Advertiser FAQ

Read some of the most Frequently Asked Questions that advertisers have before they launch an affiliate programme

 

OK, I am interested. What’s the next step?

Firstly you will need to get in touch with us, in order to discuss your specific needs and what the best way to meet them is. Then we will send you a bespoke proposal for your affiliate programme, which will be customized to your specific needs but also in line with the current market trends (e.g. competition, affiliate trends etc). Once we have agreed on the terms of our partnership, we will send you detailed instructions in order to get your programme set up on our network.

 

How to I decide what commission I should offer on my affiliate programme?

The commission you offer affiliates is one of the most important criteria based on which affiliates choose which programmes to promote, making this decision a very important one. In order to decide on your programme’s commission you will need to consider the following:

a) the affiliate commission your competition is offering
b) your business’ profit margins
c) your website’s current conversion rate
d) the impact of your brand name
e) your products or services’ prices

Considering all the above and based on our years of experience in this field, we will be able to advise and help you formulate a commission structure that will attract affiliates but also be viable for your business.

 

What is a cookie and how to I determine its duration?

A cookie is small file which is saved on a user’s computer and is the basis on which we can track sales and leads on our affiliate platform. The cookie is placed on the user’s computer when he/she clicks on one of the creatives offered on your affiliate programme. The longer the cookie duration, the more attractive the programme for affiliates. Why? Because the cookie length determines the period during which a user is “tracked” by the network, meaning that any sales placed by that particular user during that specified period, will be attributed to the affiliate that sent the user to your site.

For example, let’s assume that the cookie duration for your programme is 30 days and that an affiliate sends a user to your website today. Let’s further assume that, that user does not complete an order, but returns to your site in 25 days and actually buys something. That sale will be attributed to the affiliate that sent you the user, 25 days ago. If this user returns to your site a week late (i.e. 32 days after his/her first visit) and makes another purchase, then that sale will not be attributed to the affiliate, since the cookie will have expired.

 

What if a user has passed through more than one affiliates or one of my own ads on Facebook, Google etc?

As an advertiser on the Linkwise Affiliate Network you have the right to not validate a sale, if the user has clicked on any of your paid advertising links after he/she clicked on the affiliate creative and before the sale. This process is also known as de-duplication. However, you should be aware that affiliates are very much affected by this, since when an advertiser de-duplicates against all advertising channels, he/she reduces the affiliates potential income. This means that the decision to de-duplicate or not, should be a strategic one.

 

Is it necessary to create banners for my affiliate programme?

Yes, it is necessary to create a set of banners in various dimensions, which should be updated regularly. Banners are the number 1 “tool” affiliates use to promote you, meaning that having a variety of banners increases your chances to be promoted by more affiliates. However, given that the nature of display advertising is traditionally more branding oriented, rather than sales oriented, we strongly suggest your affiliate banners to be “hard selling” with clear and strong call to actions. This way we help affiliates generate more sales and direct users who are actually interested in your products or services to your website.

 

Will I know which sites are promoting me?

No, Linkwise does not offer this information to advertisers. We operate a "blind network", as do the majority of affiliate networks globally.

 

So, I won’t know if my ads are appearing in non relevant websites, in order to stop this from happening?

Correct, this information is not provided.. However, please bear in mind that promotion of your programme on non relevant websites does not deteriorate its metrics since you will not be paying for impressions or clicks. You will only be paying for sales (or any other predefined action e.g. registration), regardless of where it comes from. Since there are no “non relevant” sales, it is good to be promoted on as many websites as possible, regardless of whether they seem to have non relevant content at first look.

 

That’s understandable, but how will I ensure my brand will not appear on websites with inappropriate content.

Before your programme launches on the network, you can set any terms you want so that affiliates will know what is and what is not permitted in terms of promoting the programme. This way you can choose to disallow specific website types or promotion methods. It is important to know, though, that the more limitations you set, the more difficult it will get for affiliates to promote your programme and therefore you should be careful to only set only those limitations that are really necessary. You should also know that the Linkwise Affiliate Network does not include websites that are pornographic, violent or insulting and this way it protects your brand even if you choose to set no limitations.

 

When I decide on the terms, are we ready to start?

When all the specifics of the campaign have been agreed upon and provided you have placed our tracking code on your website, your programme is ready to launch. We will announce the programme to all affiliates of our network and from that moment onwards, they can start promoting you to increase the sales and leads of your website!

 

What is this tracking code I have to place on my website?

In order for Linkwise to be able to track all sales we bring to you, you have to place a tracking script we provide on the checkout “thank you page” of your website. Its placement is simple since the only parameters you will have to pass are the order ID and amount for each sale. You might even be already doing this for another script like Google Analytics E-commerce tracking, in which case Linkwise’s tracking script can be place in a matter of minutes.

 

When sales or leads start to come, how do I pay for them? What’s the process?

The process is as follows:

- All sales for your programme will be sent to you for validation or cancellation (in case an order was cancelled or was never paid for)
- You will have to respond as soon as possible in order for affiliates to also be notified regarding the status of the sales
- At the end of each month you will receive a list of all sales that you validated with the month. These are the sales that will be invoiced.

This way you only have to pay for sales that are real and only after you have collected the money from your customers!

 

All this sounds really simple and straightforward. What’s the catch?

There’s no catch! Affiliate marketing is as simple and straightforward as it sounds. Linkwise with its knowledge, experience and custom built technology is here to make Affiliate Marketing even easier for you!