Geno\u00a0Prussakov<\/a>\u00a0is an award-winning affiliate marketing professional,\u00a0\u00a0CEO\u00a0&\u00a0Founder<\/a>\u00a0of AM Navigator, and a guest of our recent\u00a0#SEMrushchat<\/a>. We asked him\u00a0to give us expanded answers on how to find a valuable affiliate partner. Here are the main criteria of successful collaboration and the biggest mistakes to avoid.<\/p>\n Quality and T<\/strong>argetedness<\/strong>\u00a0of\u00a0Referred Traffic<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n One would assume that, by its very definition, affiliate marketing is about these two elements as affiliates get compensated on a performance basis and should have no interest in sending low quality or untargeted traffic. The reality, however, is such that we do see low-quality affiliates out there. So, advertisers should look for those affiliate partners whose audiences they really want to touch through them \u2013 in a targeted and value-added way.<\/p>\n Marketing Complementarity<\/strong><\/p>\n Ask yourself if the affiliate\u2019s marketing efforts will complement your own, helping you amplify your marketing message, lubricating the path to conversion. Be it a unique mobile app that they have, or a consumer advice website, or skills to market you in ways that you yourself cannot, look for the element of complementarity. If missing altogether, move on. If elements of potential marketing cannibalization are found, stay away. Look for valuable affiliate partners!<\/p>\n Incrementality of Referred Business<\/strong><\/p>\n Whether it is an affiliate\u00a0who can refer\u00a0new-to-file\u00a0customers<\/a>\u00a0or one who can effectively re-engage those customers who are no longer actively spending their money with you, look for affiliates who have the capability of driving incremental business. You do want to compensate affiliates on return customers, but it\u2019s important to also reward them for incremental business.<\/p>\n Identify the most promising partner<\/p>\n Study your prospect\u2019s website performance<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Startups are typically bootstrapped. Therefore, they should first consider the lower-cost ways of\u00a0recruiting affiliates<\/a>. Here are a few ideas:<\/p>\n This is a really tough question. The reason for this being that there are always too many contingencies and variables to make feasible predictions. And not only on the affiliate side but also on the brand side (price competitiveness, user-friendliness, CRO aspects, etc.).<\/p>\nWhat are the three parameters one should look at first when searching for an affiliate partner?<\/h3>\n
What are the best ways for a startup to find their first valuable affiliate partner?<\/h3>\n
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What are the biggest mistakes people make when choosing affiliate partners? How can they overcome them?<\/h3>\n
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What are the best ways to estimate the number of leads\/ROI that you can get from an affiliate?<\/h3>\n