitoring

The Benefits of Partnering With an Affiliate Marketing Agency

There are numerous benefits of partnering with an affiliate program management agency, including:

• Industry expertise: The best affiliate program management groups offer deep expertise in partnership marketing. When you work with the right team, you can count on a finely tuned program plan that suits your needs and pairs you with the right affiliate partners — whether you’re a small D2C retailer or a mid-sized SaaS company looking to grow.
• Established connections: Similarly, an expert affiliate marketing agency will likely already have long-term relationships with reputable affiliate partners. This can help shorten your time to launch and ensure you’re paired with reliable affiliates from the start.

• Dedicated affiliate program teams: Choosing to work with an external affiliate program management agency frees up time for you and your employees. Instead of attempting to launch and manage a program in-house, you can rely on the professionals to oversee your program and ensure the program is on schedule and on track to meet established KPIs.

• Cost-effective solutions: Working with an affiliate marketing agency can help you save money in a few ways. First, you’ll likely experience a shorter launch period and work with vetted affiliates — allowing you to make a return on investment sooner. Secondly, an affiliate management program team is typically paid through a monthly retainer or a percentage of sales. Either way, it will likely cost less than staffing an internal affiliate program management team.

Key Features to Look for in an Affiliate Management Program

Choosing the right affiliate management program is crucial for long-term success and a positive working relationship. With that in mind, keep an eye out for the following features:

• Customizable programs: At Acceleration Partners, we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to affiliate marketing. We get to know you and — equally importantly — your audience to create a tailored plan that suits your needs.
• Established affiliate networks: We take the stress out of launching an affiliate program with a global network of established, premium affiliate partners spanning countries, industries and media formats.
• Automation tools: Our hands-on approach ensures a seamless launch, bolstered by automation that helps us scale and manage your program.
• Ongoing monitoring: We believe in continuous improvement and constantly look for new opportunities to refine your strategy, take advantage of new opportunities and boost performance.

Top Affiliate Marketing Companies: What Sets Them Apart

How do you know which company is truly the best for your needs? There’s no one answer, but at Acceleration Partners, we believe it comes down to two key factors: a high-touch human element and advanced, in-house software.

When you partner with our dedicated affiliate management teams, you’ll enjoy a true partnership from day one. You’ll also be able to take advantage of our proprietary tech, APVision. This in-house platform lets us analyze data from thousands of affiliate partners worldwide and then use the information to stay ahead of trends and identify opportunities to improve your program’s performance.

How Companies with Affiliate Marketing Programs Succeed

Affiliate marketing is one of the most effective marketing strategies to drive brand awareness and conversions. No matter your organization’s size or niche, an effective affiliate marketing program management agency can work with you to develop a strategy that suits your goals, your audience’s needs and your budget — and help you meet and exceed performance goals.

That said, selecting the right affiliate management agency for your business is an important decision. Consider each of the five key areas to ensure you partner with an agency that has the right expertise in place to support your affiliate program’s lifecycle.

To learn more,contact our team with questions!