Marketing Sherpa – Online Marketing Benchmark Reports

Real-life data (and anecdotes) from 189 affiliate marketing managers at mid-large merchants including eretail, gambling, finance and travel sites. Discover how your peers are running their affiliate programs.

• 56 color charts from Jan 2006

MarketingSherpa’s Review:

The 2006 AffStat Report is the fourth edition of this definitive study on the affiliate marketing industry. One hundred eighty-nine affiliate managers from a cross-section of merchants were surveyed on their overall statistics, as well as practical aspects of their affiliate marketing channels.

Areas covered in the 2006 report include: affiliate networks, staffing, affiliate recruiting, and management. The Affstat 2006 report includes a section where affiliate managers sound off in their own words on a variety of industry issues, a guide to affiliate recruiting, and resources for affiliate managers with 32 hotlinks to affliate marketing message boards, blogs, and newsletters.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION 1: THE SURVEY
Affiliate Program Models
Pay Per Sale Affiliate Programs
Pay Per Lead Affiliate Programs
Bounty Affiliate Programs
Affiliate Manager Compensation

SECTION 2: THEIR WORDS
Affiliate Managers Speak Out

SECTION 3: RECRUITING
Prospecting Software
Commission Structure
Affiliate Program Directories
Bulk Affiliate Recruiting
Blogging & RSS
Contextual Ad Affiliate Recruiting
Affiliate Verticals

SECTION 4: RESOURCES
Glossary
Message Boards
Blogs
Newsletters
Outsourcing

COMPLETE LIST OF CHARTS AND GRAPHS
Section 1:

Affiliate Program Models:

• How Does Your Program Determine Commissions

The Following Pie Charts Based on Survey Results Appear in Pay Per Sale Affiliate Programs, Pay Per Lead Affiliate Programs, and Bounty Affiliate Programs Subsections:

• Does Your Program Have Dedicated Management
• How Many Affiliates Do You Have
• How Many New Affiliates Do You Acquire Per Month
• How Many Click-Throughs Do Your Affiliates Generate Per Month
• What Is the Conversion Rate for Your Affiliate Program
• What Percent of Your Affiliates Are Active (Defined As Having Generated at Lease One Click Last Month)
• What Percent of Your Affiliates Earned Commission Last Month
• What Percent of the Total Transactions on Your Site Are Generated through Affiliates
• Do You Approve Affiliates Automatically or Manually
• Which Network(s), Solution Provider(s), or Software Program(s) Do You Use to Track Your Affiliate Program(s)
• Do You Have a Blog for Your Affiliate Program
• What Was the Largest Commission You Paid to an Individual Affiliate in One Month
• Do You Permit Your Affiliates to Bid on Your Trademark Name(s) in Pay Per Click Search Engines
• What Types of Rewards and/or Incentive Do Your Offer to Your Affiliates
• What Is the Biggest Challenge in Affiliate Marketing
• What’s Your Most Effective Method for Recruiting Affiliates
• Do You Manage the Affiliate Program In-House or Are You an Outsourced Program Manager

  Affiliate Manager Compensation:

• What is Your Annual Salary (Including Incentives and Bonuses) as an In-House Affiliate Manager
• What is Your Total Monthly Compensation for the Affiliate Program You Manage (Including Percent of Transaction if Applicable)

Section 3:

• Daily Traffic Rank Trend
• How Do You Most Often Find Out about an Affiliate Program and Then Join

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shawn Collins is experienced with the interfaces of all of the affiliate solution providers, having been an affiliate since 1997, and an affiliate manager since 1998.

As Director of Affiliate Marketing for ClubMom, where he launched the affiliate program in March 2000, he built one of the top per lead affiliate programs. In this role at ClubMom, he was also a ‘super affiliate’ as he handled more than 120 affiliate relationships with brands such as Barnes & Noble.com, Dell, and the Gap.

His best selling book, “Successful Affiliate Marketing for Merchants” is considered to be required reading by affiliate managers.

Shawn is a co-founder of the Affiliate Summit, the leading industry conference for affiliate marketing, which regularly sells out and features the biggest names in performance marketing. Additionally, Shawn has been quoted in numerous publications, including DM News, Internet Retailer, Inc. Magazine, the New York Times, and the Washington Times and has spoken at over thirty affiliate marketing events.