How to Spot a Good Advertiser
From Wiki
Looking for the right advertiser is rather a lot like looking for the right pair of shoes. There are a lot of brands to choose from, some great offers, but only you as the publisher can be sure of what’s a good fit. However, here is some advice if you’re just getting started on picking your first advertisers.
Do I like the brand?
If you’re extremely pleased with your latest pair of Clarks shoes, or are especially fond of your new digital camera from Dixons, then these could be great brands to start promoting– and ones that you as a consumer would be happy to personally recommend. You’ll find your positive attitude reflected in your copy. Don’t feel obligated to promote advertisers you’ve had difficulty shopping with in the past – as you’re recommending them the moment you post their links on your web pages.
Is there a great offer?
If your website revolves around being able to offer consumers the best deals anywhere on the web – you’d better make sure that you’re promoting advertisers who have these sorts of deals available. To find out in advance of starting promotion, you can coordinate with the networks regarding which advertisers are currently offering voucher codes. I’d recommend staying on top of what’s being published on publisher marketing forums such as Affiliates4U. Hot offers and limited period promotions will appear here regularly, and the advertisers offering more regular deals will be those that are likely to work best for any kind of deals website.
If the advertiser doesn’t offer discounts – they will hopefully still be letting their publisher s know about any incentives they’re running and about their top products this season to push.
Do they look busy?
The last thing any hard working publisher needs is to sign up to an advertiser programme, start busily promoting them, and then realise that the information available is out of date. Signs of an inactive advertiser who may not be engaged with their publisher s are those not updating their creative regularly, and with banners dating back to 2007 with expired offers on them. Looking for things like this in your network’s interface can really help you spot which advertisers are maintaining their accounts and engaging with their publisher base – and all the information they’re providing will, in the long run, help you promote them as effectively as you can.
What’s the customer service like?
I’d highly recommend before you start promoting an advertiser, going to their website and buying something yourself. See what the process is – is there a long sign up form with a lot of questions? Does their system make it easy for you to enter your address? Are there hidden costs that only come up when you go through to the basket? All of these things may potentially put off a customer. Once you’ve ordered something – observe the advertiser’s follow up procedure and the quality of their customer service team. Any feedback you can offer the advertiser will be gratefully received.
Always get a second opinion
Make sure to dedicate some of your time every week to perusing publisher marketing forums, as other publisher s who already work with various advertisers will be giving feedback on their experiences. There is an invaluable amount of experience working with many of these advertisers already out there – gleaning what you can about existing sentiments will help enormously.