If you’re looking for information on managing an affiliate program, Affiliate Management Days in San Francisco is designed for you. This event, which will be held March 8-9, 2012, will bring together digital marketing managers, consultants, affiliate program managers (both those who work in-house and those from outsourced agencies), researchers, affiliate network reps, and affiliate-management software providers.
Conference Chair Geno Prussakov says Affiliate Management Days, or AMD, aims to create a learning environment that will help educate affiliate managers and make them more effective at their jobs.
At the conference, you’ll hear experts speak on affiliate marketing analytics, affiliate recruitment, conversion rate optimization, combatting fraud, and leveraging emerging trends (from mobile to online-offline synergies).
The Importance of a Smartly-Run Affiliate Program
Not all affiliate programs are equal, it seems. But the more successful ones are those that are properly managed, says Prussakov:
“A managed affiliate program (a) equips affiliates to become more successful, (b) motivates them on an ongoing basis, and, as a result (c) reaps more fruit. A commonly overlooked opportunity is in recruiting and developing those new affiliates who are both professionally mature and psychologically ready to engage in performance marketing, but need a bit of education and additional guidance upon which they turn into your super-affiliates. Spending a few hours a week on developing such hidden gems can result in improving your program’s profitability by as much as 50-75%. I’ve seen this happen! “
The conference also aims to help affiliate managers become aware of and address compliance issues. One of the biggest challenges that affiliates and affiliate managers face is the FTC’s regulation on endorsements and testimonials. He says:
“In the course of 2011 we’ve seen merchants fined for disseminating ‘deceptive advertisement’ through affiliate marketers, where review sites, which were compensated through an affiliate program, were posting testimonials phrased as independent and objective customer reviews. The Federal Trade Commission views merchant-affiliate relationships in a sponsor-endorser light, where the affiliate should clearly disclose the relationship on his/her site. The advertiser/merchant, on the other hand is expected to educate and equip affiliates to comply with this rule, and to police the compliance. The former two are easy to implement, while the latter still remains problematic for many.
Another topic that’s sure to be on attendees’ minds is Google’s relationship with affiliate sites. Prussakov says that it’s easy to oversimplify and say that Google doesn’t like affiliate sites, but he stresses the fact that Google identifies what it deems of value on an affiliate site:
“Google is explicit that they dislike sites with ‘little or no original content,’ and that the key to improving rankings is precisely in focusing on adding value via original, targeted, fresh and relevant content. And I applaud Google for taking such a stance! Affiliate program managers should foster and encourage this as well. I still see quality affiliate websites go from zero to thousands of UVs [unique visits] a month in a matter 1-2 months. You can never go wrong with a focus on quality and value.”
For more information on the Affiliate Management Days event, which will be March 8-9, 2012 at the Westin San Francisco, visit the site. Until December 20, you can register at the Super Early Bird rate of $995. The speaker proposal deadline is December 23, so if you’re interested in being a speaker, get moving!
